In a competition as challenging and tenacious as the Hero Indian Super League, consistency is difficult to attain. FC Goa, however, started off as one of the teams that more often than not put in a good performance. At least for the first two seasons, they were among the cream of the league teams, but that reputation took a beating last season, when they endured an alarming drop in form. From being one of the top-notch teams to hitting the ground hard last year, the transition of the team from one of India’s more popular footballing pockets, raised quite a few eyebrows.

The Gaurs’ start to the inaugural ISL edition was also not ideal. After their first four matches, they had just a single point to show for their efforts. But results started coming through as the campaign progressed. Two 31-year-olds combined to pull Goa out of the rut and into the spotlight. Czech Republic forward Miroslav Slepicka combined with former Arsenal player Andre Santos netted as many as nine goals between them. Right-winger Romeo Fernandes also chipped in with valuable goals and assists, as the team progressed slowly but surely. They suffered only a solo defeat following that dreadful start till the end of the league phase, reserving their best for the last. They won four back-to-back games out of their last five to secure an impressive second-place finish in the league table, just a point behind table-toppers Chennaiyin FC. Goa though, had a frustrating time in front of goal during both legs of the semi-finals against ATK. Having played 210 minutes over the course of the two matches, the Kolkata-based team was the one that held their nerves in the penalty shoot-out to progress to the final that they would eventually go on to win.

The second season saw the Gaurs getting results on a more consistent basis. They started much better this time, with three wins out of their first five fixtures. Brazilian striker Reinaldo, former ATK midfielder Joffre Mateu and the powerful Robin Singh pumped in 15 goals among them. Once again Romeo was an important contributor. There was another notable performer in the form of Mandar Rao Dessai, who got his big break that season. They went one better, finishing as the league toppers and into the knockouts, where they came back strongly from a 1-0 loss away to Delhi Dynamos FC to rout them 3-0 at home. The trophy, unfortunately, slipped from their grasp in the most heartbreaking fashion. Trailing to a Bruno Pelissary strike in the 54th minute, Thongkhosiem Haokip popped up with the equaliser four minutes later, while Joffre came up with what everybody thought would be the winner three minutes from time. Everybody except John Stiven Mendoza. Even as the 18,000 Goa fans were still celebrating the strike they thought had sealed the title, a horrible mix-up in the 90th minute ended up with Laxmikant Kattimani conceding an own goal to put Chennaiyin right back in it. And then, Mendoza silenced them with what was the actual winner in virtually the last movement of the match. The Goa faithful could hardly believe their eyes, as after having one hand on the trophy, it was snatched away from them in the cruellest of fashion.

Notably, expectations were high in the last season as well. But although, Goa still had the likes of Joffre and Romeo, they lost more than half of their fixtures and picked up only four victories. They never got it going, and ended up as the bottom-most team in the league. A big fall from being league toppers just a season back.

The past three seasons had seen legendary Brazilian Zico at the managerial hot seat and subsequently, a heavy influx of players from the South American country followed. The last two seasons saw the Gaurs play with eight Brazilians in each edition. Now, with a Spaniard and former Barcelona youth team coach Sergio Lobera at the helm, the team has invested largely in Spanish players. Adrian Colunga, Eduardo Bedia, Ferran Corominas, Manuel Arana, Manuel Lanzarote and Sergio Juste have all made the journey from Spain to play for Goa in the coming season while Portuguese Bruno Pinheiro and Moroccan Ahmed Jahouh are the other two overseas players drafted into the roster. Besides the foreign recruits, they still have Mandar Rao, whose speed and creativity will be banked upon by the team. The bad news though, is that after three seasons with the Gaurs, Romeo Fernandes will adorn Delhi colours this time around. However, the hardened midfielder Pronay Halder will play the anchoring role in the middle of the park, while the tireless left-back Narayan Das will provide width on the flanks as well as keep the opposition attacks at bay. They also boast of a couple of footballers with raw talent in the form of the 23-year-old attacking midfielder Brandon Fernandes and 21-year-old striker Manvir Singh. The ever-experienced and forever faithful Laxmikant Kattimani will once again guard the goal.

After a bad 2016 ISL, FC Goa will want to get back into the groove and become a force to reckon with again. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda will once more be buzzing with expectations, as the team that brought in the trend of ‘Forca Goa’, needs to show much of the form that had initially backed the phrase.

FC Goa will travel to Chennai for their first match of the 2017-18 ISL, to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on November 19th.

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