FC Goa might have started their campaign on a high note, but their confidence was crushed when Chennaiyin FC came to the former's home ground and handed them a 4-0 defeat on their last game.
The Goa-based franchise had the comfort of three home games on a trot, but they were not easy games. They started off with a win over Delhi Dynamos and then went on to draw one against the defending champions Atletico de Kolkata. After that, came the crushing defeat against Chennaiyin FC. Now they have flown to the highlands of Guwahati to take on the NorthEast United FC, who are yet to open their account in the points table. FC Goa head coach believes that it will not be an easy game against NorthEast United FC on Thursday.
"We hope to recover from our loss against Chennai [which they lost 4-0] and play well. NEUFC also have had similar problems as ours, like injuries. In the last game, they suffered an undeserved loss [vs FC Pune City]. They have a very good coach [Cesar Farias] and they fared well in South Africa [in the pre-season training]. So we expect a good and difficult game," Zico told the reporters at the press conference on Wednesday in Guwahati.
"A team can only play what they know. We had opportunities for a comeback [against Chennaiyin] but could not take them. They took theirs very well. We hope to recover and hopefully win the game."
The former Brazilian legend lamented the 4-0 loss and is hopeful that his side would recover from that loss and come out all-guns blazing against NorthEast United FC on Wednesday.
"This is football - sometimes it happens according to the plan, sometime it doesn't. Our plan was to defend well and mark Elano and [Stiven] Mendoza well, but it failed. Sometimes you encounter a team playing better football on that night. In my coaching career of 16 years, I've never lost a match 4-0. We are very sad about the loss," Zico added.
"We are happy about the fact that we are creating many chances. There is no case of an urgent need of improvement in that field. We just need to keep creating chances and keep calm before the goal."
