Tribune News Network
Doha
The semifinals and final of the Portugal Fans Qatar 4-team 6-a-side tournament will take place on Awfaz Global School ground tonight.
Portuguese Goans, which tops the league stage with an all-win record, will take on Os Quinas, comprising coaches and technical directors and a few youngsters, in the semifinals, while Portugal Fans Kerala will challenge Tugas, which consists of mostly Portuguese nationals based in Qatar.
Last Friday, Portuguese Goans playing two back-to-back matches registered narrow 2-1 and 1-0 wins over Portugal Fans Kerala and Tugas, respectively, while on Wednesday, the Portuguese Goans had begun their campaign with an emphatic 4-1 win over Os Quinas.
The team consisting of players hailing from Goa, a former Portuguese colony for more than 450 years, finished on top of the league with nine points, followed by Tugas, Portugal Fans Kerala with four points each, while Os Tugas finished at the bottom of the table. The semifinals interestingly pit the Goans against Os Quinas today (October 14). The final will be played at the same night at the same venue.
Last Friday, the Goan team began the night with a fighting 2-1 win over Portugal Fans Kerala. The Goans opened the scoring through the efforts of pocket-size skillful dynamo Adler Soares in the very first minute of the match catching the Keralites on the wrong foot.
Thereafter, Goans played some copybook style of ball possession which was pleasing to the eyes and entertaining. They used the full width of the play field to spray the passes and were able to keep the ball in their control for long spells.
The Goans increased the lead in the 14th minute through Muzamil (Muza) Mamlekar. Muza who missed the first match due to office commitments made the most to notch the second goal.
The Portugal Fans Kerala pulled one back in the injury time of the second half with Murshad Basheer slotting his shot past Nikhil D’Souza in the Goan goal.
In the second match, the Goans, who missed the services of their regular goalkeeper Craig D’Souza and Anthony Carvalho, were reinforced with the return of Oliver Joshua Bennis, who had to serve a one-match suspension on account of the red card he got in the last match.
The return of Bennis gave more teeth to the Goan firepower and it bore results with the Goans taking the lead in the Muza in the very second minute and holding on to the lead till the end to finish the league with an all win record.
In the other match of the evening between the two Portuguese laden team Tugas helped by a brace by Paulo Marques (2 and 13 minute) and goals from Andre Sousa (22) and Daniel Castro (28) romped home to 4-0 win over Os Quinas.