Lusofonia Games 2014: Scintillating India ease past lethargic Macau to reach final

The goal-scorers Brandon Fernandes (left) and Sahil Tavora

It was the second semi-final of the football event at the Lusofonia Games 2014, Goa. It was a wonderful evening and the local crowd was gathering up to fill the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda and witness India play host to Macau in the decider for the finals.

Goa-India were in full control of the game from the start, playing classic possession football and creating numerous chances throughout the 90 minutes. However, the team had to wait until the 17th minute to take the lead from a well struck 25-yard free kick by local boy and crowd favourite Brandon Fernandes.

The Macau team, which put on a rather lethargic performance, found Brandon too hard to handle who was all over the pitch, supplying through balls, key passes and drilling shoots from outside the box. The first half ended 1-0.

India picked up just where they left off during the break and started the second half with the same flair, but couldn’t find that second goal to kill the game off. They created plenty of chances but just couldn’t put the ball into the net, whereas Macau couldn’t be seen anywhere near the opposition’s penalty area.

India’s skipper, who was electrifying down the flanks, put together many dribbles and made a fine pass into the box only to find none of his team mates there to receive it. It was not until the final quarter of the second half that the game started to pick up. India got a glorious one-on-one opportunity that was disappointingly put wide.

The Indian defenders then made a terrifying back pass that awarded Macau with a glorious one-on-one opportunity in the final 10 minutes of the game, but the striker only managed to find the side of the net, much to the relief of the local crowd who almost got up on their feet abusing the Indian defender for his blunder. India’s star playmaker Brandon was still doing all the talking on the pitch for India along with his team mates, winning back possession, keeping possession and making key passes and the defence cutting through balls, but the team still struggled to find that game killing goal.

It was not until the 90th minute, that Sahil produced an amazing individual run, dribbling past not one, not two, but three defenders, making himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper and slotting home India’s second goal. Sahil ran towards the East Stand and saluted the local crowd for their enthusiastic support throughout the game.

Neto’s tactically solid Indian team will now face Mozambique in the finals of the Lusofonia Games 2014 held in Goa. Indian fans will be hoping to see the same scintillating performance by team Goa-India.