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After being humbled 2-4 by new entrants Odisha FC in their first home game of the season, Mumbai City FC's head coach Jorge Costa is upbeat of the challenge FC Goa pose to them. Speaking of their previous encounter, the Portuguese tactician said that their awful performance in the first half meant they deserved nothing more than a loss.
I watched the game three times later and analyzed where we made the mistakes. Yes, we didn't have luck but we didn't do well in the first 45 minutes either. If you don't perform well in one half of the game, you don't deserve anything more than losing the game. I have spoken to our players and told them that we cannot commit the same mistakes which we did against Odisha FC.
Mumbai City FC are reeling with injuries as Rowllin Borges and Mato Grgic didn't feature in their game against Odisha FC. Costa said that the duo will miss the game against FC Goa too.
The Islanders had a six-day gap after their loss and they have used it to improve the confidence of the players and step up their recovery.
We used the six days for our recovery. We also worked on certain things which will be important in the game against FC Goa. After this, we will have a long break and should get other things ready.
With their lone foreign defender Mato Grgic ruled out due to injury, Mumbai City FC will field an all-Indian backline for the third time but this time against the likes of Coro and co. Costa has full faith in the quality of the Indian defenders and is banking on their performance.
You don't think indian players have quality? I don't care if the players are Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, or Indian. What I want is all of them to have quality. Fortunately, in my team all of them have quality.
Mumbai City FC began their campaign last season on a similar note. Having picked up only four points in their first four games, the Islanders didn't look back and went on a nine-match unbeaten run. With the pre-season not going exactly how he planned, Costa hopes he can repeat the feat this season but will not give excuses if things go wrong in their encounter against FC Goa.
Last season, we lost some games early before going in a 9-match unbeaten run. It's not easy to do it. But, i believe i can do it again. The pre-season was strange for us. Because of the rain, we started our work, we stopped, and then started again. Then, we had three games in one week. This is not an excuse but it is not the best way to start your league after having a 5-month break and a pre-season like that. But, this is the reality. We try to find solutions and the solution is to fight until the last minute.
"I will not give excuses after tomorrow's game. It is my job to find the best starting XI and the way they play and make sure they put up a good fight," he signs off.
