As we reach the end of 2017, we at Goalden Times (GT) thought it will be a good time to look back at our journey through this year. On personal front, it has been a decent year for us. We have completed six years, our first print publication ‘Tiro: A football odyssey from Amazon to Alps‘ in association with Rattis Books, London, UK has been displayed in the annual conference of North American Society for Sport History at California State University, USA. We are grateful to our readers for embracing our labour of love with open arms.
On the coverage side, we have spread our wings from Afghanistan to Argentina. From story of success to story of oblivion, from cultural pilgrimage to the journey from darkness – GT have brought diverse genres to its readers. We have kicked off our dream series of ‘The Black Swans’ in celebration of the drama and madness of underdog fairy-tales, which has been accepted fairly well by the modern football audience.
Here is wishing all our contributors, readers, well wishers and collaborators a happy and prosperous 2018. Be assured that GT will continue to spread love for the beautiful game across the globe in the new year and beyond.
Here is the official selection of best eleven football stories we have published in 2017 for your reading pleasure and to celebrate the rare art of storytelling.
Best Eleven of 2017
Bandana or Boni – The Battle Continues
Incredible story of an intersex footballer from remote India who fights for identity and shelter against a ruthless society, through GT Original, narrated by Tamoghna Kundu
Playing football around Balata Refugee Camp: A visual journey
An uncanny account of war-torn West Bank and Balata Refugee Camp through the eyes of a foreign journalist depicting how football is shaping its future amidst desert, bullets and crisis. Words and photography by Mladen Barbaric.
Mostar Derby – Where Football Meets Nationalism and Ethnicity
War ravaged Bosnia and Herzegovina has its own set of football history to be explored. Suprodip Ghosal from Goalden Times takes you through one such experience with a tale of the Mostar Derby comprising of clubs FK Velez Mostar and HSK Zrinjski Mostar.
Diego against the world
A visual documentation of flying tackles and attempted missions to conquer the unstoppable Diego Maradona (1979-1994). But how many of them have actually succeeded ? Words by Dr. Subhashis Biswas.
Small Team, Small town, Big dreams – The Story of San Felipe
Amidst a string of national championship wins by big Chilean clubs like Universidad de Chile, Colo Colo, and Union Española, a tiny team won their first championship—surprising and surpassing all. The team was San Felipe, our Chilean Black Swan, presented to you by Sebastian Moraga
We often get drawn into animated discussions or debates surrounding the greatest footballer of all time. Invariably the list narrows down largely to a handful of goal scorers, since their action culminates in the most important aspect of a football match (supposedly)– goal. But we sometime tend to overlook the bigger picture. What if there was someone who did not have the privilege of playing in a team as good as that of Pele’s? What if someone had to fight oppression just like Maradona but limelight evaded him? Debojyoti Chakraborty brings to you the story of one such man; a man who conquered Europe but had to live in obscurity.
Colo-Colo 1991: Mystical Journey of the Eternal Champions
The first line of Colo-Colo’s official anthem says, “Let us all sing from Arica to Magallanes, for Colo-Colo, an example of valour”. This perfectly summarizes the expansion of club’s fan base in Chile from Arica in the north to Magallanes in the south. The team has a special place in Chile’s heart and helped Chileans hope for unity during years of political turbulence. Tamas Sinha at Goalden Times takes us through the extravagant journey of a club that became a part of Chilean folklore.
The phenomenon of penalty kick is a matter of choice – both for the penalty taker and the goalkeeper. The penalty taker needs to decide whether to shoot left, right or down the middle while the goalkeeper chooses whether to dive left, right or stay put in the center of goal. Can these choices fit a game theory model? Indranath Mukherjee explores the possibility by looking at an empirical study.
When Eastern Railway Ran on Full Steam (1958)
Indian national football team is on a high after its impressive display in the last two years, with them plummeting to a record 97th spot in the recent FIFA rankings, best in their history. The nation is also gripped by football fever as the host country of FIFA U17 World Cup is gearing up to witness some real-world class budding talents. And despite this latest change of fortunes, this same Indian football was traditionally once a formidable force in the continental front. And it was during those days that a lesser known team conquered the imagination of everyone. The team was Eastern Railway FC, our Indian Black Swan, presented to you by Debojyoti Chakraborty at Goalden Times.
