Goa head coach Zico cut a confident figure ahead of his side’s crunch clash against Kerala Blasters at the pre-match press conference at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa. He acknowledged that his side were on a good run of form, but emphasised that they will not get ahead of themselves against David James’ Kerala Blasters. “It is the same mood as it was in the beginning of competition. We are playing with seriousness, working hard and aiming to win,” he said.

Shedding light on his team’s impressive turnaround in form, the manager credited his team for the opportunities they create every match. “As we continue playing, we become more solid and we corrected the mistakes that we made earlier. But in the first round we were not playing badly. We created a lot of opportunities, but we didn’t score. Now we continue to create opportunities and we have started scoring,” he explained.

Talking about the importance of beating the visitors on Wednesday, the manager said it would be imperative for his team for qualification to the knockout stage. “I think every game is a must-win game. In football you don’t have to be reckless or be in a hurry. We will be playing against a team who has been playing really well off late. We know the difficulties that we are going to face and we have 90 minutes to sort our situation,” Zico said.  “I want my team to come on to the ground with the same disposition, with the same desire to win which they showed in the last game. We lost the last game against Kerala because of one rehearsed play but we have to be focused,” he informed. And, recalling Goan-born Kerala striker Milagres Gonsalves’ goal in the reverse fixture, Zico added jokingly “I hope no Goan player scores against us!”

On his decision to keep Robert Pirès out of the last match, the Brazilian legend said that he has to choose from a pool of 27 players and has to have the best possible team on the pitch. “In every game, we have many options. We always try to put the best on the field in each game. I have 27 players who are ready to play and I have to keep my options for each game,” Zico said.

Striker Miguel Herlein was also present at the press-conference. The Portuguese player said, “I have been training well. I am ready and when I get the chance I will score. When I come on the field I do my best and do my job. Every striker wants to score. So do I.” He added that his team have been playing well and he is confident of a good result on Wednesday.