ISL: 'We always have been the team who have looked to score goals' - FC Goa coach Zico

FC Goa coach Zico

FC Goa coach Zico addressed the media after defeating Delhi Dynamos 4-1. Here are the excerpts from the post-match press conference:

Zico- We are very happy the way our team played today. We have got four goals, but we know we have to get a certain goal average. But we will keep training and playing well to recover the points that we have lost in the first league. A victory like this one shows that we are alive.

Q. It was a great win. But do you think all the four goals were gifted by the Delhi team?

A. Zico- We always have been the team who have looked to score goals and a team who always looks to score forces the opponent team to make mistakes. We created so many opportunities in all the matches we played, but we were unable to score. Today we created the opportunities and we did score.

Q. All the four goals were scored by foreign players, none by an Indian player. Do you think that the foreign players are doing better than the Indian players?

A. Zico- Each player has their own characteristics. I don’t think that foreigners are scoring because they are better. Even the I-league, the Indian players don’t score much. In today’s match Gabriel and Mandar had the chance to score, but in the positions that they play in they don’t have much chances like the foreign players have. In our team, all our defenders are very tall and they jump very high and they are also well positioned, so they had the chance to score.

Q. What has been your assessment of the Indian strikers so far?

A. Zico- I really liked the Kerala Blasters player Sabeeth. I also liked Cavin Lobo, who scored two goals against us and Durga of NorthEast United FC. It’s a pity that we don’t have Indian strikers in our team. All the strikers that we have like Tolgay, Miguel, Ranti and Miroslav are all foreign players.

Q. Were surprised not seeing Del Pierro in the team list?

A. Zico- No because it has happened before. I don’t have any comment to make on other teams choices.

Q. We have reached the halfway mark of the tournament. Could you please assess how the tournament is? Also do you think that ISL is achieving its goal of fostering Indian football?

A. Zico- This tournament is a big success among the public and on television. So I really believe that it can help a lot in development of football. The first ISL is a learning experience and they can make improvements in the future. They can improve the format of the league, since in this format the matches are in a gap of 2-3 days and due to which the players get injured. So this can be improved in the next season.

Q. Do you think that ISL has big future?

A. Zico- It has a great future and moreover ISL and I-League can join forces then we will get to see more Indian players and less foreign players.