'2007 sweet, 2005 sweeter for Dempo'

NEW DELHI, May 28: The victory chants of a hard-fought battle always hold a special spell over the victors. Which is exactly why the double-whammy of the National Football League title and the Durand Cup this season cannot take the place of their maiden NFL title win in 2005 for Dempo.
"2005 is definitely closer to the heart," confesses Samir Naik, Dempo captain during that campaign. "The fight was really exciting with all the three teams breathing down each other’s neck till the very last moment. Sporting Clube de Goa were obviously everyone’s favourites," he says. With just one match to go and Sporting Clube, Dempo and East Bengal running neck-and-neck for the title at 45, 44 and 43 points respectively, a lone win could have made anyone’s season.
And all three honour-chasers were playing the crucial fixture on their home turf. Sporting Clube were taking on Mahindra United, Dempo were facing Tollygunge Agragami and East Bengal were locking horns with Vasco Sports Club.
Being the hungriest of the lot, having finished runners-up to East Bengal in the earlier season and seeing their star-striker Cristiano Junior collapse and die in the unfortunate Federation Cup final clash against Mohun Bagan, Dempo somehow held their nerve to clinch their first NFL title by beating their rivals 2-0, as both Sporting Clube and East Bengal lost 3-1.
This season, however, was an easier nut to crack, even though the Whites did need a jolt from time to time to wake up from the slumber. While a fifth-rank NFL finish followed the 2005 triumph, a 2-1 loss to Mahindra in the opening game this season forced Dempo to get their act together. "In the Mahindra match we scored first which was a good sign. We just lacked the ability to defend that score till the end — something we decided to take care of in the future games," says Naik.
To fulfil the defending needs of the team Naik was even shifted to the left side. But he has no complaints, as "anything is good if it does the team good". And probably, that was what set Dempo apart from other teams. As they say, coming together is a beginning, keeping together is a process and working together success. Dempo have lived by this for a long time. Armando Colaco’s men are a team, there are no stars. "Many players have stuck around in the squad for more than four to five years and that has built team spirit. Everyone here fights for the other guy," Naik tells us.
It was this spirit which helped the Goans stick together and fight back in some tough matches this season. "Against Sporting Clube de Goa, we made a comeback and won 3-2 after being 0-2 down. And with East Bengal, Dempo were 3-2 down after half-time, but even then losing never came to mind," Naik reminisces. "And that’s probably why we ended up winners in the last 15 minutes."
This season, while only Mahindra United have proved the unbreachable frontier for Dempo, the complete conquering of usual suspects Mohun Bagan and East Bengal — especially the victory parade at home against Bagan — added that extra charm to their joy. Now with Ranty Martins, their main striker, being called up for the Nigeria squad for the pre-Olympic qualifiers, Dempo have prised away Chidi Edeh from JCT to fill the slot. Let’s see if the ‘family’ squad is able to live up to the expectations next season, even without top scorer Martins.