We must continue to improve and strive to return better the next season: Kino Garcia

Odisha FC head coach Kino Garcia was disappointed after his team lost 5-1 to table-toppers Jamshedpur FC in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-22 on Friday at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim, Goa.

Daniel Chima Chukwu (23′, 26′) scored a first-half brace to bring his season total to nine goals before Odisha FC’s Paul Ramfangzauva (45+1′) equalised. However, goals from Ritwik Das (54′), Jordan Murray (71′), and Ishan Pandita (87′) guaranteed Owen Coyle’s side a sixth straight victory.

This victory moves Jamshedpur FC three points clear of ATK Mohun Bagan, whom they will meet in the season’s final league game. Odisha FC, on the other side, finishes the season in eighth position with 23 points from 20 games.

Garcia addressed the media after the game. Here are some excerpts from his press conference:

Are you disappointed to finish your campaign with a 5-1 defeat?

For us, it was really disappointing to finish the season like that. We made some changes, but we expected to compete in a better way against Jamshedpur FC. In the second half, we started good 2-1 we had a clear chance to draw the game. Then we conceded the third goal and after that, we were with ten players. So, it was a tough game for us.

You spoke about going down to ten men. Was that a moment of madness from Jonathas Cristian?

Of course, he’s professional, he knows that he cannot do that. He knew about the situation. Even a referee can make a mistake and you must control yourself. You must forget about these things. Because we cannot control the situation if the referee makes a mistake.

How would you rate the performance of Odisha FC in totality? What’s next for the club?

Our experience was good. We expected to finish much higher in the points table. It’s true that we improved from last season, but we demand more from ourselves as a team. So, we must keep improving and try to come back stronger.

What’s the status with the contract? Are you coming back in the next season?

We don’t know yet. Of course, I would like to continue. Because I think that the team is not finished that we need to give more to the team. And of course, this result hurt us but we cannot lose the views of the progress of the team. I would like to come back to India. And i would like to start from the beginning with proper precision but is not the main thing right now.