Panaji: In 2012, when the head of Manohar Minister Parrikar said football as a state sport, the first for any country in India, everyone praised the decision.
But in reality, it really should not be for the government to realize the influence of football in Goans.
Football, after all, has been more than a sport since FR William Robert Lyons, a British priest who visited, first brought the game to Goa in 1883.
SL Benfica visited the old cave on the first day in the whole twentieth century, fixed football There is an important part of the expatriate relationship with Goa as the best team of Bombay, now Mumbai, is traveling around the country, then under the Portuguese rule.
College St Mary landed here in early 1905 to play friendship against Panjim Boys, while in the 1940s, leading teams such as Goans Young and the best also made their presence feel.
Portuguese know what football meant to goans, so over the crucial decade before liberation when pressure builds on colonial power to release foreign land, the Salazar regime does everything they can convince them in hand.
Football is their biggest tool.
“The Portuguese made several trenches trying to create awareness of the benefits of European government and their relationship with Iberian countries.
Football proved to be an important means of trying to promote this cultural association and highlight the effectiveness of Portuguese administration,” James Mills in, ‘Colonialism, Christianity and Sports : Catholic and football churches in Goa, 1883-1951 ‘.
Starting in 1955, the main team tour from around the Portuguese Empire was arranged, with Ferroviario de Lourenco Marques being the first to play here.
Mozambique-based clubs attract a crowd of 20,000 for each of the two matches.
Four years later, Pakistani’s leading soccer team, club Trust Karachi, landed here, “symbolizes the solidarity of two anti-Indian football countries”.
But the most famous of them all, undoubtedly, the visit of Giants Europe SL Benfica in 1960.
“Benfica tour about the Portuguese Goa in 1960 seems to be intended to remind the custom subjects of their imperial connections and responsibilities,” Todd Cleveland wrote, ” ‘Following the ball: Migrating African soccer players across the Portuguese colonial empire’.
Significantly, Governor General Vassalo E Silva was present for two of the three matches played by Benfica in Goa.
Football is also given pride where sports are separated from others, regulated by Konselho de Desportos Da India Portuguesa, as the name suggests, is a public sports board.
Instead, Assocacao Futebol de Goa (now the Goa Football Association) was formed on December 22, 1959.