CHUNI GOSWAMI A tribute

At the time of this article going to press, the six previous weeks have been one of tragedy, tragedy and tragedy. One small virus seems to have shattered the pride of the generation; a generation that took pride in so many scientific advancements and worse still is the fact that the end of this tragic trail still seems to be illusive and beyond comprehension. While the loss of lives of nearly a million people around the world is a general tragedy, back home in India though not attributable to the wicked Coronavirus, we had two deaths in Bollywood and even the sports world was not spared when the heavens recalled two famous sports personalities of yesteryears — P. K. Banerjee and Sabimal Goswami; the latter better known to his fans as Chuni Goswami.

- GP CAPT ACHCHYUT KUMAR

Born on 15 January 1938 at Kishoreganj, in what then was known as Bengal Presidency, Chuni Goswami matured to be a complete sportsman. I use the term ‘complete sportsman’ not only because he was an international footballer of repute but also a national level cricketer who in terms of the statistics has to be described and accepted as an allrounder.

Chuni joined the junior team of Mohun Bagan as an eight-year-old boy in 1946, and such remained his allegiance to his club that he never played for any other club in his entire career despite being sought after by a number of them with lucrative offers. Playing as a striker, Chuni captained not only his club but also India’s national team. When the Indian football team participated in the 1960 Rome Olympics under the leadership of P. K. Banerjee, Chuni was one of the team members. Although the team returned without a victory in any of its three group matches, the team’s only glorious moment was in holding France to a 1-1 draw.

1960 was a miserable year for Indian football. In the AFC Asia Cup qualification rounds, India finished last. However, two years later, under the leadership of Chuni Goswami, India won the football gold medal at the Asian Games, defeating South Korea 2-1 in the final match.