FC Goa -head coach Manolo Marquez hit back at Al Seeb -Coach Valeriu Tița for claiming that the Indian Super League side won the AFC Champions League Two -Voorlopige Round match because of the referee.
Goa, who played his first competitive game of the season, rode goals from Dejan Drazic (24 ‘) and Javier Siverio (52’) to beat the Omani club 2-1 in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Wednesday.
«We suffered too much, but in the end we showed some heart – not only the quality, but a little more.»Manolo Marquez after the victory of FC Goa
The match saw a controversial criminal decision-store in reverse-in the 43rd minute, when Drazic blocked the cross of Ahmed al-Khamisi, and Al Seeb thought it was a spot kick of a handball in the box.
The referee, Zhang Lei from China, initially pointed to the place, but after consultation with the lines, his decision changed just outside the 12-year area.
«We saw the incident on the screen and we all agreed that it was a penalty. If he had given it, the result might have been different. Plus, there were two offside calls where our last defender and their attacker were two meters apart, but he didn’t mark it,» Tita said reporters after the game.
«Yesterday I said the fans would be the 12th husband of Goa, but I was wrong – it was the referee.»
Marquez refused the claims and said he understood the frustration of the coach after a loss, but insisted that his team won pure for merit
Siverio (center) celebrates the scoring of the second goal for FC Goa, one that turned out to be the winner against Al Seeb on Wednesday. | Photocredit: FC Goa Media
Siverio (center) celebrates the scoring of the second goal for FC Goa, one that turned out to be the winner against Al Seeb on Wednesday. | Photocredit: FC Goa Media
«From where I was, it was impossible to say if it was a handball. Maybe if I was on the other bank, I might have seen my hand and I don’t know if it is inside or outside the frameworks,» Marquez said.
«I don’t think we qualified because of the referee. We came to qualify because we were perhaps stronger, and perhaps they are angry because they are lost against a team they thought they would defeat.»
Related: FC Goa beats Al Seeb, johun Bagan in AFC Champions League Two Group Stage
Al Seeb, the AFC Cup champion 2022, had entered the competition as the favorite, with six members of the team in the current Omani National Team, a country arranged 54 places above India.
«I think this team from Oman deserves a lot of respect. We suffered too much, but in the end we showed some heart – not only the quality, but a little more,» Marquez added.
«I want to say that it is very difficult to play one game like this, because but with the matches we had in the preseason, we came in a game like this, and it was very difficult to play with such a strong pressure for 90 minutes. So congratulations (for the team).»
