We’ve heard the anthems and cried out the slogans to encourage the team. Now with the match against Atlético de Kolkata, the beats will get louder with Carlos Gonsalves leading the cheering band with an eight-member brass band led by Francisco Azavedo (Pitush) from Merces. “FC Goa team is great this year and we want to show them our support through music. The fans are very motivating and they respond to every beat of music in the stadium. We are enjoying the ambiance and hope the team does well in the matches,” says Carlos. Pawan Patel was present at the first match of the team and was shouting out loudly to cheer for them. “The team is better than last year and with the confidence they showed during the first match, I think we will reach the finals and win the title. In the first match, they played well in the first half, though the second half was slow. The players should keep attacking as even the opposing players are tired. Kolkata are the defending champions and they have already played well against Chennai,” says Pawan, who is hunting for tickets for the match. Joseph Lazarus from Panjim, a die hard fan of the team has been following their performance closely. “The team has performed well and the players have gelled well from the start. They started better this year rather than picking up the pace later in the league. Mandar Rao Desai and Romeo Fernandes are very promising players. Elinton Sanchotene Andrade, the goalkeeper and Lucio were a delight to watch. Besides watching the first match of the team, another highlight was watching Roberto Carlos live in action,” says Joseph. Today’s match against Atlético de Kolkata will be the clash between East and West as both teams are strong and have a huge following of football lovers. This is the time for FC Goa to defeat the defending champions and prove themselves. -Johann Conceicao, Pirna The team looks fantastic and I hope they give a good fight against Kolkata as well. Goa should continue attacking and maintain a goal difference. With today’s match, I hope the players don’t get too aggressive like the last time Goa and Kolkata met on the field. -Kevin Godinho, Taleigao With Lucio, a Brazilian player and World Cup winner leading the team, they are in excellent form. The match against Atlético de Kolkata will be exciting as they are the defending champions and have performed well in their first match. It will be a fight between Brazilian players of FC Goa and Spanish players of Atlético de Kolkata. -Augustine D’Mello, Moira
