The 92-year-old Goan Lady and Her Poems to Benfica
Srinwantu Dey for Goalden Times speaks to Carolina Miranda who is 92-years-young and the most unique fan of Benfica.
“Yes, I know about Bela Guttman’s curse, but I don’t believe in curses”, said the 92 year old. She was determined, a little emotional, and rather proud. Although she had seen the world, she was speaking from more than just experience. Meet Carolina Miranda, Benfica’s purest fan alive, who lives in a lonely Lisbon house.
Since their 1962 European Cup triumph, Benfica has never achieved any European glory. However, it’s considered the most supported and successful club in Portugal—winning the domestic league a record 36 times. The Benfiquistas are a group of proud and prestigious supporters. Reportedly 500,000 Benfica fans celebrated their 2014 League win on the streets of Lisbon, as the Portuguese capital turned red. When Benfica meets Sporting Lisbon, their eternal rival—the city comes to a standstill. Lisbon derby is immeasurably absorbing and terrifying because of the enigmatic fans of the rival camps. During a derby day, the war-cry of fans along the path of the Segunda Circular highway—the road that joins Lisbon’s two biggest stadiums—is truly formidable. But far away from all the noise, lights, and music there is an old lady who supports her beloved club from her lonely house, seating alone and writing poems.
Carolina – in different phases of her lifeCarolina was born in Goa, an ex-Portuguese colony in India, on the 8th of March 1925. Coincidentally, this was the same year Benfica first moved to their own stadium—Estádio das Amoreiras. Carolina’s father was a High Court Judge in Goa and her mother was a Spanish lady whom he met in Lisbon when he had gone to Portugal to study Law. Carolina is the eldest of four siblings—she has two sisters and a brother.
“I did my primary and secondary schools in Goa, and afterwards I went to Bombay to join a College run by British nuns and did my BA (French Honours) there. Then I came back to Goa.A couple of years later, I got married to a Portuguese Army man and we came to Portugal”, she stopped for a while and continued, “We were married for 50 years. We had two children—a boy and a girl. My husband died 16 years ago. I have no grandchildren.”
This little old super fan, however, wasn’t a football admirer initially. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
“How did I first interact with football? I did not interact, I reacted against football!” she chuckled.
“While we were in Goa my husband never spoke about football and as far as I know, there was no football in Goa or in Bombay. Of course, I knew of its existence in European countries, but in India the game was cricket, not football.”explained Carolina.
(Author’s note:This is surprising. Goa is known to be one of the most football loving states of India, alongside West Bengal and Kerala. Though the Goa Football Association was formed in 1959, the history of football in Goa dates back to 1883 when Reverent Fr. William Robert Lyons, an Irish priest, introduced the sport in the curriculum of Christian education. Since then,village football has been a part of Goan culture.)
Lina with her husband“When we came to Portugal, I did not like it that my husband would leave us at home every second Sunday to go to the stadium and watch football.” Carolina bluntly explained.
“I used to get so angry! I could not understand how he could leave the family behind on Sundays to go and run to his football. I was jealous, because I was not used to it. I never saw my father do it and I began to hate football!”
Two years later,Carolina and her family went back to Goa again,and football was forgotten. They stayed there till Independence, and then returned to Portugal.
“Here, of course, football again started getting on my nerves and interfering in my married life.But there was nothing I could do about it. As time passed by, I began to get used to it and when it started being transmitted though television, I also began to watch the matches at home.” Carolina recollected.
“If you cannot fight it, join it. That was what I did and little by little I began to understand the game and become interested in it. And what do you know? Eventually, I actually fell in love with it.”
“If you cannot fight it, join it. That was what I did and little by little I began to understand the game and become interested in it. And what do you know? Eventually, I actually fell in love with it.”
Carolina’s husband was a member of SL Benfica, one of the most glorified clubs of Europe, and subsequently Carolina became an ardent supporter of the same club. In fact, all her family members, including her children, her brother and his children and grandchildren, her nieces and nephews, with the exception of her one sister, were strong supporters of Benfica. It was a family tradition.
