Not spoken to Pochettino since 2011, says FC Goa star Corominas
Coro said he hasn’t spoken to Mauricio Pochettino since going on loan to Osasuna in 2011. The Tottenham Hotspur coach was an Espanyol teammate Coro said he got on well with.
Multiple seasons in La Liga with a club he supports, scoring a goal at the Bernabeu to help it win a Copa del Rey, playing against Real Madrid’s Galacticos and then Cristiano Ronaldo, the Barcelona legionnaires ranging from Ronaldinho to Lionel Messi, scoring in both legs of a UEFA Cup semi-final, Ferran Corominas has had a career many footballers can only dream of.
“Oh, the highlights are many. Such as an opportunity to play against Raul who was a personal favourite,” said the FC Goa forward whose eight goals this term keeps him in pole position to retain the ISL Golden Boot title he earned by scoring 18 in 2017-18. “We are lucky to be able to retain him. He is a great influence on and off the pitch,” said Sergio Lobera, the FC Goa coach, ahead of Wednesday’s match against ATK here.
But the past is not without parts Coro, which is what the football world calls him, wishes had turned out differently.
Coro said he hasn’t spoken to Mauricio Pochettino since going on loan to Osasuna in 2011. The Tottenham Hotspur coach was an Espanyol teammate Coro said he got on well with. “Being mid-table, we didn’t have much to play for that season and Espanyol put him in charge (in 2009). He was then coaching the women’s team. We did well and he stayed on. He told me he was counting on me. I was playing in the pre-seasons but after an ankle injury found it difficult to come back. He kept telling me to be patient but I wanted games so I moved. I think the problem was that he had played with a lot of us and wanted to make the transition from being a teammate to a manager,” he said.
Not playing the 2006-07 UEFA Cup final, which Espanyol lost on penalties to Sevilla, after scoring in the semi-final against Werder Bremen too rankles. Coro’s English being a work in progress the interview was being conducted with help from the polyglot Ravi Puskur, head of FC Goa’s technical operations, but the mention of Ernesto Valverde, in charge of Barcelona now, and UEFA Cup had the Spaniard interjecting with “you will have to ask Ernesto about that.”
“It is a piece I am still seeking an answer to. Ernesto said he would play me for around 30 minutes but then there was a red card (midfielder Moises Hurtado was sent off in the 68th minute) and Ernesto said that forced him to adapt. Ernesto has told me he felt bad but I felt much worse because I didn’t play.”
Because his strength lies in having the ball like FC Goa allow him to, Coro said fitting into Espanyol’s emphasis on the collective needed adjusting. “Sometimes, I think had I not been at Espanyol, I would have had more success (14 goals in 165 games from 2003-11)…..”
One goal, scored in the 90th minute on May 13, 2006, though made Coro an Espanyol legend because it saved them from relegation. Coro, 36 in January, said it would be nice to be remembered in Bambolim and Baga as fondly as in Barcelona with a goal that helps FC Goa win their first ISL title.