Kamal Ghorui
Panaji: At the start of the season, Raynier Fernandes didn’t know where he would end up.The former India midfielder had another year left on his existing contract with FC Goa, but having been loaned to Odisha FC last season, he was surplus to requirements at the club. There was no spot for him in a crowded midfield that had Ayush Chhetri, Sahil Tavora, Harsh Patre, Prachit Gaonkar, besides the two foreigners, David Timor and Borja Herrera.When Goa kicked off their campaign in the AFC Champions League Two, Raynier waited at home, hoping someone would call. The uncertainty surrounding Indian football didn’t help, and it was not until December that he was told he can start training again, not with seniors, but the developmental team of FC Goa.Raynier, 30, trained earnestly, not even knowing if he would play in the top tier of Indian football. A month later, with foreigners parting ways with the club, he was asked to return to the senior team.“I was just waiting for an opportunity to be called back to the (senior) team,” Raynier told TOI during the pre-match media interaction on Friday. “With the reserves, I got some training; I was out of football for seven months. Training with the development team helped me. It got my confidence back. It wasn’t there for quite some time. After the coach and staff called me, it helped. As player, we need to keep faith, cannot afford to give up.”Manolo too appears to trust Raynier more than at the start of the campaign. For the away clash against Punjab FC last week, the midfielder was a second-half substitute and kept the ball moving. His 19 forward passes in the final third were more than any other player.“At the start, it was a new experience for me, training with the development team, trying to get my rhythm and fitness back. Individually you can do a lot, but you require a team to play, so that helped me get my confidence back,” said Raynier.Raynier is nowhere close to the form that made him such an invaluable player with Mumbai City when they won the double, or when Stephen Constantine and Igor Stimac handpicked him for the national team. He was also an automatic starter during Manolo Marquez’s first season at Goa, starting 11 of the first 12 games, a fantastic run that saw the club remain unbeaten and on top of the league ladder.But Raynier believes he’s getting there, slowly, steadily, but surely.“I am trying to do my best. The coach always wants the best for the team, for the players. I’m trying to win the coach’s confidence, trying to do well for the team. Obviously, I had a couple of chances to score which I could not. I am not 100 % happy (with my performance), I still have to improve,” said Raynier.It would have been music to Raynier’s ears to hear from Manolo – seated next to him for the media interaction – that the coach was happy with his second-half performance against Punjab FC, even though the 1-1 result was disappointing in the end.“Training with the development team is not good, but it’s better than training individually,” said Manolo, sympathising with Raynier. “I had similar cases in Spain when players who are (still) contracted or on loan trained with the reserves. It’s not easy. The best thing is to train with a team. We have examples here of Ishan (Pandita) and Daniel (Lalhlimpuia), and it’s very clear that physically they are not in the same situation as other players.”
