India beat Nepal 1-0 to secure their first win of SAFF Championship 2021 courtesy of Sunil Chhetri's late strike on Sunday.
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The Indian football team beat Nepal 1-0 in the 2021 SAFF Championship fixture on Sunday to keep themselves alive in the competition. However, the Blue Tigers haven’t been convincing in the tournament so far, having drawn the opening two matches before securing a lacklustre win against Nepal. So far, India has managed to score only two goals from three games and both of them were scored by their captain Sunil Chhetri. Scoring has been a cause of concern for head coach Igor stimac and he will need to find a solution as soon as possible because Chhetri at 37 isn’t getting any younger.
Chheteri scored an 82nd minute winner against Nepal after being frustrated by the Nepal defence for a major part of the game. However the win helped India to five points from three games, only one behind Nepal and Maldives. Now India’s faith is in their own hands when they take on Maldives on Wednesday.
“I am very happy with the three points, which is keeping us until the very end with a great possibility of finishing in the finals. I am very happy and grateful for how our boys responded today, in nearly everything,” said the head coach as reported by goal.com.
“I say nearly because scoring is an area where we need to improve. From chances like that we need to score. Otherwise, you have to suffer until the very end. But we need to be patient,” he added.
Meanwhile it was Chhetri’s 77th international goal and he has now equaled the legendary Brazilian footballer Pele’s tally.
“He could have made the difference earlier (laughs). He kept us all nervous till the end. We are all very happy for him and for the record. All the team are working so that he can score more goals,” said Stimac.
Stimac was seen doing a little jig when India broke the deadlock. Although it was all in jest, Stimac’s counterpart Abdullah Almtutairi perceived it as being ‘shameful’.
The Croatian in response said “I’m not sure what’s wrong with my celebration. Can you tell me? I think he should ask himself what he meant when he said India is 95 per cent favourite. That’s disrespectful to his team. He shouldn’t be thinking about myself and my celebration. I’m sorry that he mentioned this because nothing was wrong with my celebration. Or maybe, I don’t have the right to celebrate.”
“I’m doing my job and I’m a professional doing the best I can. I’m trying to stay concentrated on what my players are doing on the pitch, not about how I’m going to celebrate my goals. Maybe, some other coaches think about how they celebrate goals. They’re becoming like players,” Stimac expressed.
