This is total dictatorship. FC Goa being needlessly targeted, fumes Zico

Margao

: It’s not often that you see a chief coach spewing venom after his team, reduced to bench strength through injuries and suspensions and then 10-men in the second half of a match, before pulling off a miraculous victory.

FC Goa had just stunned NorthEast United FC 2-1 but chief coach

Zico

was far from excited. In fact, he was fuming at the step-motherly treatment being given to his boys by the host teams wherever they travelled in the ongoing season of the Indian Super League (

ISL

).

“Football is not about fireworks and fanfare. It’s not some show. It’s about being professional. You don’t inform the chief coach a day after he has planned out team strategy, conducted his final training session and drills to be executed on match-day, that two of his players will not be able to take the field. My entire plan went waste. How can you inform the team that their players are suspended, hours before a match and three days after the incident occurred? This is ridiculous,” said the Brazilian legend at the post match conference.

Zico felt that the FC Goa were needlessly targeted and his boys ended up victims of circumstance.

“My boys have suffered head injuries, taken to hospital but no red cards were dished out by the referee to the offenders. Yet, when my boys play hard, they are penalized harshly.

“In Kerala, my team were provided a school ground for training and no snacks after the training session. In Kolkata, the kids of one of my players,

Gregory Arnolin

, were not allowed to enter the ground during a training session, while there were over 250 fans inside the ground of the host team.

“Today, my players who were suspended, were asked to get off the bus when we were leaving for the match, while a NorthEast United player (

Emiliano Alfaro

) who is serving a suspension, was allowed to travel in the NorthEast team bus. Why the double standard,” questioned Zico.

“I am not afraid of speaking the truth. Right is right. I will accept punishment if I say something wrong. But what is happening is total dictatorship,” he said.

Zico pointed out, that what his team faces off the pitch, they will fight even harder on the pitch. “I must thank the fans for keeping their faith in us and coming out in large numbers to support us,” said the infuriated Brazilian.
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