FC Goa assistant coach Clifford Miranda was happy with the fighting spirit the Gaurs displayed in an enthralling encounter against Odisha FC in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) at the Tilak Maidan Stadium, Goa on Friday.

Ivan Gonzalez (42’) broke the deadlock to give FC Goa the lead but their joy was short-lived as Jonathas (53’) equalized from close range. Both teams pressed for the winner but were unable to make the net ripple. The Gaurs are now unbeaten in four games and sit 8th in the table, having accumulated eight points from seven matches. 

The assistant coach addressed the media after the match.

Here are the excerpts from the press conference:

How do you rate the teams’ performance tonight and do you think 1-1 is a fair result?

Definitely not our best performance but we appreciate the fighting spirit of the players, the way they kept on going till the end. It was a good sight. We are a good team, one team, a united team. Of course, we are not happy when the team does not play up to the best but sometimes in the end a point is better than nothing.

This has been a week of transition, how do you think the team has coped up?

It is normal whenever you have a change in the dugout, there has to be some issues and problems but then again, I think the players are mature enough to handle things and in the end, if we can see the spirit in the team, it was a decent performance considering the circumstances.

What points do you think the team needs to work on to avoid the shortcomings you mentioned?

In my opinion, we have a few and every team has, which is normal. It is for the head coach to decide as to how he is going to work and first identify the problem that will be briefed to him. And discuss how to solve that. It is now his prerogative.

How do you see your role as the assistant coach in FC Goa from a learning perspective and from a future point of view as well?

For me, it is my job. I take pride in doing my job to the best of my abilities. Whether it was Sergio (Lobera) or Juan (Ferrando) or if it is Derrick (Pereira) at the moment, I enjoyed working with all of them. Especially I loved working with Juan because he is the one who really trusted, loved and respected me and respected my work. I’ve had a very productive working relationship with him and an even better personal relationship with him. He gave me a big role in this FC Goa team in the past year. I will always be thankful to him. I have nothing but love and respect for him.