FC Goa's Manolo Marquez praises this player after win against Odisha FC in ISL

Manolo Marquez targets entering the playoffs and winning the ISL Shield with FC Goa this season. 

Manolo Marquez’s FC Goa have risen to the third spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) standings after claiming a 4-2 win against Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium. Brison Fernandes was the star of the show for the Gaurs with a double as Udanta Singh also got on the scoresheet. 

Owing to their win over Odisha FC, FC Goa now have 25 points from 13 ISL games. They trail the league leader Mohun Bagan by seven points but have a game in hand over the Mariners. Here’s what Goa’s coach Manolo Marquez said in the post-match press conference after their big win at the Kalinga Stadium.

Manolo Marquez on FC Goa’s target in the 2024-25 ISL season

FC Goa are currently two points behind second-placed Bengaluru FC and can overtake the Blues on Wednesday if they beat Hyderabad FC. With the title race heating up, Manolo Marquez was asked if he was realistically hoping to win the ISL Shield.

Replying to the question, Manolo Marquez said, “Now I will answer with a typical answer, It is about game by game. In four days, we play at home against Hyderabad FC. It seems like an easy game but it’s not easy, you understand me. It seems that, okay, we have to win this game, but in this competition, all the games are very difficult.”

“Then, obviously, we have two targets. One is to enter the play-off, and the other is to try to win the shield. We are in the race in both aspects. We need to be ambitious and now, the target is to try to win the shield, despite knowing that both teams, not only Mohun Bagan but Bengaluru also, both teams are playing very, very well.”

Manolo Marquez concluded by saying, “We played against both teams in the former games, and we got four points, but we checked that they are very strong sides.”

The FC Goa manager praises their young star Brison Fernandes

Brison Fernandes has been on song for FC Goa recently. The 23-year-old left winger has scored back-to-back braces against Mohun Bagan and Odisha FC to secure two important wins for his side. Overall, the Goan footballer has scored 5 goals in 13 ISL games this season.

Singing praises of the youngster, The FC Goa manager said, “You can take my press conference last season about my opinion of Brison Fernandes. He is the best Indian player that I’ve trained in my four seasons in India, this was my sentence at that moment.”

“Now he’s a real player, Brison. Now he’s taking care of the rest, food and he’s entering the pitch, and he knows perfectly what he has to do in attack and defense because it’s not only in attack. Before we were expecting, okay, let’s see if Brison receives the ball and can do something. But now he’s scoring goals, and he’s working a lot for the team (defensively).”

Manolo Marquez concluded the statement by saying, “I am very, very, very happy, because he’s a great guy, and I think that everyone in Goa has to be very satisfied with Brison.”

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