Agencies
Margao
FC Goa head coach Zico cut a disappointed figure following a goalless draw against Mumbai City FC at Fatorda's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Wednesday evening. Zico's men came into the match desperate for a win in order to keep themselves in the hunt for the semis but after the draw, their chances have taken a severe beating.
Speaking to the media after the match, Zico didn't try to hide his disappointment. “As a coach I had to change my team and I had a lot of other alternatives to do it, as you know Joffre could not play 90 minutes, so I decided to play him in the last 30 minutes as you can see we had many opportunities, but unfortunately the goals did not come. Because of our mistakes, lots of wrong passes, sometimes in the distance of one metre or two metres…this left us open for counter-attack. I do not regret the team formation. Of course, we took a lot of risk against a team like Mumbai with (Sony) Norde, (Sunil) Chettri, and (Diego) Forlan (in their ranks). We too had a lot of chances with Robin (Singh) and Julio Cesar, we could have won the game… I want to thank my players and all the fans that came to support us,” Zico said.
Goa scored maximum goals (34) last season but this year they haven't been the same attacking force. Not just the Gaurs, other teams too have witnessed a lack of goals. Zico explained as to what has led to this.
“The teams realise the competition, so they don't open too much. They play a little more at the back and wait for the counter-attack. I think our team just needed to adjust our aim, we had so many opportunities not only in this game but in so many games.”
The match saw both goalkeepers - FC Goa's Laxmikanth Kattimani and Mumbai City's Amrinder Singh - having a field day pulling off one save after another. Zico was effusive in praise of both of them. “We have to give credit to the goalkeepers of both teams. They played very well; they defended a lot of balls, so congratulations to both of them,” the 63-year-old Brazilian said.
