Chennai : Former Brazil star Ronaldinho set the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here alight with a virtuoso five-goal performance as Goa 5s ran down Bengaluru 5s 7-2 in an entertaining Premier Futsal clash on Sunday.
Ronaldinho and former England and Manchester United star Paul Scholes shared the same pitch after a hiatus of eight years, with the duo last facing off in 2008. The Brazilian had disappointed in the first game against Kolkata 5s, struggling to keep pace. But he looked much better right from the start, setting up teammate Rafael who struck the post in the opening minute, as Goa enjoyed the better start.
The Barcelona legend had the crowd in raptures with a brilliant goal in the sixth minute, as a corner from the left was laid off to him in the box. But he exquisitely side-stepped the diving goalkeeper and slotted into an empty net to give Goa the lead. Bengaluru came back right at the end of the first quarter, as Maximiliano scored a brilliant solo goal, slotting in from a narrow angle aThe second quarter started with Bengaluru taking the lead through Jonathan Piers, who collected a pass and slammed it home with his left foot. Their joy was short-lived as Ronaldinho decided this was the moment to give everyone a glimpse of his quality.
First, he scored with an accurate shot when surrounded by two defenders and a diving Bengaluru custodian. The Brazilian maestro then completed his hat-trick and gave Goa a comeback lead with a first time reflex shot.