Don Bosco, Scottish ooze confidence as MSSA football resumes after two-year break

Athava Goankar

After a two-year hiatus, the MSSA (Mumbai Schools' Sports Association) inter-school football tournament resumes with the boys U-16 Div-I matches at the St Francis D'Assisi HS ground, Borivli, from Monday.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MSSA had suspended all tournaments in 2020 and conducted only a few non-contact sports events in 2021. Fifteen school teams, including Don Bosco (Matunga), the 2019 champions and runners-up Bombay Scottish (Mahim) have been divided into four groups.

Also Read: Delay hits MSSA's inter-school football competitions

Don Bosco goalkeeper Atharva Gaonkar said his team are confident of getting positive results. "Having recently reached the DSO [District Sports Office] Mumbai City final [which they lost to Campion via tie-breaker] gives us the confidence to beat any team. The team are short of practice as many players have recently been down with viral fever. But everyone is available for our opening game on Monday [v St Mary's ICSE]," Atharva told mid-day.

Bombay Scottish captain Aadiv Das is happy to see MSSA football resume. "It's great that MSSA football is back after two years. We have a bunch of skillful ball players and our chemistry is excellent as most of us were part of the U-12 team that had emerged champions," said Aadiv.