ISL 2019-20 | Happy with four points from two matches, says Jorge Costa
Mumbai City FC head coach Jorge Costa has expressed his happiness with the four points from two games ahead of their first home clash against Odisha FC on Thursday. Costa also hailed his team's spirit and work ethic and didn't forget to praise their opponents Odisha FC despite their two losses.
Mumbai City FC will take on Odisha FC at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday for their first home clash. With a win and a draw, Mumbai City have four points from two tough away games, while Odisha FC are travelling to Mumbai for their third away game without any point in their pockets. They lost back to back games against Jamshedpur FC and NorthEast United FC prior to this.
Mumbai coach Jorge Costa looked a happy man at the press conference and expressed his happiness with the four points that his boys have churned out from the first two matches. “ We played two difficult games away from home and we finished those two games with four points. It’s not perfect but we played two games in 72 hours and I'm very happy with all my players,” said Costa, reported ISL website.
“I'm also happy with the four points from two matches and had it been six, I would have been the happiest coach, but four points is not bad. We are now looking ahead to get three points from our next match and that’s how we intend on approaching the rest of the season," Costa added.
Mumbai City had two difficult away games against the Southern sides Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyin FC. While Mumbai defeated Kerala by a solitary goal, they held on to a goalless draw against two-time champions Chennaiyin.
Hailing his players’ spirit and work ethics, Costa said, “We have to work on a lot of things, but I am happy with my players. We need to work hard every day because that’s the only way to improve on a lot of things. However, the way in which we won (our first match) and the spirit that we showed illustrates that my players work hard at everything.
“All the players in the club are happy and give their maximum during games. It doesn’t matter if we win, lose or draw as long as we can look each other in the eye after the game,” he added
Mumbai City faced severe injury blows during the first two games in the likes of Mato Grgic, Paulo Machado, and star Sengalese striker Modu Sougu against Kerala and Chennaiyin. The Portuguese coach, however, has expressed his satisfaction with the other available 25 players in the squad.
“As I have always mentioned, I have 25 players and not 11. I am happy with all of them. We did have injury problems in our first two games but when you see (my players) playing in the league, you can see that they give their 100 per cent and they are performing very well.”
"There are some injury concerns but I'm happy with my squad of 25 players. I've plenty of options to pick my playing XI.” said Costa
Odisha FC fought till the last minute in the losses against Jamshedpur and NorthEast United and Costa assured that he was not taking the new entrants lightly.
“They are a good team and play well. They create a lot of chances from the games of their’s that I’ve watched. This season they have zero points from two games, but they were both difficult away games for them. They are playing good like all the other teams, so, irrespective of what position they are in the league standings right now, we must and we do respect them. The most important thing is not going into the clash expecting an easy game because they’ve been playing well, and we must respect them.” said the 47-year-old.
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