Goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh says we surprised everyone during AFC Champions League
News 24
The Goa completed third in the Group E. They have three draws and three losses and could not clear it to the Round-of-16.
"The way we survived in the first and second games (goalless draws against Al Rayyan and Al Wahda), I think we surprised everyone," said Dheeraj, who made 26 saves in five games. He did not start in one game because of injury. The Goa completed third in the Group E. They have three draws and three losses and could not clear it to the Round-of-16. "Overall, I think we did a great job in the AFC Champions League. It was the very first time that an Indian club participated in (the group stage of) the AFC Champions League. I hope this is the first of many times that Indian teams can participate in the AFC Champions League. The standard is very high and every match is a learning curve," said Dheeraj, who joined FC Goa from ATK Mohun Bagan in January. "Before the competition, friends often said, 'how many goals are you going to concede?' This was the expectation from us. But we came out as a very strong team and it was not easy for any opponent to come and score against us because everyone has given their 100 per cent," said the 20-year-old Manipuri custodian, whose saves became the talking point of the tournament. Thanks to his performance under the bar, FC Goa draws in the first two Group E matches of the ACL, before losing to Iran's Persepolis 1-2. He said that playing continuously was difficult for every player "as we got a very short time to recover, both physically and mentally".More Related News