India continued their merry run in international football, notching up their eighth win on the trot and their 13th in the last 15 games. The 1-0 win over the Kyrgyz Republic at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday night out saw the Blue Tigers move to the top of Group A in the Third Round of Qualification for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Now three points ahead of the Kyrgyz and Myanmar (who recorded a victory over Macau yesterday), many would say that the Indians already have a foot on the flight for UAE. However, Indian coach Stephen Constantine urged both his side and the nation to be cautious as the job is not yet done.
The Indians, who looked flatfooted for the majority of the first half put on a show of mental fortitude and stamina to eke out a memorable 1-0 win over their much-fancied opponents. And by the end of the game, one wouldn’t have been surprised if the Indians would have ended up with three goals to their name.
“Let’s not get greedy here. We were here to get three points and we got that. I will take that any day. What I would like to say is that I am extremely proud of the boys. It was an absolutely great performance from one end to the other.
“We are on six points right now and we need six points more," stated the Englishman.
“We have six points and are top of the table; have one foot in the Asian Cup but the job is not yet done. We can’t repeat the same mistakes we did in Guam. We can’t expect Macau (who India faces next) or others to lie down. To be honest, nobody takes them lying down in international football. And you can be sure that we will be up and ready for the job.”
“What the F%#K are we doing?”
India clearly looked the second favourite going into halftime and both the skipper as well as the coach conceded it wasn’t a pretty sight in the Indian dressing room at the break.
Speaking about his message at halftime, Constantine quipped, “Well I said a lot of things that I can’t repeat here. It started on the note of ‘What the F#@k’ are we doing and you can join in other expletives at the end.
“It was a very difficult game we knew that. I have a lot of faith in these players but it was our home game and we allowed them to dictate the terms and we were not ourselves.
“But credit to the boys, we didn’t stop for a single minute and played until the final whistle and got the result we wanted. 1-0 to India and I will take that every time.”
Glad Chhetri didn’t play against Nepal
Sunil Chhetri has time and again answered the call for the country. Whether it be his fantastic hat-trick in the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008 to seal India’s place in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup; his strike against Johor Darul Ta’zim; his last minute against Myanmar a few months back or his winner today at the Kateerava, Chhetri has always risen to the occasion for both club and country. And Tuesday night was no different.
And his performance vindicated Stephen Constantine’s decision to rest him in last week’s friendly against Nepal.
“Sunil made an absolutely great run as he did in the last game against Myanmar along with Udanta. He is fit and he did an absolutely phenomenal job to in the position he is right now (following his injury against). I also have to thank the medical team to get him into shape. They have done a marvellous job behind the scenes and I am grateful to them for their contributions.
“I am happy I didn’t play him against Nepal because otherwise he just might not make that run had we not protected him.”
A long break now proceeds and the Indian team will not be action till October when the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers resume with another home game – this time against bottom-of-the-table Macau.
Also Read: India 1-0 Kyrgyz Republic, Player Ratings: Sunil Chhetri the star for India in eighth straight win
