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The much awaited first leg of the semi-final tie between Atletico de Kolkata and FC Goa ended in a stalemate after both of the two teams failed to break the deadlock. Following the match, FC Goa head coach Zico and player Haroor Amiri spoke to reporters in a press conference.
Q. Are you satisfied with today’s result?
A. Zico- As I have said before, it is a game of 180 minutes. First 90 minutes are over and now we have to see how the next 90 minutes go.
Q. How difficult has the second match become after today?
A. Zico- It will be a difficult game as it was before. These are two strong teams but we will try to have a leveled game.
Q. ATK has had most number of fouls in the entire league. Were you expecting a more physical game today?
A. Zico- The games in the last phases are always very compact. It is always very difficult. Of course when we have to play on an artificial turf it gets more difficult to control the ball. But yes we were expecting a physical game like last time.
Q. How is Narayan Das doing? Will he be ok before the next match?
A. Zico- I think it will be difficult for him to play the next math since he got a serious injury. We will have to wait for the doctor’s report. We hope that it is not a serious injury. These kinds of injuries happen in leagues of such level. Also this kind of ground is not good for professional games.
Q. How difficult was it to change the position after Narayan Das went out?
A. Amiri- We are one team and we practice very hard. We are always ready to play in any position that coach tells us to. It is very difficult for us to play on artificial turf since from the beginning we have been playing and practicing on grass. It was bad that in the first 10 minutes itself, Narayan Das was injured and we lost the momentum.
Q. How much confident are you after today’s game?
A. Zico- I am 100 per cent confident and I hope that we win the last match.
Q. What new thing have you learned from Zico?
A. Amiri- It is a dream come true for any football player to share the dressing room and practice under Coach Zico. Every day we learn new things from him and it is a very good opportunity for any player to learn from him. The three most important things that I have learn from him is to be patient, how to win and to believe in oneself.
Q. Do you think that because of the artificial turf that you were not able to yield any results?
A. Zico- I am very satisfied with the way my team played here. I don’t think that the turf is bad just for Goa, but it is bad for both the teams. We would have been able to display a better game if it was natural turf.
