ISL 7: Last games were difficult to control due to injuries, says Ferrando
Mar 06, 2021
Panaji (Goa) [India], March 6 : After playing out a 2-2 draw against Mumbai City FC in the first leg of the Indian Super League (ISL) semi-final, FC Goa coach Juan Ferrando said that the last few games were difficult for him to control due to injuries to his players.
Goa broke the deadlock through Igor Angulo's penalty (20') before his goal was canceled out by Hugo Boumous (38'). Goa took the lead again through Saviour Gama (59') but Mourtada Fall (62') soon netted a vital equaliser to help the Islanders in restoring parity.
"We had clear chances. We can play against Mumbai City. Not only two key players, I lost a lot of players. (Jorge) Ortiz was playing today with difficult feelings, Edu (Bedia) was not at his 100 per cent, I lost Ali, Princeton. Very difficult to prepare the team," Ferrando said during the post-match press conference.
"Sometimes it was good. In transition, we repeated the same mistakes. The last few games were difficult to control. There are a lot of injuries. We were playing with six players who were 100 per cent fit. The rest of the players had big problems. Edu Bedia for example has a fracture but had injections to help the team. But it is difficult to play in these conditions. It was our mentality to win all the time. But sometimes it is not possible," he added.
Talking about the tackle on his player Princeton, Ferrando said: "Tackle on Princeton is not football, Fall's tackle is taekwondo. I'm very happy because Leander was working all season. I believe and trust in him. There are a lot of players with problems on the pitch. In case, all the players are there, then you can use Ishan (Pandita). But today I didn't know if several players were ready to play 90 minutes."
Mumbai City and FC Goa will now clash in the second leg of the ISL semi-final on Monday.
