MARGAO: Carlos Pena, coach of FC Goa, expressed happiness over performance of the team in the match against Jamshedpur FC which they won 3-0.
He however refused to be drawn on the quality of refereeing. He said, “I am not going to talk about the referees; I will focus on my players. We can control what we can control and leave the rest to the officials.”
On one occasion an FC Goa player was pushed in the penalty box and no action was taken and on numerous occasions players were lying on the pitch following a tackle and the game was allowed to go on.
He admitted there was pressure playing in a stadium in front of fans after two years but he said he saw his players in the hotel very excited at the prospect of playing this game in front of the fans.
Coming back as a coach to a stadium where he played as a player, he said he was looking around and was very happy and it was now important to control one’s emotions and move along.
Adrian Boothroyd, coach of Jamshedpur FC, admitted the opponents were a better team and they had worked very hard on their game plans but with four five minutes of the start of the match they had to adapt.
“I am happy with the individual performances of players in the second half,” he said.
Boothroyd added: “We created four or five chances in the second half and we have to give credit to their goalkeeper who managed to keep them out.”
