"Carles Puyol was 1000 times worse than Brandon Fernandes with the ball" - FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez

FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez recently stressed on the importance of a captain leading from the front. Manolo, who hails from Barcelona, cited legendary defender Carles Puyol's example to urge FC Goa captain Brandon Fernandes to work on his mentality.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the 2023-24 ISL semifinal second-leg fixture between his side and Mumbai City FC on Monday, April 29, a visibly disappointed 55-year-old mentioned the significance of approaching the games with strong character. He said:

"I am from Barcelona and I love Carles Puyol, why? Carles Puyol, with the ball, was 1000 times worse than Brandon. Yes. But, when his team conceded one goal, this is the moment that you need to show leadership (like Puyol did). We need to improve in this aspect because character and mentality is very, very important."

"They have no idea about football" - Manolo Marquez

The Gaurs lost the 2023-24 ISL semifinal first leg against Mumbai City by a 3-2 margin in Fatorda, failing to maintain their two-goal advantage at the end. They conceded three goals after the 90th minute as Lallianzuala Chhangte scored a brace and Vikram Partap Singh scored one for the visitors.

Earlier in the match, Boris Singh Thangjam opened the scoring for the hosts in the 16th minute with skipper Brandon Fernandes doubling the lead with a 56th-minute strike. Brandon was then substituted in the 85th minute.

On whether he regrets the substitutions made during FC Goa's heartbreaking loss against Mumbai City FC, Manolo Marquez asserted that those who question his substitutions didn't have "any idea about football".

He opened up by saying:

"We played a very good game. Everyone that speaks about the substitutions is people that are not involved in football, and they don't have any idea about football."

When asked about his thoughts on FC Goa's upcoming away leg in Mumbai, the 2021-22 ISL winning coach not only sounded optimistic about his team's ability to fight for a place in the final but heaped praise on Petr Kratky's men. The Spaniard further went on to add:

"We will be very confident when we arrive on Monday. We will be ready to play. And I know that we will try to win, to turn the situation around and we show that we can do it. There is a second leg and we have to fight and try to qualify because we know that we can do it, but we know that the opponent is a strong opponent."

If FC Goa can overcome the Mumbai City FC challenge on Monday, it will be their third ISL final appearance, having already reached the summit clash in 2015 and 2018-19. They lost both those contests - against Chennaiyin FC (3-2) in 2015 and Bengaluru FC (1-0) in 2018-19.