Ferrán Corominas is on his way becoming one of the Indian Super League’s greatest stars.
The Spaniard has been playing for FC Goa in the last three seasons and is already the ISL all-time top scorer with 48 goals. He leads the ranking above local superstar, Sunil Chhetri, who scored 34 goals in five seasons. During 2019, Corominas also won the Best Foreign Player award and led his club to win the Indian Super Cup.
With all these trophies, Coro still has one missing title. The prolific scorer has failed to win the Indian Super League title. The upcoming playoffs will be a chance for him to win his first-ever ISL title, but it's going to be hard in a club with a long history of losing at the finals rather than winning titles.
Goa is known for its passionate football atmosphere. Dempo, one of the biggest clubs in the city, won five championships - more than any other club in India. During the old National Football League and I-League era, three clubs from Goa won 9 championship titles combined. When the Indian Super League was founded, there was no doubt at least one of the franchises will be from Goa.
FC Goa quickly became one of the leading clubs in the league. In their debut season of 2014, they presented Robert Pires, the 1998 World Cup winner with France, as their marquee player. With Zico as their manager, FC Goa finished at the 2nd place in the regular season. Unfortunately, they did not perform well at the semi-finals, with two goalless draws against Atlético de Kolkata and 4-2 defeat in the penalty shootout.
It was the first hint for their next seasons that were full of disappointments after reaching final stages. In 2015, FC Goa finished at the top of the table in the regular season. Their new marquee player was another World Cup winner, the former Brazilian international Lúcio. This time, FC Goa managed to reach the finals against Chennaiyin in front of their home crowd. Goa was a few minutes away from winning their first title with a promising 2-1 lead in the 87th minute. The additional time has changed it all, as they conceded two goals, one of them a tragic own goal, and FC Goa lost the final.
In the next three seasons, FC Goa would qualify for the playoffs twice. In 2019, they managed to reach the ISL finals. During the regular season, FC Goa finished with the same number of points as Bengaluru, but came in second due to Bengaluru's better head-to-head record. FC Goa thrashed Mumbai City in the semi-finals and played against Bengaluru for the title. After 117 goalless minutes, Rahul Bheke scored the winning goal for Bengaluru, and Goa once again left the stadium without the trophy.
Goa's current season has once again put them in the spotlight. They qualified for the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons and the third consecutive season. They also won a special prize for finishing in first place - having the home advantage in the playoffs. After discussions that took a few years between the ISL, the Indian FA, and the AFC, FC Goa will be the first team from the ISL to win an AFC Champions League berth. Due to the format change, they will also play in the group stage, becoming the first club from India to play in that stage.
But not everything is perfect with the league’s top team. At the beginning of February, the club owners decided to sack the Spanish manager Sergio Lobera. After a few days, the club announced that Clifford Miranda was appointed as the new head coach. It’s the first senior managerial role for Miranda, who played for FC Goa in their debut season and made 45 international caps for India. He previously managed the FC Goa reserves team.
Since Miranda was appointed, FC Goa has managed to win the last three matches of the season. They have two more hurdle to pass on their way to finally securing the title. The great coincidence is that all the other playoff participants are those who previously knocked them out. Their semi-finals opponents will be Chennaiyin, their 2015 final opponents. If they will win, their next opponents would be Bengaluru, the reigning champions, or Atlético de Kolkata, who defeated Goa in 2014 semi-finals.
Any way you look at it, the pressure is on FC Goa. As the team in the first place, everyone is expecting them to win the title. Will the Gaurs be crowned as the new champions of India, or will they further establish their reputation as finals failures? Time will tell, but expect an extra-spicy playoff that’s worth following.