Goa started their Santosh Trophy campaign on Monday when they defeated Jharkhand 1-0 in Cluster IV. They then thrashed Orissa 4-0 in the same cluster on Friday to book their place in the pre-quarterfinals.Speaking to Goal.com, Goa coach Mariano Dias said that he was happy with his side’s performance against Orissa, but warned that they have to maintain that level against Mizoram on Sunday.
Dias said, “We did not start our first match of the Santosh trophy well. But we played very well against Orissa on Friday.
“We now have to play well against Mizoram on Sunday to progress to the quarterfinals. We have some good players in our team, such as Climax Lawrence and Mahesh Gawli. We didn’t have them in our side for the first match as they were playing in the AFC Cup but after they returned for the second match, our performance was very good.”
Dias insists that they are taking the Santosh Trophy very seriously and says that the people in Goa too take this competition seriously. He said, “This tournament is a matter of prestige for the people of Goa. We are taking this tournament very seriously.”