Svea, Leisha and Stella score in shootout to beat Ambelim 3-1
Cujira: GFDC Quepem Centre emerged champions in the GFDC Girls U-12 League after a 3-1 win via tie-breaker over GFDC Ambelim Centre 3-1 at the Atal Stadium, Cujira, on Wednesday.
At fulltime the score remained deadlocked at 0-0. In the tie-breaker, Quepem held their nerve with Svea Fernandes, Leisha Fernandes and Stella Costa finding the net. Eleora Crasto converted Ambelim’s only successful penalty.
The final concluded a successful grassroots competition involving 21 GFDC centres across four zones.
The final was graced by the presence of Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar, GFDC chairman Glenn Ticlo, Dhaku Madkaikar, Fransquinha Oliveira, Mangaldas Gaonkar, Bruno Coutinho, Vinay Tubki and PK Mukherjee.
Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar urged Goa to follow Odisha’s hockey development model to strengthen football in the state. “Odisha has produced performing players at the national level. We need to emulate their model in Goa and do something on similar lines for football in Goa. With the state government’s technical and financial support, Goa can be one of the best-performing states in football,” he said.
Tawadkar also stressed the need for sports schools and academies to nurture young talent systematically. “GFDC was started to identify talent and Sesa is providing the further education and upgrading their skill for them. Football is the state sport. We are giving it importance but need to take it further. The new chairman is working to identify the lapses of the council,” added Tawadkar.
