Three years after he first stepped on to Goan soil, Zico’s contract as coach of FC Goa will not be renewed. The club has new owners, will have a new coach and new players too! Fans of the club and sport were divided on what the future of the club would be, but all of them had kind words for Zico, the legend
Photo Credits: PG1. LEAD
It’s been a long time since the initial fever of the Indian Super league, the premier football tournament in India that has changed many a thing in the Indian sports sphere. We’re not saying that everything was going great guns before the ISL came to be, or that everything is going great guns now. It wasn’t then and it’s not now either, but the ISL did certainly bring a lot more people to the football table. Mixing sport and masala worked for the IPL, which is now the biggest cricket tournament in the world apart from the Cricket World Cup. All that aside, the ISL gave us FC Goa, which in turn gave us the chance to see legends like Robert Pires and Lucio in the flesh, players like Andre Santos and Leo Moura make people cheer and also give us homegrown talents like Romeo Fernandes, Sahil Tavora and Mandar Rao Desai, among others. What it did best though, over the last three years, is give football and Brazil fans a chance to say, “We had Zico!”. The Brazilian legend was coach of FC Goa for the past three years and stamped his authority on the game, taking us to one final and narrowly missing one. But now, with the announcement that he is not signing a new contract, many are left wondering, what would be the future of the club, especially one that has new owners too? One step at a time, as they say!
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Zico and FC Goa were made for each other from the start of the Indian Super League. Goa was very lucky to get a legend like him as a coach and he proved his charisma by the performance of team in first two seasons. Last ISL season was a bit of damper for him; we could also make out that he was not happy by his comments in press conferences . Goa would find it difficult to find a able replacement who could fill in his boots but it’s also a chance for team to forget the past and start all fresh with new coach. Whatever be it FC goa fans will definitely miss Zico.
Anjyot Talauliker, information security consultant
Despite not winning a title with FC Goa, Zico's time with the club can be considered a success, as he did help the team establish themselves as a force in the ISL. Zico, in fact signed a new two-year contract at the start of last season, but the team's disastrous performances on the field couple with his temper tantrums resulted in the management, deciding to let go of the Brazilian with the aim of getting someone new to refresh the team. FC Goa fans will definitely miss Zico in coming season.
Rohit Pagi, information security analyst
