New Delhi: India coach Bob Houghton was delighted with his team’s performance in their 3-1 win over Sri Lanka and asked his opponents not to whine about the fixture list.
The Indian team needed to win against Sri Lanka to remain in contention for a place in Monday’s final and the Bhangra Boys did just that in front of a vociferous Ambedkar Stadium crowd.
Coach Bob Houghton felt that his team was dominant throughout the match but made things difficult for themselves by not taking their chances.
He said, "We were dominant for almost the entire game but we were wasteful in front of goal and also a bit unfortunate because we hit the woodwork four times. So we should have won by a bigger margin but we nearly dropped two points by conceding the equaliser against the run of play. However the boys once again showed great character to get two more goals and finally made the three points safe."
The coach was disappointed to concede from a set piece but wasn’t too worried that his players failed to convert a number of opportunities.
"It is very disappointing to concede a needless goal from a set piece; we should have dealt with that in a better way. I am not worried that we are missing chances because you cannot do much about that. A coach would find it difficult only when a team fails to create opportunities but we did that in abundance today so the goals will come."
The Englishman was also full of praise for winger Steven Dias and defender Mahesh Gawli.
"Steven is a terrific player and had an outstanding game today. He had an excellent Nehru Cup last time but struggled with injuries in last year’s AFC Challenge Cup. He did well in the last two games but tonight his performance was top class.
"Mahesh isn’t too comfortable playing at left back but let me tell you he had all the qualities to become one of the best fullbacks in Asia and even would have got a chance to play in Europe had he played at that position all his life.
"But he is accustomed to play at center-back so it was difficult to convince him to play as a left back. However he has not let his performance dip despite playing there and has been consistent in all the games."
The former China and Uzbekistan coach also acknowledged his side’s work ethic.
"I think whenever we attack we mostly have four to five players in the box and you will not find that with any other team in this tournament. And the midfielders who venture forward into the box also fulfill their responsibility by falling back to help out the defence.
"So this team should get a lot of credit. This is the best lot in the country presently."
He finally commented on Sri Lanka’s complaint that they are playing the games every two days.
"I heard that Sri Lanka have said that playing matches every two days is a big problem for them. I just want them to rewind and look back at the 2008 SAFF Cup, when they and Maldives jointly hosted the tournament and made us play four games in ten days in the afternoon at 40 degrees temperature because we were the holders and favorites.
"So they should stop whining and get on with it.
India’s last round robin match is against Syria on Saturday evening.
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