I-League 2018-19: Fabricio Ortiz leaves Gokulam Kerala

Argentine defender Fabricio Ortiz has left Gokulam Kerala midway into the I-League season. According to reports, he were to join Canadian Premier League club York 9 FC but that may not be entirely true.

Gokulam signed Ortiz at the start of the season to bolster their chances of winning the I-League. The defender joined from Jordanian club Al Aqaba FC on a free transfer. Ortiz then made nine appearances for Gokulam.

He had formed a beautiful partnership with another central defender, Daniel Addo. But that didn't really reflect on the field. Apart from the match against Minerva Punjab, Gokulam have not maintained a clean sheet this season.

After back-to-back defeats against minnows Indian Arrows and Aizawl FC, Gokulam decided to release Ortiz in order to make way for new player. They have already signed Marcus Joseph and Joel Sunday.

Gokulam earned the reputation of ‘giant killers’ after their impressive performance in the last season, when they beat clubs like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. The target was to finish in a more respectable position this time around. But after 12 matches, Gokulam are reeling at the 10th position, only above Shillong Lajong, with 10 points.

The club made terrible mistakes as far as signings are concerned. They appointed Fernando Valera as coach in March last year the Spanish coach parted ways even before the start of I-League.

As a result, Bino George, who was demoted as technical director, was reinstated in his old position. Gokulam’s relation with Antonio German ended in a bitter way after the striker left, accusing the coach of treating him in a bad way. It was Arthur Kouassi who followed German a few days later and now, Ortiz leaves the club.

The Argentine was not in the team sheet in the previous two matches, which Gokulam lost to Chennai City and Churchill Brothers.

Quite surprisingly, Gokulam now have four foreigners in the attacking line-up and only two in the midfield and defence. According to the rules, they cannot sign any more foreign players this season.

It needs to be seen how the team performs in their remaining six matches of the campaign.

Gokulam will next play three away matches on the trot. The first will be against Minerva Punjab in Chandigarh on Saturday before they face Mohun Bagan and Real Kashmir.