NEW DELHI, May 1:�All India Football Federation (AIFF) condoled the death of former India captain Subimal Goswami, who was fondly referred to as Chuni Goswami by his vast legion of fans. Goswami breathed his last in Kolkata on Thursday at the age of 82.
Goswami�s biggest achievement was captaining India to the 1962 Asian Games Gold medal when India scripted a historic 2-1 victory against South Korea (Korea Republic) in the final to land India its second gold medal in Asian Games history.
Goswami made his International debut against Burma (now Myanmar) in the Asian Games in Tokyo in 1958. He even scored on debut as India rallied to win 3-2 on the day. He went on to represent India in 36 official International matches, captaining in 16 of them, and netting 13 goals.
Besides two editions of the Asian Games, Goswami was also part of India�s Olympic squad in the Rome Olympics in 1960. He also captained India to the final of the AFC Asian Cup in Tel Aviv in 1964 and was part of India�s campaign in the pre-Olympic qualification in 1959 (in Kabul), 1960 (in Kolkata and Jakarta), 1963 (in Colombo as captain), and in 1964 in (Tehran and Calcutta).
He also played in the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 1961, and 1964 (as captain).
Goswami won the Arjuna Award in 1963 and was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri in 1983. Praful The AIFF president Praful Patel in his message said: �It�s sad to hear that Chuni-da, one of India�s greatest footballers, is no more. His contribution to Indian Football will never be forgotten. I share the grief.�
At the domestic level, Goswami was part of the Bengal�s triumphant Santosh Trophy squad thrice � in 1955, 1958, and in 1959.
At the club level, he represented Mohun Bagan for 15 consecutive years � from 1954 to 1968, and scored 200 goals for the Green and Maroons including 145 in the Calcutta Football League, 25 goals in the IFA Shield, 18 goals in the Durand Cup, 11 goals in the Rovers Cup and 1 goal in the Dr. HK Mookerjee Shield.
Over the years, he helped Bagan win the Calcutta Football League nine times, the IFA Shield and the Durand Cup five times each, the Rovers Cup thrice, the Dr. HK Mookerjee Shield five times, Babu Kuer Singh Shield thrice, and the Ananda Bazar Centenary Trophy once. He won 14 trophies for Mohun Bagan as captain.
The versatile sportsman that he was, he also represented Bengal in the Ranji Trophy and even captained Bengal in 1968-69 season. He also played for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy.
Our Sports Reporter adds: Chuni Goswami visited Assam on several occasions.
As a member of the Bengal Santosh Trophy team Chuni Goswami came down to Nagaon in 1959 and lifted the trophy defeating Bombay 3-1 in the final. It was Bengal�s 10th title in the premier national championship.
In the year 1998 (September 3) Chuni Goswami was in Guwahati to attend the Abhiruchi Sports Day function.
He was also invited to inaugurate the playground of the Gauhati Commerce College in 2008. The Gauhati Town Club also felicitated the legend of the Indian football.