As the Australians finally progress to the next year’s World Cup in Russia, it could be a fairy-tale journey for one player. This player is the uncapped, Kenya-born, 22-year-old refugee named Awer Bul Mabil, presented to you by Stephen Stratton at Goalden Times. This is his story.
I said no to dictatorship on every level: Carlos Caszely
We all come to a crossroad in life where we have to choose between what is good for us and what is good in general. Not sure how many of us chose the right option, but here is a story of a rebel who certainly listened to his heart rather than his head. Debojyoti Chakraborty portrays Carlos Caszely just the way he is –a man of strong principals, on and off the pitch.
“When the ball rolls wide off the post, you can cry about that. But when you lose your freedom, do you cry … or fight?”
Eric Cantona
This is the story of another rebel in the football pitch, just like Eric, the enigmatic genius, himself. Nicknamed Rey del metro cuadrado (King of the square meter) for his amazing close ball controlling skills, he cemented his place in footballing folklore for his idiosyncratic rather rebellious off-field actions. This is the story of a footballer who had no fear of losing everything he had for not bowing down to one of the most atrocious dictators of the 20th century. This is the story about that refused handshake which became a watershed event in the history of the country.
Carlos Humberto Caszely Garrido, one of Chile’s most important players, was a prolific goal scorer during his career spanning from 1969 to 1986. But he is known more for his political consciousness. Born in a left-wing communist family in Santiago on July 5, 1949, Caszely was brought up never to shy away from expressing himself. He was certainly different from his peers – he was an active member of the Players’ Union while most professionals in those days opted to stay aloof and apolitical Not only that, Caszely was very transparent and opinionated about his political inclinations, especially towards Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity government: “Since I had use of my own reason, I have liked the Left and I am not thinking of changing my ideals.”
Carlos Caszely in action, 1982 [Source: Sport Bladet]
Caszely rose through the ranks of Chile’s most famous club team Colo Colo and eventually joined them in 1967 as a 17-year-old. The kid became a goal scoring sensation during his six-season stay there as he netted 66 goals in 123 appearances. Apart from winning the Chilean League in 1970 and 1972, Caszely ruled the continental stage as well as the top scorer in the 1973 Copa Libertadores (Colo Colo narrowly missed out on the trophy to Club Atlético Independiente in the extra time of the decider after the two legged final tie ended in a stalemate). Caszely’s exploits had not gone unnoticed and he joined the newly promoted Levante UD in Spanish second flight. Unfortunately Levante got relegated but Caszely continued his goal scoring spree finding the net 15 times in the league from 24 appearances and finishing in the top five for the race of Pichichi in the Segunda División. These were just his footballing exploits; the iconic moment was yet to come – that which changed Caszely’s life forever during this time.
28 years before the dreaded 9/11 brought up the face of international terrorism to public focus, Chileans had to experience a shivering 9/11 of their own when a military coup overthrew Chile’s democratically elected socialist President Salvador Allende in 1973. That upheaval started the dictatorship regime of General Augusto Pinochet that lasted till 1990. It was the beginning of a curse for the entire country as the Chilean military imprisoned anybody alleged of opposing the dictatorship. Thousands went missing, several were tortured and killed. The country went into oppression, the air was filled with the smell of blood, and somehow people had to adjust to their fate.
Only a couple of weeks after the coup in 1973, Chile was to face Soviet Union in the World Cup play-off game for an entry into the gala event in Germany next year. There was a minor problem though – the venue for the match, Chile’s National Stadium in Santiago, had been transformed into a detention camp since the wake of the upheaval. So now, the shrine of the beautiful game was serving as a torturing ground for the 7,000 political prisoners!
“Sometimes democracy must be bathed in blood” – Augusto Pinochet [Source: activenews.ro]
The Soviets refused to play in a stadium “stained with blood.” Alarmed by this, FIFA sent its team to inspect the situation and tour the playing conditions. The prisoners were somehow kept hidden and mum at gunpoint during the officials’ visit. Unfortunately the FIFA representatives did not find anything suspicious and hence the match was deemed fit to play.
