Margao: Dimitris Dimitriou resorted to Greek to effectively convey what was on his mind.“I don’t know if I can translate it accurately in English but in Greek we say ‘football is the opium of the people’,” the Churchill Brothers coach said during the pre-match media interaction on Saturday. “It means, through football, people forget and set aside financial or social problems. That’s why it’s important for us to bring the smiles back on our supporters’ faces.”For the last two games, fans have made their presence felt for Churchill Brothers’ Indian Super League (ISL) matches. The last two Sundays have seen fans gather at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda. But while the Goan debutants carved a win in their opener against Mumbai City, the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of East Bengal proved to be a dampener.No wonder, Dimitriou, and even winger Stendly Fernandes, began the pre-match media interaction with an apology.“My sincere apologies to our fans and the management because we did not give them happiness. Sometimes, when we were attacking, we could hear the roar of the people,” the coach said even before he could start answering the first question. Stendly also apologised and asked fans to support them in person again because “we’ll not disappoint you (again).”A week after the East Bengal debacle, Churchill have a chance to make amends, on another Sunday evening at Fatorda. This time they face Punjab FC, a team not exactly loaded with the defending champions’ star power, but with plenty of minutes and potential under its belt.“I think there will not be another match where we will make so many individual mistakes. My feeling is that we will be wiser after the loss. We will see a better team, starting from tomorrow (against Punjab),” said Dimitriou.In training for a week, Dimitriou pointed out, “the players were amazing, training with intensity even in the rain.” The spirit, he said, is “very high and very good.”Stendly credited the coach, “a fatherly figure for the players,” for keeping all of them focused.“We were upset about what happened at the last match,” said the winger. “We did not perform up to our expectations, but we have a very good coach, who has motivated us, helped us keep our heads up.”Punjab are unbeaten with both their games being decided in the closing stages. Against Odisha, Messi Bouli struck in the opening minute and followed it up with a dramatic 96th-minute winner, while Gurkirat Singh rose high to power home a 90th-minute header for the equaliser against Mumbai.“Scoring in the dying minutes shows that we are a team with strength and power,” said coach Pavlos Dermitzakis. “It shows our character and mentality, and it proves that we are a team that simply refuses to lose.”
