Defensive approach against Bahrain went against us, asserts Anirudh Thapa

01/18/2019

After playing in his first ever AFC Asian Cup, Anirudh Thapa has stated that the extremely defensive approach by the Indian team in the last game against Bahrain went against them. He also rued the fact that the Blue Tigers couldn’t capitalise on the chances against the UAE in their second match.

Despite starting off on a very positive note by winning its opening game against Thailand at the AFC Asian Cup in the UAE, India dramatically failed to make it to the knockout round. India lost to UAE 0-2 and 0-1 against Bahrain in their second and third game respectively.

Playing in the tournament for the first time, 21-year-old Thapa has underlined the fact that India were extremely defensive against Bahrain and lost too many chances in the UAE game, which eventually turned out to be the reason they got knocked out of the tournament.

“In the match against UAE, we got a couple of clear chances in the first twenty minutes and the match would have been over if we scored. But, we were unlucky to miss all the opportunities and that resulted in some pressure. In the last match (against Bahrain), we went with an extremely defensive approach and that did not work out well for us,” Thapa told Hindustan Times.

“We were defending the whole time and we were not able to play our natural game. Our main target was to press them high but because of our defensive approach, we were not able to achieve our goal. It was a crucial match for both the teams and they came all out at us. With the strikers finding spaces in our box, it was tough for us to execute our plans and that proved to be our downfall.”

There was a big news after India’s exit from the AFC Asian Cup as coach Stephen Constantine decided to announce his resignation almost instantly after the match. However, Thapa has informed that the former chief coach would have left the post anyway irrespective of the performance of the team.

“We came to know of his decision after the game. He said that he is resigning and it was not because we lost. He told us that even if we won, he would have resigned after the tournament anyway,” the midfielder revealed.

It was a dream come true for Thapa as he played for the Indian side in the recently-concluded AFC Asian Cup. He even scored a goal in the first game against Thailand in the 68th minute of the inaugural game for the Blue Tigers.

“The biggest thing that I learnt in this campaign is that we cannot give up till the last minute. A game can change in one single move. Also, the opponents we faced in this tournament like UAE and Bahrain were quite impressive and this experience will surely help me in developing my game for the future,” he said.

Defensive approach against Bahrain went against us, asserts Anirudh Thapa

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