Palmeiras recreates Brazilian magic

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLKATA, OCT. 3. Palmeiras-B recreated the Brazilian flavour at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday when it trounced its Vietnamese opponent - Nam Dinh FC - 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the 107th IFA Shield football.

Having been held 1-1 by local outfit CSL Bhratri Sangha in the pre-quarterfinal group league, it marked a great comeback for the visitor as it made its way into the semifinals. Palmeiras' abilities came under the scanner after the upset result against Bhratri Sangha but the thumping quarterfinal win seems to have re-established the team's authority and brushed up the `Samba' image that people prefer to relish.

Palmeiras will now play Muktijoddha Sangshad of Bangladesh in the semifinals. The latter beat Tata Football Academy 3-0 in another quarterfinal played simultaneously at Howrah's Municipal Stadium.

The three foreign teams have shown commendable spirit of cooperation with the organisers while completing their assignments. But the same temperament is absent in local teams which have created hurdles, by protesting and reneging time and again.

Another instance of such domineering attitude came to the fore when Mohun Bagan and Tollygunge Agragami refused to field their teams for the quarterfinal encounter that was scheduled to follow the Palmeiras-Nam Dinh match. It was the second postponement after the match was abandoned 48 minutes of play on Monday as rains washed it away. The two opponents cited the poor condition of the turf, which appeared to have been aggravated by the Palmeiras-Nam Dinh encounter, before crying off yet again.

The protest by the two teams, who threatened to pull out of the tournament if their demand of postponement was not met, was upheld by match commissioner M.S. Krishnamurthy from Karnataka and the match has now been rescheduled at the same venue on Thursday.

The Brazilians seemed to have learnt from their setback against Bhratri Sangha. The team attacked right from the beginning. Nam Dinh never appeared to possess the tact and ability to handle its Latin aggressor and eventually surrendered. After Palmeiras saw two close chances going waste early in the match the first break evolved out of a comic situation in the 12th minute.

Nam Dinh's custodian, Pham Ngoc Tu, spilled the ball while diving to his right to gather a header from defender Dang Quang Minh, who had aimed to relay the ball to safe possession of the goalkeeper after a lob from the opponent reached him. Palmeiras striker Hilton Moreira, lurking nearby, pushed the free ball into the net before the opponent goalkeeper could collect.

Having earned an early lead the Brazilians never looked back and increased the pressure. Moreira was again on target in the 37th minute guiding home a cross from Reinaldo D'Souza. Moreira's scoring sequence was broken by Andre Viapana who scored in the 61st minute to make it 3-0. Moreira picked up the action again scoring the team's fourth goal in the 76th minute when released by a through pass from substitute Augusto Mendes. The three goals took Moreira's tournament tally to six goals - highest by any player in the tournament so far.

Nam Dinh pulled one back through substitute Tran Huy Trung who guided home a Nguyen Van Sy freekick in the 79th minute. Palmeiras replied with more goals soon after. Antonio Marcos (85th) and Celio Claudio (90th) scored in quick succession to realise the thumping 6-1 victory.

In the other quarterfinal, TFA started on a strong note but Muktijoddha usurped the initiative soon. Rakib Hussain opened the scoring in the 45th minute. Ariful Kabir (65th minute) and Ariful's substitute Mizanur Rehman (89th) scored the next two goals to ensure a confident passage to the semifinals.

The postponement of the Mohun Bagan - Tollygunge Agragami quarterfinal has pushed back the first semifinal. Following the new development, the organisers - Indian Football Association - has rescheduled the semifinal fixtures for the second time in the tournament. The first match, to be played between East Bengal and the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal, has been shifted to Saturday which was slated as rest day prior to Sunday's final. The second semifinal between Palmeiras and Muktijoddha will be played on Friday, as scheduled while the final is still fixed on Sunday.

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