It is the sad fate of the late legendary footballer Neville D’Souza that his name enters the national consciousness only every quarter of a century or so. D’Souza, who died in Mumbai on March 16, 1980, aged 47, began his career with Goan Sports Club before joining Tata’s in Mumbai and then Caltex Football Club. He was born in Assagao, Goa, on August 3, 1932. But he is best known for scoring a hattrick against hosts Australia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Currently, D’Souza is in the news as the football ground named after him in Bandra’s Reclamation is set to be taken over by the BMC to build a convention centre, leading to a storm of protests by football lovers across the metropolis.
D’Souza returns to public attention
It was in August 2000 that he had cropped up, 20 years after his passing, when answering a question about him would have made a Kolkata shopkeeper the first grand-prize winner of Rs 1 crore on the popular TV quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati, presented by Amitabh Bachchan. Ramesh Dubey had successfully reached the penultimate round when his final question was: “Who is the only Indian to score a hat-trick in Olympic football?” Dubey, not wanting to take a chance, gave it a miss and settled for Rs 50 lakh. The three other options were P.K. Banerjee, Shabbir Ali and Sailen Manna.
This led to renewed public interest in the story of D’Souza and that fabled hattrick.
India’s Olympic football journey
India had begun the decade by qualifying by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil after the other three countries in their group — Burma, Indonesia and the Philippines — withdrew. That the All India Football Federation failed to send the team is another story.
Then, in 1951, India won gold in the inaugural Asian Games in New Delhi. Having made their Olympic debut at the 1948 Games in London, India in Melbourne were drawn to face the hosts in their opening match.
Legend has it that, on a bus journey in Melbourne, Neville was mistaken for a hockey player. When he said he was part of the Indian football contingent, it was met with incredulity. It was in hockey that Indians were legendary at the Olympics, having won the gold medal uninterrupted since 1928.
Historic win over Australia
Neville then made the bold prediction that India would beat the Aussies in their opening match. And that is exactly what happened.
India won 4-2, with the fourth goal scored by vice-captain J. Kittu after Neville’s three. So incensed were the Aussies that they challenged India to a grudge match after the Olympics were over, thirsting to avenge the humiliation on their home soil.
Instead, they were crushed 7-1, with D’Souza netting twice.
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Final Olympic appearance
This opening match for India was, in fact, a straight bye to the quarter-finals as Hungary, who were their first-round opponents, had boycotted the Olympics. In the next match, the semifinal, India lost 4-1 to mighty Yugoslavia, the silver medallists from the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, but not without a fight.
In fact, in 1952, the same country had crushed India 10-1. India’s lone goal was scored by D’Souza. In the match for the bronze medal, India were beaten 3-0 by Bulgaria.
D’Souza was also an excellent hockey player, but football was his first love. Melbourne was his final bow on the international stage, despite excellent performances in domestic football in the late 1950s.
He became a coach and a national selector before he died of a heart attack, leaving behind his wife, two daughters and a son. His late younger brother, Dereyk, was also a notable footballer and coach.
— Gulu Ezekiel is an independent freelance sports journalist and author based in New Delhi. His 22nd book is due for release in December
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