VASCO: Our “affair” with Rio de Janeiro seems to be continuing. This time it’s football. FC Goa has left for Rio to prepare for the upcoming Hero Indian Super League season. Twelve Indian players from the squad flew Dabolim International Airport on Monday while the international players will join their teammates in Brazil.
Fulganco Cardozo who has been selected for the national team’s encounter against Puerto Rico will join the rest of the squad in Rio at a later date.
Sanjay Balmuchu and Raju Gaikwad will also join the team later due to commitments with their parent club.
Head coach Zico’s idea behind taking the team to his home country was that the team would get an exposure against some tough opposition which would give them the much needed practice to play against teams in the ISL.
“Our pre-season will be here in Rio where we play friendly matches against some strong teams. This will immensely benefit our Indian and foreign players. We believe that if our pre-season this year is as good as it was last year, the chances of success will increase significantly. So, for me, our pre-season in Brazil will be a trump card for us,” he mentioned.
Mandar Rao Dessai who recently travelled to Villareal CF in Spain for a two-week training stint has expressed the need for quality training facilities. “Football in India and abroad is completely different. I’m sure that in
Brazil, we will have better training facilities and we will get to play against strong teams. This will help us develop our skills and it will help the team understand each other before the ISL starts,” he explained.
The team will have a run of pre-season games against local opposition before returning on September 24 to Goa ahead of the start of the new season.
