h
Nelson Dias. Cornelius always sported a beard and
mustache which covered most of his face and gave him a
Ringo Starr look. Cornelius also played football for
the Herald team and had this 'queer' technique of
tackling rough players. When ever he encountered a
player leaning on him to head the ball or digging an
elbow in his ribs, he would tickle the chap's backside.
This technique proved to be more effective than the
ref's whistle.

By the time Herald completed its tenth year we had a
formidable team with players like Tulsidas, Jason,
Alaric, Jose, Domnic, Pradeep, our platemaker, and
Vilas Sarang who never made it to the team. Umesh alias
Umi, our sleepy paster, was a live wire in the goal.
With Choppy as manager we were willing to take on anyone.

On one of our anniversaries Choppy set up a match with
the Navhind Times. Two or three days prior to the match
we were shocked to discover that NT would be fielding a
few first division players from the Dempo team. We
nearly suffered a stroke. But then Choppy always had
this never-say-die attitude. In a crisis he would take
two deep inhalations from an anti-asthma pump which he
always carried in his pocket, and, in seconds go from
Bruce Banner to The Hulk. In a day, Choppy's
never-say-die attitude spread to everyone and off we
marched to the Don Bosco school ground in our new
uniforms for the slaughter.

Guess what? We won.

That was not all. Choppy loved ceremonies and had
arranged an elaborate function with a chief guest,
prizes and speeches. After the speeches the Herald team
captained by Tulsidas (I think) went up and received
their medals. Everyone who had adorned the Herald
colours got a medal. Next was the turn of the Navhind
Times team to collect their medals. Half way through
this process Choppy realized that he had bought less
medals. We hit the panic buttons. But then, in the
Herald you have to be resourceful to survive. We
quickly formed a human chain and started passing medals
presented to the Herald team back to the chief guest.
It was a smooth operation. Months later, when the time
came for Navhind Times to celebrate its anniversary,
they did not dare play a football match with us.

I also remember playing a football match on the beach
during a picnic at Candolim. Our team had earned a
penalty and Pamela D'Mello decided to take it. (Yes,
she played football). By the way, picnic matches are
scaled down versions of the world cup. The goals are