Colaco behind Dempo’s revival in I-League
Though it was a miserable Christmas for Dempo, it has been a happy New Year for India’s most consistent club of recent years. When the I-League resumed after their winter break in early January, Dempo were down in the dumps. Early elimination in the
Federation Cup, after humiliating defeats by Lajong FC and Pune FC, led to the doubting Jonahs predicting that Dempo were going downhill.
But coach Armando Colaco had faith in his players. He felt that the losses were merely a bad day at the office. A good motivator Armando, revived his players’ morale and they are now again oozing with confidence and feel they can win each match. International striker Sunil Chetri was out of touch at the Federation Cup in December 2009 but has now regained his scoring touch and is the top Indian scorer after 13 rounds with eight goals.
Despite the loss of influential foreigners’ striker Ranty Martins and midfielder Beto due to injuries, Dempo have surged to the top of the table at the half-way stage of the 3rd I-League. After 13 rounds, the former champions are on 26 points followed by Chirag United (Kolkata) with 23 points. They have scored 28 goals and conceded 15 for the best goal difference of plus 13. Mohun Bagan have scored the most goals so far, 29 in 13 matches, but have conceded 22. East Bengal’s defence has been resolute conceding just 12 goals but they have struggled upfront scoring just 15 goals.
Dempo’s rise to the top, despite not having key foreign players is a credit to their policies. Coach Colaco deserves credit for developing a style of play for his team rather than trying to buy big names players to gain success. Quick penetration, slick one-touch passing and constant movement off the ball has become the hallmark of Dempo’s play for some years now.
Armando also deserves kudos for picking only those who fit into his team’s style of play. He has shown patience and nurtured young players like Joaquim Abranches and midfielder Peter Carvalho. For years these two were groomed as substitutes. With Ranty Martins and Beto unavailable, they have grabbed their opportunity.
Dempo’s resilience is in sharp contrast to Mohun Bagan’s dip in form since the injury of key striker Chidi Edeh. Bagan’s coach Karim Bencharifa has struggled to find an adequate replacement for the mercurial Chidi.
The Kolkata team are now over-reliant on the tireless but ageing Jose Ramirez Baretto for goals. Baretto excelled in Mumbai enabling Bagan to win both their away matches. He was not at his best in Goa and the team slumped losing to both Salgaocar and Dempo.
The I-League has again stopped for a month and will resume in March after India’s AFC Challenge Cup engagements. The latest coaching casualty is Salgaocar’s Tim Hankinson. The American coach has resigned as his team are precariously placed in 12th place with just 10 points from 12 matches. Also Karim Bencharifa has been replaced by former international Satyajit Chatterjee as Mohun Bagan’s coach. Earlier Bimal Ghosh had been eased out of Air India and Vishwas Gaonkar had replaced Roy Baretto of Sporting Clube de Goa.
By Novy Kapadia
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