“They kept us down below, hidden in the locker rooms and in the tunnels“, a prisoner in those days can clearly remember the nightmarish conditions even today. Pinochet government could ill afford to reveal the detainees in front of the World. That too in a stadium, which was meant to showcase the beautiful game! The dictator knew that it would have been the worst image he could have portrayed of himself to the outside world and hence the prisoners were completely isolated from the visiting party. It was as if they were in two different worlds, the stadium became a metaphor of Pinochet’s dictatorship. A few days before the game, all the captives were relocated to the north of Chile, to a salt mining town in the Atacama Desert.
It was not a simple protest by the Soviets though; there were bigger things at stake. The erstwhile FIFA President, Englishman Stanley Rous was notorious for favoring the UK nations. He had previously pulled the strings to shift the venue of a Northern Ireland vs Bulgaria match from Belfast to Sheffield citing security issues within Ulster. The Soviets sensed that quite a few Socialist countries would boycott the World Cup if this match is played at the Estadio Nacional. That would eventually allow England who had failed to qualify for the tournament, a backdoor entry into the competition. East Germany made a tongue-in-cheek comment that it is no different from playing at the Dachau concentration camp. Beyond football, it was rumored that the coup was sponsored by the US government. Soviet hierarchy, already in cold war with them, wanted to stand strong and showcase their antipathy towards the oppression.
So the match started on November 21, 1973, ten weeks after the coup, in an almost empty stadium. If that can be called a “match” as the Soviets, expectantly, did not show up in protest of the oppression. The referee blew the kick off whistle, 11 Chilean players on the field looked a bit bemused without any opponents. They dribbled a bit and shot into an open net. No one cheered, no one said a thing from the stands –that was anyway almost empty, afraid of being singled out and prosecuted, only the scoreboard stood there with head held high – Chile 1, Soviet Union 0. Chile was through to the World Cup finals with a muted acknowledgment.
Caszely with his Chile team before the fateful match
Caszely, a national star by then, did not want to play but had to take the field for his family’s safety. He had gone across the continent to ply his trade because he thought it wasn’t safe for him or his family to be in the country in the wake of the oppression. But that day he was ashamed of his and his team’s action,
“That team did the most ridiculous thing in history. It was a worldwide embarrassment.“
This frustration boiled over a few months later when in June 1974, Pinochet beckoned the team for a send-off before their departure to Germany. On that fateful day, Caszely recalls how he had felt with the approach of a man wearing a cape, dark glasses, and a hat: “A cold shiver went down my back from seeing this Hitler-like looking thing, with five guys behind him…When he started coming closer I put my hand behind me and didn’t give it to him.” A reaction resultant of his courage to protest ,embedded in his mind since his formative years.
That snub to Pinochet was one of the first public acts of remonstration against the dictator. Caszely had to pay the price though as his mother was imprisoned and tortured for his son’s political views. “I said no to dictatorship on every level: no to dictatorship, no to torture . . . So they made me pay for that with what they did to my mother.”
They could not prepare properly as no team wanted to visit Chile for friendlies. During the entire tournament in West Germany, La Roja was treated like prisoners. They were surrounded by Pinochet’s military men and not allowed to speak to any outsiders. It was hardly an environment to play the game of football. And the inevitable happened eventually. Things took a toll on Caszely as he lost his temper in Chile’s very first match against West Germany and was sent off by the referee Doğan Babacan. Chile lost the match and Caszely was recorded in the history books as the first player to be given the marching orders. Notably, red and yellow cards had already been introduced in the previous World Cup (1970), but no one had the dubious distinction of being sent off as of then. Chile eventually bowed out of the tournament from the group stage failing to win any of their matches.
After the World Cup, Caszely played four more seasons in Spain with RCD Espanyol where he did reasonably well. He though reached the pinnacle of his game in his second stint with Colo Colo (1978–1983). Caszely won the league thrice in this period and also became the league’s highest goal scorer in three successive years from 1979 to 1981. Latin American audience too were not deprived of witnessing his mesmerizing skills as Caszely was named the Best player in 1979 Copa América. But continental glory again eluded him as La Roja missed out to Paraguay after a seemingly never-ending three match final tie.
