Football history scripted in golden letters at Fatorda

Crowd out side the stadium (Dominic Paes)

It was the day, or night rather, that reminded many why football is Goa's state sport. This was the first time that the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda was packed to capacity since 2005 but the story happened outside.

Spectators, those without passes, pushed through the police cordon and disappeared into the crowd, all cheering 11 brave warriors.

Everyone wanted to have a piece of the action at Fatorda but the reduced capacity at the stadium, now all-seater, meant only 19,000 could be accommodated. There were no tickets to buy, so those without the necessary contacts had to loiter outside and hope, whenever there is an opportunity, they gate-crash.

Everybody took that in "sporting spirit" and the footballers ensured nobody went home dejected, scripting a memorable 3-2 victory over Mozambique for the gold medal.

When it comes to football, Goa has had wonderful successes in the past. This isn't the first time, or the last, that supporters have soaked in its success. It all started with the women's national triumph on home soil in 1977, then the men won the Santosh Trophy for two years in a row 1983 and 1984, and more recently Goan clubs, particularly Dempo Sports Club, have swept everything before them.

But this is different.

The Lusofonia Games 2014 triumph will be special. For one, nobody really gave Goa a chance of being on the podium, forget the gold. This team also had exclusively Goan players. While the rest of the disciplines rode piggy-back on national players and India stars, football had only Goan talent sans stars, except for Brandon Fernandes.

This was also historic. Never has a state conquered nations and that too in a globally-captivating sport like football. History was written at Fatorda, in golden letters.