Football
Former footballer and Asian Games gold medallist Fortunato Franco passes away
A member of the Indian Football team at the 1960 Rome Olympics and the 1962 Asian Games winning team in Jakarta, Fortunato Franco passed away today morning at Goa aged 84.
Fortunato Franco (Source: Indian Football Team-For World Cup)
A member of the Indian Football team at the 1960 Rome Olympics and the 1962 Asian Games winning team in Jakarta, Fortunato Franco passed away today morning at Goa aged 84.
Besides being a part of the Indian team, Franco played for the Tata Sports Club Football team and also won the prestigious Santosh Trophy leading Maharashtra in the year 1963.
Franco was born in the late 1930s and started his career with the Western Railways before being snapped up by the Tata Sports Club, with a desk job, in the year 1959. Though he was a part of the Rome Olympics squad, Franco did not play a single game in what was a disappointing campaign for the Indians.
He soon established himself as one of the greatest half-backs in Indian football history and played a very vital role in India's successful Asian Games campaign in 1962.
Franco retired from the sport, soon, in the year 1966 due to a knee injury in a local football match. Before his retirement from the sport, Franco had represented India in more than 50 games.
