New Delhi, August 22: Sri Lanka coach Sampatha Perera today described his side’s stunning 4-3 victory over Lebanon in their opening round-robin match of Nehru Cup as the best result in a long time which would lift the game’s profile in his country.
MNM Issadeen scored a hat-trick to give Sri Lanka a 4-3 victory over Lebanon and Perera was all praise for his boys for their stunning performance.
“The boys did the country proud. The result will lift Sri Lankan football it was one of the best matches in a long time,” Perera, who played for Mohun Bagan in the 1990s, said after the match.
Perera did not agree that his side won the match as they had one man advantage for the whole of second half.
“They (Lebanon) were supposed to be the more fancied side but we scored the first goal and we kept the pressure on them throughout the match,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lebanon coach Emile Rustom agreed that the Sri Lankans had given his team a lot of trouble but said his boys were playing with fasting due to beginning of the holy month of Ramazan from today.
“Sri Lanka are a good side. They gave us sufficient trouble. But they were fresh as it was their first match.
“Our boys were having Ramazan fasting. Moreover, we were down to 10 men for the whole of second half,” said Rustam.
—Agencies