With two points from hard-fought draws in their maiden AFC Champions League campaign, FC Goa have puncture holes into the perception that they would be the whipping boys of Group E.
Expectations have risen of Juan Ferrando’s side after their goalless draws against the more fancied Al-Rayyan of Qatar on Wednesday and Al Wahda of the UAE on Saturday.
Having come close to scoring against Al Wahda a couple of times, Goa’s confidence will be high. Ferrando’s side though face the biggest challenge in their campaign as they take on Iranian heavyweights Persepolis FC at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao on Tuesday.
Coached by former Iran centre-back Yahya Golmohammadi, Persepolis are a contender for the AFC Champions League crown. They have been the most dominant force in Iranian football in recent years, winning the national league in the last four seasons and leading the standings alongside Sepahan this season. They have also come close to becoming Asian champions twice recently, finishing runners-up in the Champions League last season and in 2018.
Boasting of an all-Iranian squad, barring second choice goalkeeper Bozidar Radosevic of Croatia, Persepolis are favourites to win the group. They began their campaign with a 1-0 win over Al Wahda and then scored a 3-1 comeback victory over Al-Rayyan.
Against Al-Rayyan, Persepolis trailed at half-time but turned the game around early in the second half, in a blitz that saw them score thrice in 10 minutes. Many from this squad have been regulars in the Iran national team. Defender Hossein Kanani, midfielders Ahmad Noorollahi and Siamak Nemati and winger Vahid Amiri were on the pitch when Iran beat Syria 3-0 in an international friendly in Tehran last month. Kanani opened the scoring in that game.
On paper, Persepolis seem to be lacking a regular goal-scoring No. 9. But they haven’t had problems scoring goals. While Nourollahi has been the club’s top-scorer this season with six goals, centre-back Seyed Jalal Hosseini has netted five times in all competitions, including the winner against Al Wahda.
Forward Omid Alishah is one of the team’s creative outlets with the loan signing of Shahriar Moghanlou from Portuguese club Santa Clara helping add more firepower.
For Goa, defensive discipline will be the key staying resilient. Centre-backs James Donachie and Ivan Gonzalez and goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh can expect to face more pressure than they did in the opening games.
The work rate of Edu Bedia and Glan Martins in the midfield too will be vital for Goa. While Jorge Ortiz is the most crucial man up front in the absence of forward Igor Angulo, it will be interesting to see whether Ferrando keeps faith with Ishan Pandita or opts for Devendra Murgaonkar, who impressed against Al Wahda as a substitute.
“We know we are playing against a very good team. Everybody knows what happened in the last Champions League,” said Spaniard Ferrando in Monday’s pre-match press conference. “Persepolis have a lot of experience, they have players with a lot of experience in this competition and they reached the final last season. They are a very strong team because they have played together for many seasons. Our players have been playing together for a few months and it’s necessary to work three steps more than Persepolis because you know this team has experience, they know their plans; they have control in planning their attacking and defending,” he added.
In short, FC Goa will have little scope for errors. Centre-back Gonzalez aptly put it in an interview to the club’s website after the draw against Al Wahda: “The Indian Super League is a very competitive league but the margin for errors is more. We get more time on the ball as well as to recover from any mistake we might make. The level is growing, of course. However, over here, the margins are fine. A small mistake can easily lead to a goal.”
Persepolis head the group with two wins while Goa and second.
