Panaji: Clube de Salgaocar made heads turn on debut in the Goa Professional League. Having secured a direct corporate entry into the top tier of Goan football, the club stayed away from glamorous signings and handed the keys to a young Keenan Almeida.
Not much was expected from the coach or the club in its first year, but the new entrants made a steady start and then finished strongly. CD Salgaocar secured the third spot behind champions Sporting Clube de Goa and Dempo SC, good enough for them to ensure qualification for next season’s third division I-League, a significant achievement.
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“We took one match at a time and set our goals as the season progressed,” Keenan told TOI. “Any team at the start of the season targets for the title. As the season progresses, you start setting up achievable practical targets based on how the team is shaping up.”
Keenan, a former international, did well for himself as a footballer, having donned colours for all the top clubs. The image of him running the length of Fatorda after scoring for FC Goa, arms stretched, his head bandaged, has stayed in the minds of fans for a long time. As coach though he was untested, yet Salgaocar kept faith in him, impressed with the goals that he sets for himself and the team.
If the first season results are any indication, they made the right choice.
“It was smooth sailing as the management put things in place in a very professional manner. When you have like-minded people around you, facing challenges becomes easy,” said the former FC Goa defender.
The GPL now has 14 teams, so it was never going to be easy for the debutants, owned by industrialist Dattaraj Salgaocar, who co-owned Indian Super League (ISL) side FC Goa during its inception in 2014. Salgaocar still managed to win 12 of their 20 matches, drawing five and losing just three times.
Having qualified for the third division I-League, Salgaocar will have to reboot for next season. The club and coach wants to retain the core and make additions which are good enough to test teams at the national level.