Indian Football: FC Goa Turns 6, Virat Kohli and New Coach Juan Ferrando Lead Wishes

Indian Super League club FC Goa is celebrating the sixth year of its club today, August 26, a year after they finished on top of the ISL league stage in the 2019-20 season becoming the first Indian club to make it to the AFC Champions League.

FC Goa has seen a lot of success in the past six years, the biggest being the admiration they have earned for their style of play. Starting with Zico in their very first year of existence, when they played a more direct brand of football, it was switched to the tiki-taka under Sergio Lobero from the fourth season onwards. It was under Lobera that their attack made everyone appreciate their football.

Brazilian legend Zico coached the club for the first three seasons, guiding them to the final in the second (2015-16) season, where they lost to Chennaiyin FC. In the year 2018-19, they again lost the final, this time to Bengaluru FC. However, they won the Indian Super Cup that season.

The 2019-20 season, where they scored a total of 51 goals in the 20 ISL matches, was when they broke the barriers and ended up as winners of the league stage. It was in the previous season that AFC gave India an AFC Champions League spot for the winners of the league stage of the ISL and the Goan club grabbed it. They scored an average of 2.55 goals per match with the goal conversion rate of 16.2 per cent.

FC Goa have scored a total of 205 goals in 108 matches in the ISL over the last six years with Ferran Corominas (48 goals) being their top scorer. Second on the list is Hugo Boumous, who has scored 16 goals for the team while Manuel Bruno Lanzarote, who represented Goa in the 2017-18 season, is third with 13 goals. Jackichand Singh (9) and Mourtada Fall (9) complete the top 5.

This season FC Goa will be a new-look team with Coro, Mandar Rao Dessai, Jacki, Fall, Ahmed Jahouh and Boumous having moved on. In the transfer window, Goa have signed striker Igor Angulo, Jorge Ortiz, Ivan Gonzalez and Redeem Tlang and have Edu Bedia, Brandon Fernandes, Seriton Fernandes, and Princeton Rebello still there. They also have a new coach in Juan Ferrando.

At the sixth anniversary of the club, their co-owner and Indian men?s cricket team captain Virat Kohli took to Twitter to wish the club for its sixth memorable years. ?6 years and wishing you many more. Party popper Happy Anniversary to the fans and the management of FC Goa. #ForcaGoa #6YearsOfFCG,? he wrote.

Their new coach Juan also wished them on their sixth year of existence and hoped to create more memories with them. ?Happy 6th Anniversary to FC Goa and to all #gaurs . Hope we can celebrate more memorable moments together. #fcgoa #wearegoa #begoa #forçagoa,? he said.

Here are more wishes showered at the club:

The new ISL season is expected to start in November in Goa even as the dates are yet to be revealed.