QUEEN’S ROAD: Ten years ago on December 5, a tragedy unfolded at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium which shocked the sporting world.
It was the Federation Cup final between Dempo, Goa, and Mohun Bagan, Kolkata. Dempo won 2-0 but their triumph was overshadowed by the shocking death of Cristiano Junior.
Junior suffered a massive cardiac arrest seconds after he scored his second goal. The ball had entered the net past the then goalkeeper Subrata Pal, who had struck the Brazilian rather needlessly before he had collapsed.
Junior had been the top-scorer for East Bengal the previous season. Dempo had signed him on and he did not disappoint them. He scored virtually in every game and made the Fed Cup final his own till the tragic moment.
Most people still can't forget the slow-motion replays of those agonising moments on Doordarshan.
There have been similar events which have occurred on the football field. One can never forget the Santosh Trophy tragedy in Kannur in 1994. Sanjib Das, the Railway stopper, died of cardiac arrest on the field. It almost happened again during the Santosh Trophy in 1997 in Jabalpur when Services stopper Ignatius fell unconscious. However, he recovered soon enough in hospital.
But Junior was not that lucky. The post-mortem reports stated that it was a massive cardiac arrest and he died within seconds of falling on the ground.
The most poignant memory of that fateful event is that of Dempo striker Ranty Martins. The Nigerian was the first to reach a prostrate Junior. He touched him and perhaps immediately realised that something was terribly wrong. Ranty gestured for the medical personnel to rush in.
Even as they did, Ranty knelt beside Junior, folded his hands and looked heaven-wards in prayer. Ranty was asking the Almighty to save Junior. Tragically, that did not happen as Junior had probably breathed his last by then.
It’s has been 10 years since that tragedy occurred on the soccer field. The Fed Cup is scheduled to commence in Goa later this month but it can never be the same again as memories of Junior's death will always linger in the minds of fans.
Cristiano Junior will always be missed, no matter where Dempo plays. For they can never get a player of his calibre. Even if they do, they will never get a better human being than Junior.
The devout, God-fearing Junior had come down all the way from Brazil to earn and help his mother build a house back home. Always soft-spoken, humble to a fault, Junior was a priceless possession not just for Dempo but for the game itself.
"Every time there is a Federation Cup match, Cristiano Junior’s memory comes back to mind," said Dempo coach Armando Colaco.
It always will for those who saw him play. More so for all those who knew him personally.