Manager Zico pinpointed the lack of a finishing touch as the root cause of FC Goa being winless through their first four games of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), after falling to FC Pune City 0-2 on Sunday.Giving proof to the oft-cited adage that football is a simple game, Zico’s analysis of Goa’s latest loss was short and to the point. “When we were playing well, we didn’t score. When they were playing well, they scored,” the legendary Brazilian said.His team’s inability to produce a finish despite promising attacking play has become a familiar theme for Goa. After another game where his strikers didn’t convert their chances, Zico demanded more from his forward players.“Our goals so far have come from a defender (Grégory Arnolin scored one each against Chennaiyin FC and NorthEast United FC) and a midfielder (André Santos against Atlético de Kolkata),” Zico pointed out. “Today, we had three to four chances, but we need to score them.”Zico is certain that being more clinical in front of goal would immediately improve his team’s fortunes. “All that is missing is scoring the goal. In football, you need to score to win,” he said, going on to add, “We are all working to improve.”The manager refused to apportion blame for Pune’s second goal, scored by the home side’s marquee player David Trezeguet after the former Juventus icon latched onto an under-hit back-pass by Grégory. “These mistakes can happen. These things happen in football,” Zico mused. He was nevertheless visibly frustrated by the manner of that goal. “We can’t play against a player like Trezeguet and give a gift like that.”Zico also rued the timing of Trezeguet’s goal, coming when Goa had been on the front foot for a long spell. “We were stronger in the game; they couldn’t do anything, but we just gifted them a goal,” he said.The Goa manager refused to use the absence of marquee player Robert Pirès due to suspension as an excuse. “We shouldn’t worry about who was there or who wasn’t there and what would have happened if he’d been there. ‘If’ doesn’t play football,” a philosophical Zico explained. “Even with him, we lost two and drew one.”Zico was unable to provide a concrete update on the status of midfielder Gabriel Fernandes, who went off early in the first half with an injury. “I hope that it’s not serious. We will have to monitor it over the next few days,” he said of his first-choice winger.Goa will have the opportunity to get some well-earned rest before their next game, a home fixture against Delhi Dynamos FC on November 1. Zico will no doubt spend the week plotting the way to his team’s first ISL win.
