FC Goa extended a hearty “thank you” to each and everyone who has supported the Indian Super League (ISL) side whatever little or big manner.

The team lead by Zico finished as runners-up after going down 2-3 to Chennaiyin FC in the exhilarating final of the ISL Season 2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Margao, Goa, on Sunday evening.

Head coach Zico thanked not only his players but the fans at large for backing his side through the season that helped FC Goa go the distance at one big family.

“It’s a very hard day for everyone of us. It’s one of the days that I would thank the owners for all the trust in my work. I would like to thank all the players and the support staff for the hard work they put and also especially the fans who showed us all the love,” voiced the Brazilian legend.

“My only regret is that our dream did not come through. We would really like to give this title to all the children, the old people and all the people who have been supporting us. One thing we can be sure that we gave everything to reach this far,” he continued.

“If anything went wrong, I would like to apologise to everyone because the decisions were only mine and I take responsibility. Life goes on and I encourage the people of Goa to continue loving football.”

Co-owner Dattaraj Salgaocar said, “I would like to thank all our fans for their wholehearted support in all the times. I would also like to thank coach Zico who has been outstanding along with the entire team who have really sacrificed a lot.”

“I would also like to thank our co-owners (Shrinivas Dempo, Virat Kohli and Venugopal Dhoot) and everybody else who have supported us in every kind of situation or crisis. We might have lost the final but won on every other possible aspect. I don’t want to miss anyone but I would like to thank all the people with humility for making us what we are.”

Co-owner Shrinivas Dempo echoed Salgaocar’s words while going on to thanking the organisers, police, journalists and anybody who was involved in the competition.

“If not for the support, we would not have been able to climb where we are today. What I like about Zico is his passion to drive Goan youth to perform at international level. He has always gone on record saying that we should have more number of Indians in the team.”

Dempo also threw light on the future of the head coach with the team. “We would love to have Zico with us for years to come. We have approached him officially and he is yet to decide about his association with us,” he revealed.

Adding on, he went on to congratulate Chennaiyin FC for winning the coveted ISL title and commented, “They also had their ups and downs last year and won the title this year. Having said this, we also played a very good brand of football. The wonderful display of football is what has united all Goans under one banner.”

“In the third edition of the ISL I hope we will be able to live up to the expectations. We reached the semifinals last year, reached the final this year and would do our best to take up a couple of notches to win the title next year,” he concluded.