Nicholas Pereira

His arrival at Dempo coincided with an upturn in the club’s fortunes after a couple of lean years, occasioned by his assured tackling and calming influence in the heart of the defence. Arguably the greatest defender that Goa has produced, Nicholas Pereira was the rock of Gibraltar on which the foundations of several of Dempo’s title triumphs were built. Whenever his team was down by a goal and time was running out, it was not uncommon for Pereira to defy instructions and move up, invariably scoring a goal, like he did in the 1978 Nizam Gold Cup final in Hyderabad. He made a fantastic debut for the national team by scoring the match winner in the 1973 Merdeka Cup against South Vietnam.