Ahead of the clash against Mumbai City FC in the second leg of the semi-final, FC Goa’s gaffer Juan Ferrando and the Spanish midfielder Edu Bedia addressed the media in the pre-match conference. The Gaurs will aim to win this crucial encounter as the first leg was drawn by 2-2. It will be interesting to watch which team makes to the final.
The Spaniard Juan Ferrando looked worried about the schedule of matches as the team have to play the second leg of the semi-final tomorrow with the out having much time for preparations.
“It’s the same for all the teams. After two days, it’s difficult to recover in a short period. In this case, I am upset about this point because we played on Friday, and then the next game is on Monday which is tomorrow. The most important thing now is that the players are hundred percent ready. The mentality is that all the players are happy. It is a great opportunity for us to continue to improve and keep working. I hope we will be in the final.“
“Tomorrow, it will a match between two teams, Mumbai and Goa. The mentality is the same. Both play in attack and want to win. We need to control in a lot of aspects because in starting minutes of the game. The intensity will be high but as the minutes will pass it may drop off,” added Ferrando.
Also Read – Getting into the Indian national team was my aim, says Ishan Pandita
The right-back Seriton Fernandes started the match but was subbed in the first half itself due to injury concern.
“Players are very tired and in the last game, there were a lot of problems with the players. This season was very difficult for everybody because life is very strange inside the bio-bubble. In this case, we make decisions, and sometimes we succeed while sometimes we don’t. It is necessary to take a risk sometimes. In these last games, it is important to decide the best lineup deciding what is best for the players. It is not possible to know the future now about what will happen on the field,” Ferrando told IFTWC.
Ivan Gonzalez and Alberto Noguera will be available for selection after both missed the game due to suspension. Commenting on their availability, the head-coach said,
“All the players are important to me. Of course, when you have all the players ready, it is good to prepare plans according to the situation. This is our job of the coaching staff to prepare plans which will be best for the team. All the players must be ready either they are starting or on the bench. In this case, I can work with different plans, if the players are rightly available.”
After the last match in post-match press conference, head-coach Juan Ferrando revealed that Edu Bedia played the whole match with a minor fracture.
“It was an important game for us. I spoke to the medical team before the match and they convinced me that there is no risk. Other players play with injuries so I don’t think we need to think more about this. Now, it is about focusing on the next game. We will give our best and make sure that we do well,” said Bedia.
In the last league game of both the teams, a notable remark happened, where Mumbai City FC was crowned as League Champions while FC Goa was successful in entry playoffs by drawing against Hyderabad FC. The captain shared his thought on the first leg of the semi-final and said,
“When we got into this game, Mumbai was just crowned the league champions. We got into the playoffs on the last day. So, I think the expectation was that Mumbai was far superior to us. But I think as the minutes passed in the last match, we felt that we were quite dominant in the game. The pressure is on them now because they are considered the best team in the league right now. We just have to keep going with our plan and play our football and see how our result shapes up.“
Follow IFTWC via our website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram pages/channels for all the latest updates on Indian Football and download our app from the play store.