Eugenio Cardozo

Such was his contribution under the bar to several successful campaigns that after he hung up his gloves, the club were hard-pressed to find a worthy successor to Eugenio Cardozo despite trying out a succession of replacements. His reflexes and his ability to deal with crosses and high balls made him a goalkeeper of a high order. Cardozo was part of the 1979 and 1980 Rovers Cup winning squads and in fact helped Dempo to annex the latter title in Bombay without conceding a goal. When in form, Cardozo was unbeatable: for example, Dempo won the 1976 Bandodkar Gold Trophy and the 1979 Stafford Challenge Cup in Bangalore by keeping a clean slate; in the 1980 Senior Division League winning campaign, Cardozo was beaten just three times. To add to his reputation, the sturdy goalkeeper from Candolim once saved four out of the five penalties in the tiebreaker against arch rivals Salgaocar in the 1980 Taca Goa semi-final to earn Dempo a memorable win.