FC Goa's hope of making a third consecutive semis appearance took a massive blow following a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Atlético de Kolkata during their 2016 Hero Indian Super League encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Thursday evening. The visitors took the lead in the 28th minute through a Juan Belencoso header before Mandar Rao Dessai equalised for Goa 10 minutes from full-time. Stephen Pearson scored the winner for ATK deep into injury time to break Goan hearts and leave their semis hopes in tatters.Goa head coach Zico found it difficult to hide his disappointment while speaking at the post-match press conference. “First of all, I would like to apologise to FC Goa fans as they have always been by our side. But we will continue to try our best. There is no doubt in many games we were not able to capitalise on our chances, and even at home where we have been very strong in the past, we lost four or five games and it is very awkward for us. We are not inferior to any team and I am a bit ashamed as we had many opportunities to win the game,” Zico said.He continued: “Today everyone wanted to be a hero and we were unorganised on the pitch and Richarlyson was alone against three-four players, and at that time everyone wanted to be a hero. Today our team did not play our best and the Kolkata team played very well. When they have the ball they know how to play but in the second half things were different and after we equalised, we just got disorganised. In the first half they played much better than us and they got many chances but they scored only one goal, and in the second half we had our chances.”FC Goa still have a miniscule chance of making the semis if they win their last two matches and results elsewhere go their way. However, Zico admitted that he doesn't see his side qualifying after the loss against ATK. “Yes, with a heavy heart I have got to admit that the dream is over and now we have got to think about these two remaining games,” he said.Goa end their campaign with matches against Delhi Dynamos FC and Chennaiyin FC, and Zico explained how his team will approach these games given they may be already out of contention for the semis by the time they take the field for their next encounter against the Lions on Sunday. “We have to respect the fans and honour the jersey that we wear and the opponents that play against us. Even my voice is fainting now with the noise in the stadium from the fans and I am very disappointed with the way our team played. I have won many games and lost many games and in situations much worse than this,” the Brazilian said.“I have given all players an opportunity to play except Denzil Franco as he has been injured since the start of the season and every time I wanted to give him a chance he got injured again. We have got a game again now in three days so we will do our best and I will pick the best players available who are fit.”
