Mohun Bagan won their last I-League encounter at Salt Lake
Stadium, Kolkata today against Pune F.C by a clear 2-0 margin, Barreto scored
the first goal in the 6th minute of the match, Odafa scores the rest
in the death, Mohun Bagan finished fourth in the I-League table with 47 points
in 26th matches. but nobody was eyeing towards the result of this
match today everybody went to ground to bid a grand farewell to their beloved Brazilian
superstar Jose Ramirez Barreto, a match winner on his own right. Since last one
era Mohun Bagan & Barreto became the synonyms of each other, he remain the apple
of the Mohun Bagan supporters eyes since last decade. Barreto is not only the
player for Mohun Bagan, he is other name of the expectation, hope, reliability
& faith. Whenever The Mariners are in trouble since last one era Barreto
rescued each & everytime with his golden legs. He always appears as a
saviour for The Mariners in almost each & every crisis time.
Mohun
Bagan officials arranged everything for bidding a grand farewell to their loyal
General. It was all about emotion in the Salt Lake stadium today afternoon, I
don’t think any ex player of Mohun Bagan have gotten a such kind of farewell
ever. Peoples were crying everywhere, no Mohun Bagan supporters throughout this
planet could control their emotional tears today. Not only the Mohun Baganis
there were so many East Bengal supporters were in the stadium to bid a farewell
by forgetting all the bitter rivalries. The presence of Red & Gold
supporters made the situation muchmore emotional.
Jose
Ramirez Barreto was born on September 3rd 1976 at Porto Alegre in a
traditional Brazilian family consisting
of his parents, his brother and his sister. He left home at an
early age of 15 years to play football in the capital. From 15 to 22, he
developed his career at the academy at Gremio. He had played under Luiz Felipe Scolari at the
age of 18 only, when Scolari was the coach of the senior team
in the academy.
Barreto
came Kolkata to play for a single season in 1999 but he felt in love with this
club, supporters & this city. In 1999 Mohun Bagan recruiters was hunting for a Nigerian striker called
John. As destiny would have it, John’s work permit clearance took too long to
come and Mohun Bagan decided to sign Barreto. The rest, as the time goes, is
history.Barreto’s journey in Mohun Bagan and Indian football is stuff of
folklore. He didn’t make his debut in front of the fans who would later idolize
him. Instead, his debut came as a substitute to Igor after half hour mark in a
NFL game against ITI in Bangalore on the year 1999.
Internal problems in the club dramatically
deteriorated Mohun Bagan’s condition in the following seasons as their champion
team was disbanded. Stricken by the condition, the Brazilian left in 2004, to
play in Malaysia. After a successful season in Peanang FC, Malaysia, Barreto
joined Mahindra United’s star studded squad. Along with the legendary Yusif
Yakubu, Barreto delivered a Fed Cup-NFL double to the Mumbai club, first in
their history.
In 2006, the apple of Mohun
Bagan fans’ eyes returned to the club once again. He was reportedly offered an
amount of Rs. 60 lakhs, then record in Indian football. Barreto would not leave
Mohun Bagan again till 2012.
He is the first foreigner to score over 200
goals for a single club in India he scored a record of 217 goals for Mohun
Bagan till today. Barreto also has notched up 101 goals in India’s premier
league competition. With 17 goals Barreto is the second highest scorer, highest
scoring foreigner as well as Mohun Bagan’s all-time top scorer in the famous
Kolkata derby against arch-rival East Bengal. Baichung leads the tally with 19
goals but Barreto’s 17 goals is also the highest scored by a player for a
single club in the derby.
Every fairy-tale has an end, a golden
chapter in Mohun Bagan’s chequered history is ended today. As a Mohun Bagan
devotee Barreto has eyewitnessed both sides of the coin, although it can be
said easily that he remain successful most of the times throughout his career.Barreto
might be leaving Mohun Bagan now but it doesn’t necessarily mean end of his
relations with the club. It is being rumoured that he might start with his AFC
coaching license from next season itself. Thanks to the football academy he
runs with Beto, it can be said that Barreto will be staying in India. An
intelligent player like him can turn into a good coach in future and who knows,
manage Mohun Bagan one day.
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