FC Goa’s Seriton Fernandes motivated to perform well in the upcoming season to regain his place in the national team

FC Goa’s fan favourite Seriton Fernandes till now have had a topsy turvy career. The fullback has recently extended his contract with the Gaurs and fulfilling the recent contract will make him the longest serving player for the club. It is fascinating to know that Seriton has only missed eight matches for FC Goa in the last five years.

While he is a stalwart back in Goa in orange, the 29-year-old experienced defender has another major dream to fulfill that is to play regularly for the Indian team. He made his debut against Nepal last September but he wants to make a proper impact wearing the blue jersey aswell.

“Playing for India, wearing the revered blue jersey, remains the biggest highlight of my career. I will never forget the goosebumps that I felt when I made my debut against Nepal last September.” The fullback has made a total of four appearances for the Blue Tigers as he was a part of the team that won the SAFF Championship last year. “I feel proud to have contributed to the SAFF Championship win. It was my first silverware win for the country and hopefully more will follow,” he added.

Serotonin Fernandes is someone who has been consistently performing for FC Goa for a long time. He was instrumental in their 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons under Sergio Lobera where they won the Indian Super League Winner’s Shield and also the Super Cup. He was a very important member of the squad when they reached the ISL finals.

Therefore when he did not get national team callups, he was getting disappointed as he was sad he used that energy to bring the best out of him on the field.  “I was disappointed when I wasn’t getting the call up.  However, while I was sad, the snub only motivated me to work harder. That just kept stoking the fire within me,” Seriton revealed. “There is no point in being disappointed unless you can convert it into motivation. Hence, when I finally got my chance last year, I was proud of myself.”

The 29-year-old fullback is currently not in head coach Igor Stimac’s scheme of things as he is not included in the Indian team featuring in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. But Seriton believes that he will use the upcoming season as a platform to return to the national team.