Dempo's Beto is back!

Dempo Sports Club coach-cum-secretary Armando Colaco will be a relieved man as his Brazilian playmaker Roberto Mendes Silva, fondly called Beto by his friends & fans, finally made a return for the I-League champions yesterday against Punjabi side JCT. And Beto directly made an impact for the Goans as he would score of a rebound in a 2-0 win.

Dempo's are current missing a number of regulars due to being with the Indian national team (Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Mahesh Gawli, Anwar, Anthony Pereira, Climax Lawrence, Clifford Miranda) while others like Joaquim Abranches and Valeriano Rebello are injured. And the young Dempo team has been lacking a leader in the middle to guide them, a role which Beto can play to perfection.

Beto playing again for Dempo SC ended weeks of speculation as rumours out of Goa said he boycotted training as he wanted to force a transfer, while the club stated he was injured and therefore missed the Super Cup match plus the first couple of games in the I-League.

With Beto said to be unhappy at Dempo's, there were many potential clubs willing to take on the Brazilian, who is a proven entity in Indian football. Beto was linked with rivals Churchill Brothers SC and Maidan giants East Bengal Club with some in the Kolkata media reporting that a deal had been reached, but in the end like a while back Beto would stay in Goa and not return to Kolkata, where he had unsuccessfully played for Mohun Bagan AC.

Armando Colaco and the club's management will surely hope that things are fine again and Beto will continue to perform for his club.