‘In final, India didn’t do enough to win’
India coach Stephen Constantine, after going down 2-1 in the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018 final against Maldives, stated that the team “didn’t disappoint anyone but ourselves” as they “didn’t do enough to win the game”.
“We didn’t play the game according to our potential and that’s where the lack of experience matters. We weren’t able to replicate our performance from the semi-finals (against Pakistan) and that’s what seems to happen when you play with younger boys,” Constantine stated after the defeat.
“They don’t have the consistency and the experience to play at the same level every game but they’ll learn from this. I think we didn’t disappoint anyone else but ourselves. We didn’t do enough to win the game but we move on from here.”
“The way they performed and delivered in the last 10-12 days, I’m extremely proud of them. They are the future of India football for the next six to eight years. I’m extremely proud of the boys and it’s going to be a good learning experience for them”, Constantine added.
The Indian team consisted under-23 players with the exception of Sumit Passi.
On being asked whether there was a tinge of complacency amongst the boys having won over the same opponents in the group stage, coach brushed it aside.
“I don’t think there was a question of underestimating Maldives at any point of time. Maldives had our full respect but we couldn’t do what we were capable of doing. Maldives deserve the credit for sitting back and keeping on frustrating us in the way we play.”
“We were impatient a few times and lost the balls quite a few times to lose the control of the game. Moreover, two silly mistakes cost us heavily as they fired two decisive goals. That’s football and we learn from this”, he added further.
Moreover, he mentioned that the boys’ movements were ‘fantastic’ against Pakistan but they were not able to replicate the same in the final.
“Our movement against Pakistan was fantastic but not against Maldives (in the final). Although some of the players were good, others were not. Had our movement been good enough, we could have won the game”, the coach lamented.
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