Dubai: Brazilian legend Zico is expecting his FC Goa side to hit the ground running and target a spot in the final when the second edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) gets underway with the Goans hosting Delhi Dynamos FC on October 4.
Co-owned by Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and Goan businessmen Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas Dempo, Zico had the onerous task of overcoming a slow start to take his team to the semi-finals after ending their 14 league matches in second place with 22 points. However, they missed out on a spot in the final when they went down in the tie-breaker in the last four stages.
The 22-member squad landed in Dubai late on Wednesday, and have since then been training twice a day at the Dubai Sports City. Four members of the squad are still to join, including goalkeeper Luis Barreto - retained by his club East Bengal for their Kolkata derby against Mohun Bagan (on Sunday), while Pronay Haldar, Narayan Das and Romeo Fernandes are with the Indian squad to face Iran in the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier at Bengaluru’s Kanteerava Stadium on September 8.
Training will continue twice a day till September 9, after which FC Goa will take on three UAE sides in friendly matches. On September 11, FC Goa will travel to Ras Al Khaimah to play against Emirates Club; on September 14 or 15 they will play Al Shabab at their stadium in Al Mamzar, and then round off against Al Jazira in Abu Dhabi on September 19.
“For sure, this year the goal is to be better than what we achieved last season. We made it to the semi-finals and this year we definitely want to be in the final on December 20, more importantly, because the final will be played in Goa in front of our supporters,” Zico told Gulf News.
“It’s a tough road ahead and this camp is just the beginning. Last year we had a slow start where we lost a few early games. But this year we do not want to commit the same mistakes,” he added.
Last season, Arsenal and French legend Robert Pires was the marquee player for FC Goa, but this year he has been replaced by Brazil’s 2002 Fifa World Cup winning captain Lucio. However, this year Zico – one of the early prospective candidates for next February’s Fifa Presidency vote – had a free hand in bringing in players of his choice including Lucio.
“Admitted, the team will be built around Lucio, given his huge experience of playing all over the world. But in the end it will be the collective responsibility of all the players who are under the FC Goa banner,” Zico said.
“Lucio brings in all his years of experience to the team, but it is never our intention to just fall back on one player. Everyone is involved and each and every player is expected to make the difference to help achieve our goal,” he stressed.
