FC Goa look to make wining start under new coach Pereira

PTI, Dec 23, 2021, 5:22 PM IST

Vasco: FC Goa would look to make a positive start under new coach Derrick Pereira after parting ways with Juan Ferrando when they take on Odisha FC in a Hero Indian Super League here on Friday.

FC Goa parted ways with its coach Ferrando and turned back to Pereira in a frantic last few days. Ferrando joined ATK Mohun Bagan after Antonio Lopez Habas vacated his chair at the helm.

Pereira, who was with the club as their technical director, had also been in charge of the Gaurs along with Clifford Miranda and Roma Cunillera during the fag end of the 2019-20 season after the departure of Sergio Lobera.

During his short stint, he took the side to the top of ISL table at the end of the 2018-19 league phase, paving the way for FC Goa’s qualification for group stages of the 2021 AFC Champions League.

A veteran tactician in Indian football, Pereira is not expected to be on the touchline on Friday with former India international Miranda to be in charge in an interim capacity.

“It was a shocking call for me to take charge of the FC Goa team, whose aim is to always be on top. I have been in touch with the players virtually and can’t wait to be with them. I have see the amount of hard work the boys have put in. It’s just the results haven’t come our way.

“We need to continue what we have been doing and I am sure we will start getting results,” Pereira said, undergoing mandatory quarantine before he joins the squad in the bio-bubble.

Goa are eighth in the points table having seven points from six games. They have not lost in their last three outings, winning two of them in a bid to turn things around after three successive losses at the start of the season.

Goa were held to a 1-1 draw by Hyderabad FC in their last engagement but the team showed fight and marked improvements from their first three games.

Odisha, meanwhile, need to reverse their recent run of form.

The Kiko Ramirez-coached side have been winless in the last two games and have dropped to seventh in the table from six matches.

In their six games this season, Odisha FC have scored 12 goals, an average of two goals a game but have lacked consistency in the final third.

Javi Hernandez has been in tremendous form, netting four goals. He is fourth in the race for the golden boot, and he has two assists this season additionally.

His tally of six goals is only behind Greg Stewart (8) and Roy Krishna (7).