Panaji, Jun 14 (IANS): FC Goa have appointed Gorka Azkorra and Joel Dones as the club's new assistant coach and strength & conditioning coach respectively for the upcoming season.

Azkorra, a UEFA A license holder, has been working with the youth teams at Athletic Bilbao for the past three seasons after retiring from the game as a player in 2018. His playing days saw him making 5 La Liga and 116 Segunda appearances in addition to playing 3 games in the UEFA Cup.

Dones is an experienced strength & conditioning coach with a degree in Sports Science and a Professional master's degree in High Performance in Team Sports from FC Barcelona. Dones also has a UEFA A License to his name. He has spent a number of years working as the Strength and Conditioning Coach with clubs in Spain in addition to a 2-year stint in the Hong Kong Premier League.

"I'm very happy to join FC Goa. I feel very confident about us as staff, about the players we have and about the team we are going to be together," stated Azkorra after signing on the dotted lines.

Speaking on his appointment, FC Goa's new head coach, Carlos Pena said, "Gorka is a professional with a lot of experience. He is one who lives the game. He has played many years at a high level in Spain and is one who has always had a keen interest in learning the game."