Bhubaneswar: Curtains were drawn on the Indian domestic season as well Manolo Marquez‘s stint as FC Goa coach with the Gaurs clinching the Kalinga Super Cup with an emphatic win over Jamshedpur FC here on Saturday.
And Marquez, who had simplified their objective throughout the tournament as the “need to win four games”, couldn’t be happier on walking the final mile with aplomb.
“We did it. And we deserved to be the champions,” the Spaniard emphasised at the post-match media interaction. “This might not be the best of titles but FC Goa are definitely the best club in the country in terms of its organization.”
Goa rode Borja Herrera‘s double and Dejan Drazic’s strike to claim their first major title since winning the Durand Cup in 2021. With the title win, they also earned a spot in AFC CL 2 and will be back in continental action after a gap of four years.
Admitting that some of them would have liked the tournament to never end, the 56-year-old, sharing his wisdom and experience in the sport, advised the club to keep the group of players, who “are more friends than teammates”, together for the club’s upcoming domestic and continental campaigns.
“Speaking from my experience in India, continuity is very, very important. Now, in modern football, with the agents, the players move around constantly. But if you get to keep the same group of players, usually the results are better every season. Then there comes a time when you need some change. But I believe that it would be a big mistake to destroy this group,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Player of the Match in the semifinal as well as in the final, Herrera joined his departing coach at the press conference — beaming with joy at his consecutive Super Cup win, having won the last edition’s trophy with East Bengal, also at Kalinga Stadium.
“I feel very good here,” quipped the Spaniard who also emerged as the tournament topscorer, along with teammate Iker Guarrotxena, with four goals. “I try to give all my best in every match and I have been lucky this time. We have an amazing group at Goa, we are a family and that is the main thing. I am very happy for everyone at the club and it was very important for us to try and win this one.”
Coach wants a tournament with just Indian players: Marquez, who refused to speak of the national team in his final moments with Goa on Saturday, however, said he was in favour of a tournament involving just the Indian players in order to improve their quality and that of Indian football.
“In fact, they used to play this tournament in Spain (the Spanish Super Cup), in the ’70s and ’80s without any foreigner, just with Spanish players,” remarked the coach while adding, “I would also like a competition only with Indian players. I think that would be good. I spoke about it. But they did completely the opposite. They chose to play with all the foreigners. No, not all the Indians, but obviously with all the foreigners. The quality is there because of them. But the improvement of Indian players should be more in focus in the future.”