Salgaocar's firepower downs Air India

By Nandakumar Marar

MARGAO, DEC. 20. Salgaocar Sports Club's firepower forced Air- India into a crash landing. The resultant 4-1 victory for the Goan club at the Nehru Stadium has added another bizarre twist to the V National Football League, where fickle form is producing a sequence of upsets.

Former India skipper Bruno Coutinho celebrated his recall to the list of National probables with two classy goals, the first and the third for Salgaocar, which collected its first NLF points after having lost 2-3 to FC Kochin in a home match. Dennis Cabral and substitute Alvito DCunha were the others on target. The margin of victory could have been bigger had not the Ghanian import Ahmed Tijani missed two chances after terrorising the AI defence.

Striker Anthony Fernandes opportunism fetched the lone goal for the Mumbai team, facing a 0-3 deficit by then. Within the space of a week, AI's performance has oscillated between the brilliant and the bizarre. A groin injury to international Khalid Jamil, which forced him to be taken off almost at half-time, added to its problems.

The Mumbai team's defensive wall crumbled in the face of Coutinho's combination of clever positioning and deadly shooting, Dennis Cabral's overlapping runs on the right flank, Tijani's sheer physical presence and footwork in the middle and new recruit Christian Okoye's scheming skills.

Coutinho, now vying for a place in the Indian team for the Millennium Cup, made an early impact with a flying header for the first goal in the 15th minute, popping up in the goalmouth in time for a clever Cabral lob from almost on the goalline on the right. Salgaocar's second goal came through Cabral who beat the AI goalkeeper Yusuf Ansari with a first-time volley to the roof of the net.

Tijani, the bustling Ghanaian addition to the Goan club attack, found a right-footer crashing into the post and rebounding back into play, followed by another right-footed placement which beat the AI goalkeeper but the ball rolled diagonally across the goalmouth and wide off target.

The Mumbai team hardly had time to heave a sigh of relief when Coutinho struck again, cashing in on the disarray in the Mumbai side' defence to slam home a right-footer.

Goalkeeper Ali Abubaker, the other Ghanian in the Salgaocar ranks, enjoyed a successful first half, marked by acrobatic diving collections and composed mopping up of crosses from the flanks. But he was beaten by a 66th minute goal scored by Anthony Fernandes.

Abubaker reacted in time to block a Tomba shot from the right side of the goalmouth. Unfortunately for the custodian, the ball bounced across to the right where Fernandes was at hand to volley home, picking his spot beyond Abubaker's range, the ball striking the crossbar and going in.

The nightmare for AI's defence continued with Salgaocar continuing its waves of attacks. The introduction of India probables Alvito DCunha and Jules Alberto (replacements for a limping Tijani and Dharamjit Singh respectively) enabled Coutinho to play a deeper role, having done his bit of damage to AI's reputation and enhancing his by a few notches.

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