AFC Asian Cup | We could have scored two to three goals, laments Sunil Chhetri
Sunil Chhetri rues India’s poor finishing in their recent 2-0 loss to the United Arab Emirates in their second match of Group A in Abu Dhabi in the ongoing 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The Indian captain also added that they need to focus on recovering well in their next match against Bahrain.
Hopes were high in the Indian dressing room ahead of an all-important encounter against hosts United Arab Emirates after they pulled off a stunning 4-1 win against Thailand in their campaign opener in the ongoing 2019 AFC Asian Cup. However, the Indian team succumbed to a rather unlucky 2-0 loss to the home team in Thursday night’s encounter in Abu Dhabi. Goals from Alhamsi and Ali Mabkhout doomed India to their first defeat of the tournament last night.
Indian forward and captain on the night Sunil Chhetri was unhappy with India’s finishing touch in front of goal and a momentary lapse in defence which led to UAE’s opener as the two spurned opportunities from the visiting team.
“It was a tight game. UAE are a good side, and they converted their chances. When you get your chances, you got to convert them. If we could have taken ours, it could have been different. We are still in the running. As a team, we are united and we are ready to fight. And that’s what we are going to do against Bahrain,” Chhetri said in the post-match interview.
Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who captained the team against Thailand, was on the same wavelength as Chhetri as he lauded the boys’ efforts and backed his side to bounce back in the next game against Bahrain.
“Proud of the way the boys performed and we could have easily scored two or three goals today. People would not have expected this kind of performance from us. We were unlucky. Very unlucky. We could have scored 2 or 3 goals. The way we conceded was soft. I want to look into it and see it doesn’t happen again,” Sandhu said.
“We wanted to hit them on the counter and we got chances that we could not take. If we would have scored those chances it would have been a different game, physically and mentally. We need to be strong and keep our chins up. It happens in football. We need to perform against Bahrain and once again give a good testament of ourselves.”
The Blue Tigers will play Bahrain in their last match on January 14. Stephen Constantine’s side is
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