That has been the case with Caszely, always. He was never able to taste team success beyond his country. He probably would have had the best shot at World Cup in 1978 but for Pinochet’s intervention which prevented him from getting selected. Caszely got a final chance to redeem himself at the 1982 World Cup. Lady luck seemed to finally smile on him as Chile was awarded a penalty for a foul on Caszely in their first match against Austria. Ignoring the coach’s instructions from the side-lines, Caszely stepped forward to convert it but ultimately dished out an awful kick. Again, Chile bid adieu without winning any of their group stage matches, in fact they were defeated in all three.
Sport is a cruel adventure. Fans can suddenly be asking for the head of their beloved and that is exactly what happened with Caszely. His missed kick from 12 yards out transformed him overnight from a national hero to the biggest turncoat the country has ever seen. He was accused of playing it safe for his country, not putting the adequate efforts and saving his energy for the club teams where he was earning big. Caszely, though continued his impeccable domestic career and called it a day in 1985 after notching up 105 goals in 170 appearances during his seven year spell at Colo Colo. By then he had also found the net 29 times in 49 appearances for the national team. But his biggest day on the field was yet to come.
Caszely was to play his farewell match before calling it a day as professional footballer. The venue was the famous National Stadium, Santiago where everything began more than a decade back. Contrary to the near empty stadium on that day, more than 80,000 people flocked in, cheering for Caszely. Fury against Pinochet had gathered much momentum by then and the government was feeling the heat. This match had all the ingredients to turn into a political protest saga and hence not a single TV channel dared to broadcast the game. But that did not dampen the spirit of the crowd.
Very few prisoners were fortunate to have been released by then. Majority could not see the sun for their entire life; many were not even counted for. But those free now, could ill afford to miss the match that was way more than a simple game of football. Politics had shrouded the game by then. It was an outburst of a country suffering from oppression for decades. Caszely was one of them; he had dared to stand tall against the power even at the expense of his loved ones. Caszely was more than a footballing hero,he was the symbol of bravery his countrymen were very proud of. Everyone wanted to be like him, but they could not dare to – that day was their chance for redemption. Earlier Caszely had put his country down by being red carded, by missing the spot kick, and unfortunately he did not get a chance to hold his head high. But his country did not want to squander this opportunity. It was may be a unique way to say sorry to their beloved son for making him a scapegoat, and ridiculing him and his family for his failures at the World Cups.
The congregation in Caszely’s farewell match has been recorded as one of the first mass gatherings of regime opponents. It happened at a crucial juncture for a nation that for over a decade had been bullied by the bullet and the torture chamber. Three years later, in 1988, Olga Garrido, Caszely’s proud mother, publicly opened up to the torture and humiliation she had gone through. Things were so intimidating that she could not, till that point, disclose those to her own family. Caszely, sitting beside his emotional mother during the live show, called for the notorious dictator’s expulsion. All this culminated in Pinochet being dethroned as the Chileans voted against him. That match had ultimately reached its crescendo and rose above all hurdles to utter Chile’s most famous words Nunca mas (Never again). A person, courtesy of his immense self-respect and determination, had woven the seeds of a revolution. The National Stadium in Santiago since then has been in the news only for sporting purpose. None bigger than being the venue for the nation’s first international accolade, Copa America 2015.
Caszely happened to meet with Pinochet at a reception at La Moneda in 1988. Out of sheer courtesy, this time Caszely greeted him. Pinochet, by now a waned, spent force and well aware of his impending exile, asked Caszely for a photograph to portray an improving image. But, Caszely refused to pose for the picture. His ideologies had not changed.
“For me it was a tremendous joy to say ‘no’ to the dictator on behalf of Chile.” It was a stern protest to many years of horror, torture and human rights violations. Caszely was content to have helped his motherland in his own little way to return to democracy.
Caszely seems at peace with himself today, he anchors numerous sport-related TV shows on Canal 13, a Chilean-based TV station. Caszely is very close to his roots. In his idle time, he still enjoys a game of football at an amateur level for a team called “Colo Colo 1973”, comprising former Colo Colo players. His work to promote Latin American football was acknowledged by the continent in 2009 with the Award of CONMEBOL.
