Since the arrival of Ferran Corominas on Indian shores, the Spanish striker set the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) ablaze with his goal-scoring prowess. With 48 goals in 57 Hero ISL matches, Corominas is among the best players to have graced the league and is the all-time leading goal-scorer in the Hero ISL.

Halfway through his second season, Corominas broke former ATK FC and Kerala Blasters FC striker Iain Hume’s record of 28 Hero ISL goals, in less than half the number of matches than the Canadian. Aside from this, FC Goa have been the top scoring team in the Hero ISL for three straight seasons, and their fanbase can thank Corominas for a lot of that.

Goal-scoring team player who raised the standards of those around him

Prior to the Spaniard’s arrival, FC Goa had endured a disappointing campaign in the Hero ISL, finishing bottom of the league in the 2016 season. Corominas came into the Gaurs squad and made an instant impact, scoring 25 minutes into his debut before netting a brilliant hat-trick against Bengaluru FC on his home debut. With Corominas in their side, Goa scored 124 goals across three seasons with the Spaniard himself responsible for a third of these goals.

Even though he loves to score goals and finding the back of the net is almost second nature to him, Corominas has always considered himself a team player. “Goals come from multiple sources. It does not have to be just one pair who does the scoring. The greatest strength of the team lies in that it is a team and we are not relying on individual players," Corominas had said ahead of the 2018-19 season, and to good effect.

While his output is undoubted, the players around him have shown improvements in their game as well. Brandon Fernandes showed signs of progress and was involved in nine goals for the Gaurs last season. Apart from Brandon, the likes of Seriton Fernandes, Lenny Rodrigues, Mandar Rao Dessai and Manvir Singh also raised their standards in the presence of the Spaniard.

Ferran Corominas’ numerous records

During his time in the Hero ISL, Corominas has been a leader in many aspects. The Spaniard is a fox in the box, with 44 of his 48 Hero ISL strikes coming inside the penalty area. In addition to this, Corominas also has the most successful penalties by a foreign player in the Hero ISL, a record that currently stands at eight goals.

Corominas is the only player in the Hero ISL to score more than 10 goals in three consecutive      seasons – 18, 16 and 14 goals over the last three campaigns. He is also the only player to have won two Golden Boots in the Hero ISL and is the scorer of the fastest hat-trick (seven minutes) in league history, besides being the only player to score consecutive hat-tricks (in the 2017-18 season). He also currently holds the record for the highest goals per game in the league - 0.84 goals per game.

In the Hero Super Cup, Corominas scored seven goals in seven matches, taking his total overall goal tally for the club to 55 goals in 64 matches. This includes an important goal against Chennaiyin FC in the final of the 2019 Hero Super Cup, which was the first silverware for the club. That wasn’t the last bit of silverware he won with the Gaurs though.

Hero ISL 2019-20 saw him saw him hit the back of the net 14 times as well as provide four assists to help Goa top the league standings and claim the inaugural League Winners Shield to become the first club from India to directly qualify for the group stage of the AFC Champions League.

While him not being a part of the Goa team that participates in the upcoming AFC Champions League will be disappointing for the fans, his legacy and everything that he achieved with the Gaurs will always be remembered and require something special to ever be eclipsed.

Click here to view Corominas’ stats in the Hero ISL.