By Admin 
‘Good things come to those who wait’ goes a popular saying. Head coach Manolo Marquez certainly waited until the very last moment to lift a piece of silverware with FC Goa.
After two seasons of near misses, Marquez finally had a trophy in his arms as Goa beat Jamshedpur FC 3-0 in the Super Cup 2025 final at the Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday.
Borja Herrera scored in either half, while Dejan Drazic sealed the deal to help the Gaurs secure an AFC Champions League Two Preliminary Round spot and a second Super Cup title.
Marquez’s men opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when left-back Aakash Sangwan’s shot was saved by Albino Gomes before the ball fell in front of Borja inside the box. His first shot was blocked brilliantly in front of goal by Stephen Eze, and fortunately for the Spaniard, the ball came right back to him and this time he made no mistake of smashing it into the back of the net for his third goal of the campaign.
At the other end, the Red Miners came close to scoring in the dying minutes of the first half when Lazar Cirkovic’s header from the edge of the box struck the crossbar.
While Borja’s first strike required a bit of luck, his second was pure skill and precision.
Six minutes into the second half, he collected the ball in the middle of the pitch and drove into space before lashing at the ball with his left boot’s lace.
A stretching Gomes could only watch helplessly as the ball glided into the top right corner. Goa put the final nail in the coffin when Carl McHugh spotted Drazic’s run into the final third with a defence-splitting through ball.
The Serbian took a touch to take the ball past an advancing Gomes and slotted it into the goal.
It was a perfect parting gift for Marquez, who will now focus solely on his duties with the Indian men’s football team.
The result: Goa 3 (Borja 23, 51, Drazic 72) bt JFC 0.
Published – May 03, 2025 09:59 pm IST