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Celebrating the commencement of their 15th year recently, Sporting Clube de Goa are in good spirits as they get ready to kick off their I-League 2013/14 campaign against Mumbai FC at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune, on Saturday (September 21).
During the pre-season, Sporting Goa received a monumental make-over both on and off the field, with the start of the SCG Football Academy, catering to youngsters in the Under-10, U-12, U-14, U-16, U-18 and U-20 age groups, with the aim of providing a conveyor belt of quality stars for the senior team.
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The Academy was complimented by the renovation of the training ground at Don Bosco in Panjim, where a beautiful, manicured sand-based turf was laid with a state of the art sub-based drainage system to ensure a quality playing surface throughout the year.
The club were also busy in the transfer market signing up the following players: Deepak Devrani, Ravi Kumar (both Pailan Arrows), Beevan D’Mello, Cajetan Fernandes (both Salgaocar FC), Mauvin Borges (Sesa Football Academy), Melroy Fernandes (Churchill Brothers SC), Harshad Meher (Air India), Jagdeep Singh (Tollygunge Agragami), along with foreigners Boima Jerry Karpeh (Australia), Arturo Garcia, Gonzalo Hinojal (both Spain).
The following players who served the club well, left in the summer: Adil Ahmed Khan, L. Bisheshwor Singh, Freiman Peixoto, L. Ashok Singh, Agnel Gomes, Rahul Yadav, N. Samananda Singh, Mario Lobo and K. Boboi Singh.
Sporting Goa’s Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon who has transformed the team since taking over in December 2012, felt his first pre-season with the club has gone well. “The players have responded favourably in practice, with a great mental attitude and we have enjoyed a good run in the local league which has helped us to prepare for the I-League. This year I feel we can finish among the top five.”
