Sporting Clube de Goa is an association football club based in the Indian state of Goa who currently participates in the I-League which is India`s premier league competition in the country. It is built on the lines of Portuguese club Sporting CP and adopting a similar club crest. The club Cidade de Goa (City of Goa) was purchased by Sporting"s current owners and renamed Sporting Clube de Goa in 1999.
History of Sporting Clube de Goa
Sporting Clube de Goa is a professional football club from Goa that came into existence in the year 1999 when people of Panjim decided to set up a football club after Cidade de Goa disbanded its football team. Sporting Clube de Goa just like Vasco Sports Club became the 2nd football club of public shareholding. The club which was structured on the lines of Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal has indeed made people proud and has been successful in garnering enough support for themselves. In the 2001-02 seasons the club has had a successful run to the Federation Cup and won against strong teams like Kingfisher East Bengal FC and Indian Bank.
The club made its appearance in Indian National Football League Premier Division for 2003-2004 seasons. Sporting entered the finals of 2005 Federation Cup, and came out as the second in the tournament. In the next season, the club entered the finals once again, but lost in penalty shoot-out to Mohun Bagan A.C. Sporting clube de Goa, after getting relegated from the I-League in 2010, participated in the 2011 I-League 2nd Division and won promotion by finishing in 2nd place.
Crest of Sporting Clube de Goa
The Sporting Crest is supposed to be almost an exact replica of the Sporting CP but not completely. One notable difference is the fact that on Sporting Portugal`s crest it actually says Sporting Portugal while Sporting Goa`s does not. Another difference is that Sporting Portugal`s crest is coloured in mostly dark green and yellow while the Sporting Goa crest is darkish green and white.
While the crest of Sporting Goa may be green and white the official colours of Sporting Goa are orange and white. In fact, the club nickname is the flaming orange. On the home kits Sporting wear an orange jersey with white shorts and orange socks while the away kit is all white but with an orange collar.
Stadium of Sporting Clube de Goa
Traditionally, Sporting Goa has played at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, Goa. During the 2011 I-League 2nd Division however, they had to play at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong as the league does not host matches in home and away format. As SC Goa is back in the top-tier of the I-League, they have again started to play their home games at Fatorda Stadium.
Current Squad of Sporting Clube de Goa
The present players of Sporting clube de Goa includes Harpreet Singh, Myron Pereira, Matthew Gonsalves, Ponif Vaz, Shouvik Das, Denson Devadas, Mahmoud Amnah, Odafe Onyeka Okolie, Marcus Masceranhas, Creson Antao, Fayaz Shaikh, Victorino Fernandes, Pratesh Shirodkar, Mauvin Borges, Seriton Fernandes, Densil Theobald, Sumit Passi, Isaac Negredo, Cajetan Fernandes, Joseph Pereira, Rowllin Borges, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Glan Martins, Quan Gomes, Joseph Clemente, Alber Gonsalves, Arindam Bhattacharya, Loveday Enyinnaya, Kamaljit Singh, Ganesh Thakur, Joyner Lourenco, Subashish Bose, Nicholas Fernandes, Fulganco Cardozo, Melroy Fernandes, Sumit Das, Abhishek Rawat, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, George D`Souza, Joel Fernandes, Harshad Naik, Jesmon Soares, Anto Xavier, Nikhil Naik, James Fernandes, Delbert Fernandes and Akeraj Martins.
Academy of Sporting Clube de Goa
On 16th August 2013 Sporting launched their football academy on the occasion of the 198th anniversary of founding of Don Bosco. The academy for various age groups, namely U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16, U-18 and U-20, will have a coaching team built around Spanish coach Javier Fernandez, who will be assisted by coaches Norbert Gonsalves, Ashwin Crasto, Francisco Raposo and Freddy Gomes and will work under the overall supervision and guidance of Sporting"s head coach Oscar Bruzon in order to implement the Sporting Clube de Goa youth development plan Sporting Goa also renovated the football ground at Don Bosco College in Panaji with the installation of sub-surface slit drainage combined with the laying of perforated pipes. The original mud topping has given way to sand based top layer, which encourages drainage, healthy grass growth and provides a level and cushioned playing surface.
