ISL 2020-21: NorthEast United and FC Goa coaches involve in ugly tussle

FC Goa, under new head coach Juan Ferrando, hasn’t had the best of starts to this ISL season. They are yet to register a win after three games and have only accumulated two points so far, despite playing an attractive brand of football.

Former coach Sergio Lobera, who is with Mumbai City now, has left a legacy behind during his three-year stint with the Gaurs and the pressure of that legacy showed on Ferrando on Monday as he was seen involved in an ugly confrontation with NorthEast United head coach Gerard Nus, at the touchline.

The incident took place around the 80th minute mark, when Nus was waiting to make a substitution. Ferrando, who was arguing with the fourth official at that time, made a move towards the the NorthEast United technical area, and their head coach Nus lost his calm at that time.

The verbal arguments could have taken a further ugly shape if the staff from both the teams and FC Goa captain Edu Bedia hadn’t come in between to push the two apart. The two coaches have been booked for this incident.

Things got even worse towards the final few minutes of the game. Nus was seen having an argument with an FC Goa official on the touchline with his back turned towards the pitch. That was when Aberto Noguera, an FC Goa player, came to collect the ball for a throw-in. We couldn’t have imagined what happened next as Noguera pushed Nus, who lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Ferrando thought that Nus was acting and hence, he laughed and clapped at that incident from the FC Goa half. However, the two coaches were seen exchanging a fist bump at the end of the game.

Nus was questioned about the incident after the game. He joked and laughed about it though.

“Basically, I don’t know (about the altercation with Juan Ferrando on the touchline). I think he was interested in joining NorthEast United as he was coming to our side,” said Nus.

Ferrando, on the other hand, refused to talk anything about the incident and instead said that he will prefer to have a face-to-face conversation with Nus.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw with Idrissa Sylla and Igor Angulo scoring for NorthEast United and FC Goa respectively.