Bruno Coutinho: The diminutive striker who captained India with distinction

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The former India captain relives his memorable career in this interview...

As far as legendary footballers from the state of Goa are concerned, Bruno Coutinho is a name which is right up there.

As a 14-year-old from Monte de Guirim school, he was spotted by his coach Paul Raj and further honed his striking skills under Salvador Fernandes. He scored thrice in his first game and he went on to win the U-17 Subroto Mukherjee Football tournament with his school.

And even though he started off his senior club career with Dempo SC in 1988 (then known as Dempo Engineering) and had another stint with them in 1991, Coutinho will always be apotheosised as a Salgaocar FC (1981-1991, 1992-2002) legend.

"When I played for Dempo, I was the highest scorer in the league for them," the 50-year-old recalled in a coversation with Goal.

Coutinho first represented India at the age of 18 at the Asian School Games held in Brunei in 1987, captained the Indian U-23 side at the Pre-Olympics qualifiers in 1991 before making his senior international debut at the President’s World Cup in Dhaka in 1989. He last represented the country in the Millennium Cup in Kochi in 2001 - the year he won the Arjuna Award.

He captained India at the 1995 SAF Games (South Asian Games) in Chennai and the 1996 Asia Cup in Malaysia. He scored in the semifinal and final to lead the country to victory in the SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) championships at Fatorda in 1999. It was also the last time he captained the national team.

At the state level, he represented Goa more than 10 times in Santosh Trophy and was adjudged the "Player of the Tournament" in 1999. This led to the state government awarding him with the Kerkar Award for his contribution to the sport.

During his time at Salgaocar, he helped the team winning the Federation Cup (1997), Rovers Cup (1989, 1996), Taca Goa title (1989) and the National Football League title (1998).

The 1997 Federation Cup will always remain a special occasion for Coutinho. A year after he was recognised as the AIFF (All India Football Federation) "Player of the Year", he scored twice including a golden goal off a pass from Savio Medeira in the 2-1 victory over East Bengal. The feat, at a full house Salt Lake stadium, prompted the Goan to come up with the infamous finger on lips celebration.

"That was one of the most memorable moments. You can image those one lakh fans at the Salt Lake stadium and defeating East Bengal at their home ground was something big," he reminisced.

It was no surprise that Kolkata clubs were keen to lure him with lucrative offers, reportedly going to the extent of INR 18 lakhs which could have made him the highest paid footballer in the country in 1999. But Coutinho stayed put in Goa.

However, he didn't end his glorious club career of 14 years at Salgaocar. In 2002, Coutinho decided to join Vasco SC while still in good shape.

"At the end of that (2001-02) season also, just like everybody wants to play, I wanted to play for one more year at Salgaocar but they had some other plans which was when I moved to Vasco," he explained.

Vasco was a top Goan outfit at the time playing in the National Football League (NFL) but a poignant knee injury saw him eventually join Fransa-Pax FC (now disbanded) in the second division. He eventually assumed the role of a coach for a very brief period of time.

"I just went to coaching but if you want to pursue a career in coaching, you have to prepare well in advance so that you can directly jump to coaching when you retire (from playing). After I got the Arjuna Award, I also got a government job (Joint director of coaching at the Sports Authority of India) in 2004. So I didn't think much coaching as a career," he reasoned.

Bruno also gave his opinion on how football and footballers' priority have changed over time.

"During our time, our football was much better, but gradually it also changes through the generations. So in this generation, football is much faster and used as a medium to make a name (for yourself) and also make money. During our time, it was all about making a name for ourselves," he stated.

2020-05-28 10:00:05