ISL 2018/19: "ATK is obliged to win, we are excited to win," says FC Goa coach Sergio Lobera ahead of the midweek fixture
With a disappointing home loss against Bengaluru FC in the last fixture, FC Goa will be hoping for a change in fortunes when they take on an upbeat ATK at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday evening in the Hero Indian Super League.
The visitors will miss the services of Mohamed Ali in the weekday kick-off due to the red card which he received in the previous match, while Hugo Boumous will also be out of action due to disciplinary issues.
Spanish coach Sergio Lobera was pretty confident about the team’s prospect in tomorrow’s game. During the pre-match press conference, he said FC Goa is “excited to win games” unlike their opponents who are “obliged to win games.”
When asked about ATK’s potential, he said, “I think ATK’s a team which seems like they’re obliged to win the game. We’re more excited to win games. The team they’ve built is like they’ve chosen the best international and Indian players from the country to become champions.”
He added by saying,
“Keeping that in mind, tomorrow we’ll be hoping to get one past them. We recognize the potential they have. They’re a direct rival for us and we want to keep a gap between us and themselves.”
Manuel Lanzarote, who was playing for FC Goa in the last season will be up against his former team on Wednesday. Although, Lobera refused to speak a word about him.
Ferran Corominas has been playing phenomenally well this season with eight goals so far, the highest by any player.
He will be the man to watch out for in the match and will give a hard to ATK’s defence, especially John Johnson and Andre Bikey. A win for the visitors will take them to the top of the league table once again by virtue of a superior goal difference.
Sergio Lobera spoke highly of FC Goa’s most prized possession Ferran Corominas and admitted that apart from winning games for the team, he is also a great motivator. Regarding the matter, he said,
“I think Coro (Corominas) was the best player in the team last season. We were very lucky to be able to keep him in the team after getting many offers from other clubs. He’s a great player and does a lot of things on the pitch which helps us and also off the pitch to motivate the players.”