MARGAO
Goa's hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals of the 78th Santosh Trophy suffered a body blow with a 1-0 loss to Meghalaya at Deccan Arena on Sunday.
The defeat, which marks Goa's third loss in the competition, left head coach Mateus Costa frustrated, as his side failed to capitalise on several chances.
"This defeat is entirely our fault," Costa said in his post-match comments. "We had to pay the price for making mistakes early in the game. We tried, but we couldn't create the opportunities we needed. We lacked the intensity and ferocity that we showed in our previous matches."
Despite creating more chances than their opponents, Goa struggled to convert any of them into goals, which ultimately cost them the match.
"The match was an opportunity to keep our chances alive for the quarterfinals, but it seems my warnings to the players were not taken seriously as they should have been," Costa concluded.