“I don’t remember having seen Eusebio playing, but I heard and read a lot about him. He was a real star! As far as I can remember, my interest and real love for Benfica started after Eusébio had retired and just a few years before I became a widow.”
While Carolina never watched Eusebio playing, she has been an ardent fan of João Vieira Pinto, the former Portuguese wonder-forward of the golden generation. In fact, she still regrets the transfer of Pinto to rival club Sporting Lisbon in 2000, the other side of the “Segunda Circular”.
This is a classic example of how the passion for football can drive somebody’s life, even for someone who is remotely attached to the game. Carolina got hooked onto the game even before she had a chance to attend a live game at the Estádio da Luz, Benfica’s prestigious home stadium.
“Much after my husband died, I was invited by my brother to go to the stadium to watch a live match against R.S.C. Anderlecht of Belgium. That was quite an experience! Something overwhelming! I felt so small in the middle of that crowded stadium, all red and when they started singing their Hymn I could not hold my tears of emotion and I cried like a baby! I will never forget that fantastic sight as long as I live. I was thoroughly shaken.This was my first and the only time I went to a Stadium,” Carolina explained emotionally.
Carolina now.Carolina started writing poems just for fun about four or five years ago. Initially, though, the poems were not about football.
She currently lives in a building in an area named Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques. It’s near the heart of Lisbon, where the red line and green line of the Lisbon metro intersect—but she hardly has anyone to talk to.
“When did I start writing my poems? That is another story,” she recounts.
“I live alone in a big house, have nobody to talk to, not even my neighbours who are not permanent residents and every day I see different faces climbing up and down the stairs at the entrance. I practically don’t know anybody who lives in this building and feel very lonely, although I read a lot and watch TV, watch football, and have some friends from social networks.”
“Most of my friends, unfortunately, are dead and some are suffering from Alzheimers. I don’t feel safe going out all by myself, although I use a walking stick. I only go out to go to a restaurant with my children when they are here or when they come to see me once a week.”
Football, however, has been a loyal companion..
“That’s why I decided to write verses on Benfica as a hobby. I write one or two poems a week and this started about three or four years ago. So this is, in short, the story of my poems to Benfica,” smiled Carolina.
Most of my friends, unfortunately, are dead and some are suffering from Alzheimers. I don’t feel safe going out all by myself, although I use a walking stick. I only go out to go to a restaurant with my children when they are here or when they come to see me once a week. That’s why I decided to write verses on Benfica as a hobby
In this busy and speedy world of click-baiting football articles and blind fanboys, we had discovered a pure football fan in a remote street of Lisbon.
When we asked for a few samples of her poems, she was a bit shy at the beginning and reluctant to show us.However, thanks to her niece, we received some specimens and the translated versions are furnished below for our readers.
“As you might have heard the Italians say, ‘Traduttore, traditore’, which means that a translator is traitor, because the translator more often than not mis-translates and changes the thought of the author completely. Besides, I always focus on the funny side of football and make use of many idiomatic expressions and popular sayings—trying to insert some humour in whatever I write. I think all that will be lost in translation,” the 92-year-old chuckled.
“I wish them all the best and would like to see them win the European Championship before I die,” she concluded.
The old lady is still living in hope.
Benfica, are you listening?
BENFICA – BORUSSIA-DORTMUND
BENFICA-CHELSEA
O DERBY LISBOETA (Sporting-Benfica)
About Srinwantu Dey
Srinwantu Dey lives in Chicago who takes football journalism seriously under the huge influence of Eduardo Galeano. He is keenly interested in various creative ways of story-telling on the beautiful game, its diverse socio-cultural and humanitarian appeal. Srinwantu habitually travels, documents and visually captures how football explains different societies and ethnicities. He can be reached at @SrinwantuDey.
