FC Barcelona legend stole the show on the last day of the Chennai leg of Premier Futsal 2016, pumping five goals past a hapless Bengaluru side as Goa won 7-2.
There were some doubts creeping in about Ronaldinho’s ability at the age of 36, as Goa lost their first match of the tournament 4-2 at the hands of Kolkata. The ex-Barcelona attacker was said to be carrying a minor injury during that game.
Ronaldinho bounced back with a stellar performance on Sunday, scoring five goals against Paul Scholes’ Bengaluru. The former Barcelona and AC Milan man opened the scoring, to give Goa an early lead. Scholes’ side bounced back with two quick goals, as Jonathan made the score 2-1 in Bengaluru’s favour.
However, Ronaldinho was just getting warmed up all this while, and the Brazilian started running riot after this point. He scored two quick goals to put Goa back in the lead, and complete his hattrick. After half time, the game was single-handedly being controlled by Ronaldinho. The Brazilian used a number of trickes to keep the Bengaluru players confused.
While the third quarter went goalless, the game sprung back into action in the fourth. Raphael and Ronaldhinho combined to score four more goals in the last quarter, to complete a 7-2 drubbing of Bengaluru, as Ronaldinho himself managed to score five goals in a single match.
Falcao stars as Chennai and Kochi play out an entertaining draw
There was more excitement in store for the Chennai crowd on Sunday night, as the home side played out a thoroughly entertaining 4-4 draw with Michel Salgado’s Kochi.
While Ronaldinho mesmerised in the crowd in the first game of the night, his compatriot Falcao set the stage ablaze in the second. Kochi took an early lead in the first half, but Chennai kept on creating chance after chance. Finally, Falcao converted one of these chances, to end the first quarter with a 1-1 scoreline.
It was after the first quarter that Falcao really got going, as he scored two more goals, with Chaguina netting one at the other end, to make it 3-2 in Chennai’s favour.
While Camilo gave Chennai a 4-2 lead late on in the game, Morares and Chaguina scored again, to level the scores up at 4-4, and complete an entertaining draw. Unfortunately though, Falcao had to limp off before the end of the game, with a suspected groin injury.
Stadium problems for ATK and FC Goa
Indian Super League (ISL) sides Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) and FC Goa may be left without a stadium for the upcoming ISL season, as the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, and Fatorda stadium in Goa may not be available for the tournament.
The stadiums are currently going through renovations for the 2016 BRICS Games, and 2017 U-17 World Cup. The India u-17 side are set to play the u-17 sides of Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa in the round robin stage of the BRICS games between 2nd to 10th of October.
According to a report in Bengali daily Anandabazar Patrika, there are questions whether the Fatorda and the Salt Lake Stadiums will be available during the first phase of the ISL, which also gets underway in early October.
To add to that, the officials are worried that the stadiums need to be in good condition when the FIFA send their committee to inspect the stadiums, ahead of the u-17 World Cup. While general confusion reigns over the whole issue, it remains to be seen where ATK and FC Goa play their home matches this season.
Chennaiyin FC retain five of their stars from last season
Chennaiyin FC have already started to prepare for the upcoming season of ISL, as they have secured the signing of Raphael Augusto, Harmanjyot Khabra, Thoi Singh, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, and Karanjit Singh. The five were already a part of the Chennaiyin side that won the ISL last season, and will be playing for the Super Machans once again, this season.
The dependable duo of Raphael Augusto & @harman_khabra is back to dominate the midfield! pic.twitter.com/qXucSwBxMS
— Chennaiyin FC (@ChennaiyinFC) July 17, 2016
The #AdhiradiTrio of Thoi Singh, @mehrajwadoo & @tuhikaran shared a lot of moments & gave us memories to cherish! pic.twitter.com/Czb2tYNDMv
— Chennaiyin FC (@ChennaiyinFC) July 16, 2016
While goalkeeper Karanjit had to play second fiddle to Edel last season, the 30-year-old had a stellar season with Salgaocar, helping the Goan side to finish in the top four positions in the I-League earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Wadoo, Thoi, Khabra, and Augusto, who performed well last season, are expected to make it straight to Chennaiyin’s starting XI.
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