last season's golden boot winner Marcelo leite Pereira wants to settle for nothing less than a winners' medal when he dons the FC Pune City jersey for the first time this season.
Marcelo — also commonly known Marcelinho — was pivotal in Delhi Dynamos reaching the semifinals last year. He netted 10 goals and contributed five more assists in his debut Indian Super league campaign.
This time though, the Brazilian forward will be plying his trade with Pune. His new club has never reached the last-4 stages of ISl, but Pereira is determined to break that jinx this time around.
"Of course I'm confident (of reaching the semifinals). But, this year will be even more difficult with two new teams. I believe in my team that we can go all the way to the Final," he said.
"My target is to help my team. Of course they want goals from me and I would give my best to do it. And my target is to be champions. I cannot say, I want to be in semifinal or Final, my target is to be a champion," he added.
Ironically, Marcelinho's first match for his new club will be against his old side on Wednesday.
"It's a normal game. We start from the zero and they start from the zero. They are another team and I will play it like a normal game. But of course the first game for me is very important to win," said the 30-year-old forward.
He also had good words to say about his former coach in ISl — Gianluigi Zambrotta.
"Zambrotta made a very strong team and everything was a consequence of it. I was very happy with my first year in ISl. It was a good experience," he explained.
At the same time Marcelo is happy to be in Pune and looking forward to work with his new head coach Ranko Popovic and teammates.
"We had a very strong preparation. Everything is new and I'm enthusiastic to be here," he said.
Delhi side were struggling for goals in the first two ISl campaigns, having notched just 16 and 19 goals respectively. However, they became the entertainers of last campaign, netting 29 times the most last season.
Marcelinho was a key factor to it. He contributed to 15 of those goals (10 goals and five assists). He is someone who is comfortably playing on the flanks as well as in the forward position.
With an incredible goal conversion rate of 0.67/game last campaign, the fans of Pune can expect a similar goal rush from the 30-year-old left-footed striker.
When asked if he can retain the golden boot again this time around, he replied, "I'm confident. I will always give my best."
However, the Brazilian, who previously played for Greece club Atromitos and Brazilian side Anapolis, is not aware of his future post ISl season four.
"I'm not thinking about it. But let's see what's going to happen in the future. I don't know what's going to happen," he said.
He also feels that having so many foreign players in ISl will help Indian footballers in many ways.
"It helps them giving their best. The way they train and play, they can take something from us. I think it's a good lesson for them," he added.
He was also impressed with the Indian national team on their qualification to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
"I'm very satisfied with Indian national team. With young players and players from ISl, India will become better every year, they will become very good," he concluded.