Zico concedes loss and says the dream is over; Molina believes his team deserved all three points

GOA FOUGHT THEIR HEARTS OUT but all their points were stolen from them at last minute of regulation time. 

The Brazilian said to the press after the game,

“First of all, I would like to apologise to FC Goa fans as they have always been by our side. But we will continue to try our best. There is no doubt in many games we were not able to capitalise on our chances, and even at home where we have been very strong in the past, we lost four or five games and it is very awkward for us. We are not inferior to any team and I am a bit ashamed as we had many opportunities to win the game,” 

Zico continued: “Today everyone wanted to be a hero and we were unorganised on the pitch and Richarlyson was alone against three-four players, and at that time everyone wanted to be a hero. Today our team did not play our best and the Kolkata team played very well. When they have the ball they know how to play but in the second half things were different and after we equalised, we just got disorganised. In the first half they played much better than us and they got many chances but they scored only one goal, and in the second half we had our chances.”

Though they scored the winning goal late in the game but Molina believed that the deserving side won the game. He said the the reporters after the game,

“If one team that deserved to win today, it was Atlético de Kolkata. The goal came in the last minute but we played really well, I think brilliant. We could have scored two more goals, three more goals. Our goal was to win the match. They attacked a lot but we defended well. We controlled the match [for the most part] but they found a gap to score one goal,”

The ATK Coach continued further saying,

“During half time, I told my players it is very difficult to play better… we played that well in the first half. Maybe in the second half, it was not so great.”

The loss does not completely put FC Goa out of hopes for the semi finals but Zico has given up on the fight to the playoffs. He said,

“Yes, with a heavy heart I have got to admit that the dream is over and now we have got to think about these two remaining games”

Molina said the victory did not come easily as FC Goa pressurised them right till the end. Commenting further Molina said,

“It was not our aim to play for a draw, we came here to win. But I must say that Goa put plenty of pressure on us in the second half.We never know when the goal is going to come. We as a team defend from the first minute to the last minute. We try to be strong, we try not to give too many chances to score. Sometimes we do silly mistakes but today we didn't make a mistake, they found a gap and scored"

Zico, with a heavy heart, shared that FC Goa might get confirmed news about their playoff dreams ending before they play their next game. He continued saying,

“We have to respect the fans and honour the jersey that we wear and the opponents that play against us. Even my voice is fainting now with the noise in the stadium from the fans and I am very disappointed with the way our team played. I have won many games and lost many games and in situations much worse than this,”

Molina was all praises for the Javi Lara and Borja Fernandez on the night and commented about them,

“Of course, they played really well but not only them, the entire team played well in the first half. All of them did a great job. I was thinking of bringing on a substitute but they were playing really well. When they scored a goal, I started looking for solutions but until that moment I was absolutely happy with the performance of the team” 

The FC Goa Head Coach says he will provide the opportunity to the players who haven't got enough gametime in the league. He further said,

“I have given all players an opportunity to play except Denzil Franco as he has been injured since the start of the season and every time I wanted to give him a chance he got injured again. We have got a game again now in three days so we will do our best and I will pick the best players available who are fit.”

Next Fixtures

FC Goa: Travel to  play Delhi Dynamos on November 27.

Atletico de Kolkata: Host FC Pune City on November 29
 

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