ALLAN D’CRUZ | NT
PANAJI: Former World Cupper and Champions League winner and now FC Goa marquee player Lucio has assured the fans that his age won’t be a barrier in his performance as FC Goa get ready for their campaign in season 2 of the Indian Super League (ISL).
“I believe I can still give much to the beautiful game and match the expectations. But I’ll have to prove it on the field,” said the 37-year-old veteran. FC Goa take on Delhi Dynamos in their first match on Sunday at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao.
In the first season, former French international and Arsenal mideo Robert Pires failed to make any impact in the team and soon lost his place and was out of Zico’s plans. However, Lucio has assured that he would not let the crowd and the team down in this season.
Stating that his move to be with FC Goa was the result of his pure love for the game of football and not just because of monetary benefits, the former Champions League winner said that it is a new challenge to play in India after enjoying a successful campaign with Brazil and European giants at the world stage. “Coming here in a new country and working under a new coach is a new challenge in my career,” he said.
The centre-back was impressed with the success of the first edition of ISL, which achieved global presence and made India known among the footballers. “Earlier, I had heard very little about India but now we can hear a lot about the country. Last year’s organisation and success has made the league very popular among many footballers across the world,” said Lucio.
Playing with the team for almost a month now, Lucio feels that the Indian players lack pace and techniques in their play and stressed on grassroots football for development of the game in India. “There should be more of grassroots development to improve the football standards here. I can understand that football is not the first choice of sport of Indians but they have the potential to grow,” he said.
Though Lucio found everyone excellent in the team, the Brazilian was highly impressed with Goan poster boy Romeo Fernandes and Bikramjeet Singh among the local players. “Bikram and Romeo are the two players in the team with great potential. They have good skills and ability to learn more as even others are good,” said Lucio.
“Physically we are the same, but technically we are different as we start football at a very young age as compared to the players here. As a child, we start with grassroots development and work very hard. The problems players face here is the continuity of their football development,” he said.
When asked about his future plans of whether he would continue to play for FC Goa, Lucio instantly replied that he would evaluate his development and performance at the end of the season and think about his future. Interestingly, Lucio has kept the door open for FC Goa if they wish to retain him.
“A chance in football will always help me to a great extent and now that I know the team, the president, the fans and more importantly Goa, something can surely happen in the future,” he concluded.