Kolkata-Bengaluru settle for 1-1 draw

An ardent fan of Ronaldinho, Indian Futsal player Mohammed Islam says successfully tackling the Brazilian football legend was the moment he would cherish during the ongoing Premier Futsal here.

In a keenly contested game, with several twists and turns, Mumbai, which was down twice in the game, bounced back to cross over the line.

Cafu replaced his compatriot Ronaldino as marquee player for Goa.

For Mumbai, it was an amalgamation of good passes and counter attacks that did the trick.

Romulo made it 2-1 in the 16th minute.

Mumbai 5’s again levelled when Kevin Ramirez scored in the 14th minute. Mumbai leveled it again thanks to Giggs.

It all boiled down to the fourth quarter even as the audience held their nerves.

Case in point: recently the 36-year-old Brazilian soccer star has been playing in the Indian Premier Futsal league and on Sunday, he scored five goals to propel Goa to a 7-2 win over Bengaluru.

With Mumbai and Kolkata already securing their place in the semifinals and Chennai leading 2-0 against Kochi going into the final quarter, it seemed like the last 10 minutes would be a mere formality that will ensure Chennai completes the semifinal line-up. It was Kolkata 5’s Pula who scored for the first time in the game in the fifth minute as the crowd cheered.

His teammate Carioca extended the lead to 2-0 in the ninth minute. Goa had opportunities to score but missed several chances in the first two quarters, giving their opponents the edge.

In the fourth quarter, an orange card was shown to Kolkata goalkeeper Cidao as he pushed the ball outside from the D-box in the 39th minute.

Brazilian great Ronaldinho, who enthralled the crowd with his deft skills during the first two matches of the Premier Futsal will not be a part of the Goa leg as he has left for his country. With one win and one loss, Goa is now grabbing the second spot of the table with three points, and with just 1 point, Paul Scholes led Bangalore is at the very bottom of the group table and yet to win a single match.

The first match went ahead according to the initial schedule as the home team Goa 5s took on Kolkata 5s. The equaliser was scored by Jonathan Piers in the 22nd minute. Their goalkeeper Luis Amado also played a vital role in their victory. At the end of the scheduled time, the sides settled for a draw with both gaining a point each.