Carlos Caszely during 1968 [Source: Mercado Libre]
“Ever since I was a little boy and I started walking, holding my father’s hand, in the district where people play against a wall, against a tree, against a mound, against a big stone, against your opponent, with a football, a plastic ball, a rag ball, a paper ball, even a tin can, if there’s nothing else . . .” he always found a way to play. Despite the regime’s repression and intimidation, Caszely’s conscience and his passion for the game could not be silenced.
Follow the story of football rebel Carlos Caszely, as he returns to the stadium which served as a concentration camp during the military coup –
Nomadic Pastoralism – an Interview with Adrián ‘Carucha’ Fernández
Adrián ‘Carucha’ Fernández, a football labourer, epitomises the nomadic lives of so many players who earn their living just playing the beautiful game, irrespective of the country, club or league! Uri Levyinterviewed the footballer late last year, and now the same has been published here at Goalden Times in its refined form.
Not every football player earns millions of dollars, wears shiny clothes and drives fancy cars. Actually most of them do not. Most players must work extremely hard, to provide for their families and secure their own future. Nowadays, almost every team has foreign players from Latin America, Africa or Asia. A lot of them are talented players who played abroad for most of their careers, but never capped for their national teams. They are not millionaires, they haven’t signed commercial contracts and they do not have a Nike shoe named after them. They are the ‘football labours’, the true workers of this profession. They are almost always on the go. A call from an agent may lead to an international journey; today you are in Russia, tomorrow in Angola and next week in Saudi Arabia. Wherever the contracts and agents will take you, you go.
Adrián ‘Carucha’ Fernández, 33, is a representative example of a ‘football worker’. His career took him through many countries, obstacles, peaks, people and adventures, but he never gave up on his values and goals. We had the pleasure to catch up with Fernández over a cup of coffee and delve deeper into his life in the football world.
Fernández grew up in San Martin, a tough and a poor neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. Drugs, guns and crimes were a part of their daily lives .. A few of his friends, whom he played football with, are now dead or are in prison. In his case,Football was his only ticket out of this dreadful reality.
Fernández attributes his work ethics in football to the environment his parents fostered at home, teaching and showing him and his siblings the value of hard work and education.“I didn’t have seven pairs of shoes like my kids have today, thank God,”he says, tapping his kid’s head.“I had only one pair and I had to protect it well. Back then, we only had the hunger in our stomachs, , both for food and success, to keep us going.”.
I am 33 now. I have been playing professional football for 16 years. It’s true that I am not rich and that I don’t have a lot of money, but I am rich in cultures, spirit and experience. I could have stayed in Colo Colo for five years and won every title I wanted, but it didn’t happen. I could have been frustrated for it, but would I have then learn to speak six languages?”
Nicknamed ‘Carucha’ due to his wide-rounded face, Fernández made his debut for a local club, Nueva Chicago, when he was 17 and played there for five years. After he recuperated from a knee injury, he spent a season at El Povernir, before embarking on a journey abroad.
Chilean club, Colo Colo, was Fernández’s first stop outside Argentina. As an anonymous Argentinean, he debuted at the Chilean Classico and played with a few of Chile’s greatest players. Arturo Vidal, Matias Fernández and Claudio Bravo, all sported the Colo Colouniform those days. Seven months with Chile’s biggest club were enough to make a favourite of his fans — a recurring feat in his career since Fernández is loved in almost all the clubs he’s played for. “I am a very emotional person, and I give everything to the team. My teammates know that I’ll be there for them in any situation. I am not a star, because I am just not, but in every team I played for, I was an important player because of the things I brought to the field.”
His second team abroad was The Strongest of La Paz. The club had targeted qualifying for the Copa Libertadores and Fernández was taken in by the idea of playing in the region’s top tournament. Unfortunately, they failed. After 12 games and 6 goals, he left the club without a salary, as the management suffered financial losses owing to their failure in the Copa Libertadores. Luckily, Fernández impressed a German agent who saw him score a double. “Until then I never worked with agents, because I didn’t want anybody to manoeuvre me or control me. For agents, football players are just numbers. They can send you to play in China or Siberia when there is nothing there, as long as they pocket the money! Beyond that, you are not on their lists. . With Billy, it was different. We had a good relationship.”
