01 May 2021  |   05:28am IST

For its fans FC Goa won points and hearts

FC Goa may not have won a match in the ACL but performed out of their skins while playing against teams far superior to them. Its fans had much to say about their team’s performance

From everyone writing off the team before the tournament started, to the point of getting disappointed with the a draw, I think that tells you a lot about how long the FC Goa squad has come by playing in this prestigious Champions League. I would even go to the extent of saying that if we had given a little less respect to the opponent’s in the first 2 matches (Al Rayyan & Al Wahda) then we could have qualified for the next stage. But what has disappointed me was that many of our local fans did not quite understand the level of the opponents we were facing. Just as the team worked hard and did their homework before stepping into the Asian Champions League, I think the fans should have also conducted some research before they unleashed negativity unleashed in the social media. Who would have thought we would score first against the last years finalists, Persepolis. I think this team is finally in tune with Juan Ferrando’s philosophy 

and if this tournament was held just before the ISL, I guess w we might 

have won it. All this augurs well for the next season though. 

-OMI TUNES, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Vasco-Da-Gama

After the end of the ACL campaign for FC Goa, I am proud to say our team performed well in the group stage league. This was never expected but all thanks to the coach Juan Ferrando for taking up the gaur’s performance to the next level. Dheeraj Singh our goalkeeper has been outstanding in all the matches in which he played. They have been far better in this ACL campaign if this continues we could win the ISL 

-KAILAS NAIK, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Pilerne

We are very proud of team, the outstanding display of football by the team and thanks to our coach Juan, the way he helped shape the team right from scratch every one can see that. No one would have ever thought that FC Goa could be such a tough competitor in this tournament. Every player have given their best especially Dhiraj. He was a superstar of all the matches he played, Even Devendra showed a lot of improvement and in the last match which featured an all Indian squad they put up a good fight. This team has developed confidence and is an inspiration to many youths of India who are looking forward to see Indian football grow at the International level. 

-VARUN MANDREKAR, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Arpora

First of all super proud of this team, they did not just make Goa proud but the whole country. The team has shown a great mentality and gave a tough fight to some of the Asian giants of football. The Indian lads have played at their very best with the guidance of the foreign players. Also this would have not been possible without the coaching staff and the FC GOA management, once again super proud of this team. 

-SANTOSH SARMALKAR, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Sancoale, Goa

Feeling so proud to be a great part of the wonderful team many expected to fail in the ACL. We were the best team in our group speaking about a team that fielded 6 Goans in the starting line-up. It was one of the proudest moments for us. We knew we had the quality in our players after the departures. Though we were thrashed by teams, we believed in the coaches and the players showed the fighting spirit till the last match. We scored our first goal against the team that was the runner’s up in the last year’s campaign. It was a proud moment for all of us even though we finished 3rd. We are proud of this team even when the foreign players were leaving for home before the last match. They played with zeal and this shows how enthusiastic they were. We are proud of the coach, all the staff that played big as well as a small role in this journey. We thank you all, we will come back stronger we together Forca Goa 

-KEEGAN FERNANDES, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Carona

Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again. That’s life with a new game every day, and that’s the way football is. Fc Goa played well competing with all the top clubs in Asia. It’s was an amazing experience for the team playing at the world level. Playing tournaments like this will help Indian players gain experience and this kind of experience will take Indian football to the world level. I feel the space between the matches should be at least 5 to 6 days. Playing continuous matches every 3 days made the players exhausted. But FC Goa has done a great job and all our players have done a great job. I was happy to do my bit too by being a part of the FC Goa Fan Club group who welcomed the team into the stadium every match day. 

-JACKRIAS FERNANDES, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Seraulim, Salcette

The performance of the team was fantastic. All the players in the squad were positive. They all gave their best to play against tough Asian teams. We could have registered our first historic win against Al Rayyan but couldn’t get to it. Goan players like Seriton, Devendra, Princeton, Sanson have improved a lot, and proved it that they can play against any big teams. Fc Goa could not qualify, but they have won the hearts of Goan and Indian fans. 

-RANSLEY REBELLO, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Dabal

All I can say is that I am very proud that my club shut up many people who were going around saying FC Goa could not compete at this stage. I can still remember the commentators say in the first match that FC Goa are here not to complete but just to gain experience and then by the last match the same commentators were praising FC Goa for playing some amazing football. It’s sad that all the goals we conceded in the last 3 matches were actually very silly after we had lapses of concentration or tried to do too much. But this unexpected performance means that all the teams in the ISL should be wary of the Gaurs next season. Get ready to get mauled. 

-UPESH MORAJKAR, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Chicalim

As an FC Goa fan I am extremely proud of our boys. I am an avid fan of FC Goa and just as I do before every ISL season I decorated my car again before the ACL & was proud to be a part of the FC Goa fan club group which used to welcome the team into the stadium before every match day at Fatorda.

More over I am the most proud of the last match we played with the team comprising of only Indians only and we managed to compete with the much highly ranked ponens for most of the match. I can’t wait for the next season to come as I expect them to perform much better after this valuable experience gained in the Champions League. 

-FRANCIS CLARK, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Macazana

The baptism by fire was well handled by our boys. The experience made men out of boys. Debut in the Big League is never easy. 3 draws and a near win leading till the 89th minute was quite an achievement. The team stood out in the final game and lost by a slender margin. 

Good tidings for Forca Goa. 

-JAMES M. MENDONCA, 

FC Goa Fan Club, Duler Mapusa,

To finish 3rd in a group that contained heavy weights of West Asian Football is an incredible achievement given the circumstances of the tournament. I’m sure with Fans we could have achieved much more. We scored 2 really good goals one against the group winner and one that almost won us the game. Everyone is proud of the team. 

-CONRAD BARRETO 

Footbal Entrepreneur Margao