Despite having lost their first leg of the semifinals to Delhi Dynamos, FC Goa’ s Spanish playmate Jofre Mateu excluded confidence of making it to the finals of the second season of the Indian Super League.
The Guars went down to the Lions 1-0 at JawharLal Nehru Stadium in the capital courtesy a 42nd minute goal from Indian international Robin Singh. Delhi Dynamos were the better team on the night and FC Goa will consider themselves lucky to be going into the second leg with only a one goal deficit.
.
Speaking to TheHardTackle post the match, the 35 year old former Athletico de Kolkata midfielder Jofre Mateu sounded confident of winning the tie in Goa though he remained tight lipped on the approach FC Goa will take in the reverse leg.
We are confident of overturning the result. It is not going to be easy but we have to win. It is going to be the same as today – we need to go out and win. We have our chances
Along with Leo Moura, Jofre has been an integral part of FC Goa’ s setup this season and the former Barcelona player was once again FC Goa’ s best player on the night. He created several chances most notable of which came in the 11 the minute when he ran past Sehnaj on the right to send in a delightful cross for Sabeeth. The striker unfortunately failed to keep his header on target. Speaking on his personal performance in the match, Jofre said
“I tried my best but my performance could have been better. The team put up a good fight overall but their are still somethings that we need to work on before the next leg. We need to make better use of our chances.”
FC Goa now host Delhi Dynamos in the second leg on the 15th and Zico and his side will be looking to put in an improved performance in a bid to qualify for the finals which are to be held in Goa itself.
Image Courtesy: ISL Media