When the Bolivian adventure came to an end, Fernández came back to Buenos Aires, with hardly any money and facing one of the toughest moments in his career. “Billy asked me to send him two video cassettes of my highlights from a DHL office. When I was asked to pay for the shipment, I realized I had just the last few hundred pesos left in my pocket.It was at that moment I asked myself: ‘Adrian, what are you doing? Where is this going?. Eleonora, my wife, helped me and encouraged me to pull myself together. It was the hardest moment of my life because I understood that if I wanted to progress, I had to leave Argentina for good. I’ve decided that I must look only forward and never look back”. So he did.
Since then, Fernandez travelled and played in Austria, Germany, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Israel. During his travels, Fernandez has raised a family with his wife Eleonora, learnt six languages, experienced new cultures and lifestyles and of course, scored several goals. “It’s very hard to adapt to a new place every year or two, but I am a nomad, ” he laughs. “I didn’t have an alternative. I was never offered fat contracts, so as a free agent, I needed the signing fee in order to live and save for. I am 33 now. I have been playing professional football for 16 years. It’s true that I am not rich and that I don’t have a lot of money, but I am rich in cultures, spirit and experience. I could have stayed in Colo Colo for five years and won every title I wanted, but it didn’t happen. I could have been frustrated for it, but would I have then learn to speak six languages?”
In Dubai, he played for Al Sha’ab and many of his teammates were multi-millionaires, who parked their Ferraris outside the training facility. In Switzerland, he had great spells both with Schaffhausen and St. Galen, and became a known striker in an European league; in Bulgaria, he learned the local language and culture. He also had his second child there. During his time in Chernomorets, he scored 18 goals, passed 12 assists in 62 matches and also played in the Europa League. When the team’s sponsors disappeared and the club had a funding problem, Fernandez tried to go back to Switzerland after talks with Lugano, but eventually found himself in Israel.In the past four seasons, Fernández was a second division striker. He played for Hapoel Ramat Gan, Ramat HaSharon, Hapoel Petah Tikva and now plays for Maccabi Herzliya. In parallel, he also coaches the young strikers of Hapoel Petah Tikva’s youth department. “Israel is my second home. Usually I change a country after two years and now it’s my fourth season here. It’s certainly a record,” he smiles modestly.
Fernandez, up close and personal: The Football Interview
Qs.1: What is your favourite position?–
Ans.Forward, of course.
Qs.2: What is your favourite formation of a football team?–
Ans.I think that there is no such thing like formations. It depends on the players you have in the team. As a coach, you must find the style of game that fits your players the most, in order to allow them to provide 100% of themselves, enjoy playing. Eventually, football is a game of momentum.
Qs.3: Who is the best coach you had?
Ans.There are two. Rolf Fringer at St. Galen and Krasimir Balakov at Chernomorets Burgas.
Qs.4: Describe Adrián Fernández.
Ans.It’s a sentence my father once told me. “I prefer that people will remember me as a great person than a great player. A good player is a good player, but a good person is someone who people remember as a friend, as a connection”. Well, that’s me.
Qs.5: What would you do if not playing football?
Ans. I would either become a chef or a movie actor.
Qs.6: Who is your favourite team?
Ans. Nueva Chicago. There’s no other.
Qs.7: Who is your favourite player?
Ans. Carlos Tevez. When I was a kid I liked Batistuta, Maradona and Ronaldo (‘El Fenomeno’).
Qs.8: What is your greatest football moment of all times?
Ans. My favourite moment was the promotion with Nueva Chicago to a Primera Division. It was my dream, it was my family dream. That was a moment of joy and pride.
Qs.9: What is your dream in football?
Ans. I have a football-coaching project in mind that I wish to develop in the United States, but I don’t like to call it a ‘dream’. I prefer to call it a ‘Goal’. Dreams are something we can’t touch. Goals are realistic and achievable.
Carlos Caszely in action, 1982 [Source: Sport Bladet]
“Sometimes democracy must be bathed in blood” – Augusto Pinochet [Source: activenews.ro]
Caszely with his Chile team before the fateful match
Carlos Caszely during 1968 [Source: Mercado Libre]
