Panaji: Borja Herrera has been forced to part ways with FC Goa and seal a move to Indonesia due to the uncertainty surrounding the top-tier Indian Super League (ISL) this season.The FC Goa midfielder, one of the club’s more influential players for the last three seasons and the only player to win three Super Cups in a row, told his teammates on Friday morning that his time at the club has ended. The club later announced his departure, thanking him for “moments we’ll cherish forever.”“After two and a half seasons, I have to say goodbye, and not in the way I expected,” Borja said in a post on social media. “The situation has become untenable for my family and me. Those in charge have pushed me to make this decision, as after countless meetings, they still haven’t made a real decision.”Borja arrived in India during the Covid-19 pandemic, following in the footsteps of coach Manolo Marquez, who managed him at Las Palmas in LaLiga. From Hyderabad FC, he moved to East Bengal and won the Super Cup. But when things didn’t go as planned, it was his former coach who welcomed him with open arms at Goa.Borja was Manolo’s trusted lieutenant on the field, registering 14 goals and 10 assists for the club. His freekick in the 2024-25 ISL semifinal against Bengaluru FC was voted as the best goal of the season by the club but he will be best remembered for his brace against Jamshedpur FC in last season’s Super Cup final.Borja said he’s leaving with a “heavy heart,” having enjoyed his time at Goa, “through the good times and the bad, like these last few months where I’ve truly seen what it means to have a team that’s like a family, and who, despite the problems, have tried to come to training every day with a smile.”His advice to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was clear: “Please stop the nonsense and make a decision to save Indian football. This is shameful.”Borja is the second foreign player to mutually part ways with the club this month, following the departure of Spanish striker Javier Siverio to Greece.
