Manuel Marquez: 'It's not every day you reach a final'
Hyderabad FC reached the finals to be played on March 20 for the first time in the history of the Indian Super League, and that gave a huge boost to the team and fans.
Image credit: pia.images.co.uk Getting Ready for the final on Sunday March 20Sports fans and commentators have acknowledged Hyderabad FC and Coach Manuel Marques for their tactical gameplay and victory over ATK Mohan Bagan FC.
Hyderabad FC coach Manuel Marques is delighted with the team's performance and to reach the finals of the Indian Super League.
In the aftermath of the second leg match against ATK Mohan Bagan FC, Hyderabad FC coach Manuel Marques said "it is not every day that you reach the final."
Semi Final: Story of two legs
In the first leg of the match, although Hyderabad FC was dominated in the first half by the ATK Mohan Bagan, Hyderabad FC displayed a sense of efficiency through consecutive counter attacking goals that led the team to get a decisive goal advantage of 2 goals.
In the second leg of the match, the team suffered a loss against ATK Mohan Bagan FC.
In this match, Forward Roy Krishna scored a goal for the ATK Mohan Bagan in the 79th minute but it was not enough for ATK Mohan Bagan to secure berth for the finals. It was Hyderabad FC which went through by aggregate lead.
The credit largely goes to the defense play of Hyderabad FC, goalkeeper, Laxmikant Kattimani, for some remarkable saves throughout the match.
After losing out their spot in final, the head coach, Juan Ferrando, stated that sometimes “a team loses focus”. The coach further mentioned the situation of Covid-19, and his team could not get enough training.
Citing the second leg match against Hyderabad FC, Juan Ferrando acknowledges a lot of opportunities but the team was unlucky to utilize them appropriately. In the earlier stage of this match, ATK Mohan Bagan FC displayed a lax performance.
Coach Juan Ferrando mentioned that it is important to stay agile throughout the 90 minutes of the game rather than the high-intensity performance in the last 30 minutes of the match.
Despite losing the match,Hyderabad FC is going onto the finals. Coach Manolo Márquez (Hyderbad FC) mentioned that the team did not practically participate in this match.
ATK Mohan Bagan FC thoroughly dominated them on the field but he was delighted by the fact that they reached the finals.
He urged the fans to join in large numbers in the PJN Stadium (Goa) on Sunday March 20 to cheer for Hyderbad FC.