Ze Maria sad to leave Gor Mahia project unfinished

Jose Marcelo ‘Ze Maria’ Ferreira wore a somber expression on his face on Thursday as he confirmed his exit from Gor Mahia FC at the Camp Toyoyo Grounds hours after the news broke.

Ze Maria who is set to depart the country for his homeland Brazil along with his assistant Marco Aurelio admitted he felt saddened not to have accomplished his ‘project’ at Gor while assuring his exit had no connection to unpaid wages.

Initial reports that broke online claimed Ze Maria had been driven out by ‘unkept promises’ but in contrast the former Inter Milan right back cited personal reasons as chief behind the move.

“The club knows the reasons why I had to leave and I’m so sorry for this because we were not able to finish our project.

“These guys (the players) deserve a lot of respect from the fans from the office and I’m very happy to have coached them in this one and a half season,” Ze Maria told Citizen Digital.

His resignation left the club’s management and fans alike stunned with the tactician having led the club to the Super Cup title in Tanzania just four days before he quit.

Ze Maria was attending his farewell training session with the players he will leave at the summit of the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) table with assistant Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno expected to assume an interim role as Head Coach.

He thanked the club for being ‘great hosts’ and showered the playing unit in praise for the hard work they put in training.

Under his tutelage, Gor beat Tusker FC to the KPL Super Cup at the start of their of their 2017 campaign and finished the first leg of the league season top of the table.

“Zico is a good coach and the players are the best in the country so they have every reason to continue moving forward,” Ze Maria underscored.

The outgoing coach will reunite with his family as he plans his next move but will take ‘a few days’ to consider his future.

“Now I’m going home to stay with my family of course I have other request for a coach but I will spend the next few days thinking about it and of course my project is to work in Europe but that’s not the reason I left Gor.”

He urged Gor faithful to uphold their endearing love for the K’Ogalo and thanked them for supporting him all through.

Gor will face Sofapaka FC in their next KPL action on Sunday at the Kinoru stadium in Meru.