FC Goa unlikely to stay on till the party begins

What they did last season….

It was the third match of the ISL for the Goan side and they had only one point on board. Zico wasn’t yet sure about his best starting line-up and his marquee player was suspended for the next two games.

The arrival of Andre Santos was a big boost for the squad, and although it took few matches, Zico finally found his perfect combination at the center of the park. Robert Pires’ poor performances and lack of fitness forced Zico to drop the former Arsenal attacker; instead he built his team around Santos.

Zico put his faith in two young Indians, Mandar Rao Desai and Romeo Fernandes, and the duo produced some wonderful performances on the wings. With Bikramjit and Amiri shielding the defence in the midfield, Santos was provided the liberty to roam freely in the final third, and the Brazilian produced some memorable moments on the pitch.

• FC Goa remained undefeated in their last seven league matches – winning five of them.

• The defence which conceded nine goals in the first seven matches, conceded just three in the next seven games.

• To top it all, they scored five goals in the first seven games, and 16 in the next seven.

It was a transformation of epic proportions, and the fine run of results saw them climb up the table – all the way to second place. They were in fact one of the first teams to register their place in the knockout round.

Defensively organized, gritty and tactically astute Atletico de Kolkata side strangled Goa’s free flowing football in the semi-final. Zico’s men did dominate the game in possession and created some good openings over the two legs, but they failed to convert those into goals. In the end, the tie was decided on penalties and ironically two of Goa’s most consistent performers, Andre Santos and Zohib Amiri, missed their spot kicks.

In the end it was a satisfactory season for FC Goa and they would have been especially proud of the way they recovered from the run of poor results at the start of the tournament. The passionate home crowd will however expect the team to go one step further this time around.

Zico didn’t have any say about the players that arrived at the club last season, and that is one of the reasons why they struggled to get points on the board at the start of the tournament. Zico has stamped his authority on the transfer dealings this time around and a host of Brazilians have arrived at the club. In fact, Gregory Arnolin is the only foreigner who has been retained by the team from last season’s squad.

A lot of young Indian players shined through for FC Goa last season, and Zico has retained most of them – including the dynamic duo of Mandar Rao Desai and Romeo Fernandes. Debabrata Roy and Narayan Das were the regular fullbacks for team, while Bikramjit Singh has grown into the role of a central midfielder.

The Goan team will field a completely new striker force this season and they have brought in a host of Indian strikers. Joaquim Abranches, who didn’t get too many opportunities at FC Pune City last season, will join the likes of Victorino Fernandes and the talented India U23 international Thongkhosiem Haokip. They have also signed former Mohun Bagan striker Chindorai Sabeeth, but the 24-year-old will need to improve a lot on the performances he produced for Kerala Blasters last season.

Lester Fernandez is another interesting signing. The attacking midfielder couldn’t establish himself in the Atletico de Kolkata starting line-up last season, but experienced campaigner could provide good back-up for the likes of Leo Moura and Jofre.

The biggest name to arrive from the South American nation is undoubtedly that of Lucio. The 37-year-old has won it all in football – from Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, a historic treble with Inter Milan to the 2002 World Cup with the Brazilian national team. In his prime, Lucio was one of the best center backs in the world and he is likely to partner Gregory Arnolin at the center of the Goan defence.

In a recent interview Lucio mentioned that Zico is the prime reason why he chose to take up this new challenge at this point of this career.

Brazilian goalkeeper Elinton Andrade, who has played for clubs like Vasco da Gama and Marseille, will replace Jan Seda in goal. Laxmikanth Kattimani and new signing Luis Barreto will fight for the number two spot in the squad.

Among all the new arrivals, Darryl Duffy could potentially prove to be the most crucial in the end. The former Swansea City striker has maintained a good goal scoring record throughout his career and he has already acclimatised himself with Indian football, having played for Salgaocar for the past two years. The 31-year-old has scored 27 goals in 50 matches for the I-League club and Zico will hope that he continues in the same vein of form for his team as well.

Romeo Fernandes (23-year-old)

The local boy will carry a lot of expectations on his shoulder into the second edition of the ISL. Romeo Fernandes was one of the best Indian players in the tournament last season and his partnership with Mandar Rao Desai on the wings is crucial for FC Goa.

Under the guidance of Zico, Romeo can, and should, fulfil his potential. It won’t be long before the youngster grabs a regular place in the starting line-up of the Indian national team.

What the team needs to improve upon

"It took me a lot of time to realise who the players were and where they came from. That was the reason for our poor start last year. We gelled as the tournament progressed and managed to go all the way to the semi-finals (losing to eventual winners Atletico de Kolkata on penalties). This year will be better because I got to choose the players who joined and left. As far as the number of Brazilians are concerned, it's easier to implement my philosophy with them" – Zico said in a recently held press conference.

Possible starting line-up

Prediction: 5th in the League

FC Goa have lost some key players this season. Miroslav Slepicka and Andre Dos Santos scored nine goals and provided seven assists between themselves – replacing these two could prove to be a tough task for Zico. A lot will depend on how the front three of Romeo Fernandes, Mandar Rao Desai and Reinaldo/Duffy performs.