Despite the 4-0 drubbing, they delivered to the Indian football team, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz had nothing but praise for the young Indian football team. Indian coach Stephen Constantine also reserved praise for the team that had battled well in the absence of talismanic skipper Sunil Chhetri.
One of the powerhouses of football in Asia, Iran, were 1-0 by the half-time before the floodgates opened to let in three more goals. However, Queiroz was full of praise for the opponents saying, “I was very much surprised by India’s display. There has been a vast improvement in their performance over the last few months,” after the match,reported sportsstarlive.
The Indian side were without their hard-working captain Sunil Chhetri, who was out with an injury. However, it was the defence where the game was played out as goalie Gurpreet Sandhu made save after save to deny the home team through the game. The hosts eventually defeated India 4-0 thanks to a brace by captain Ehsan Hafi Safi and one each from Azmoun and Alireza.
Indian coach Stephen Constantine also admitted that it was a “very difficult” game. He went on to add, “They controlled the game. It was a very difficult game for us even before it kicked-off. In the first half, we conceded from a penalty and had two players coming out through injury. It made it all the more difficult for us,” reported sportsstarlive.
The coach, however, pointed out the positives from the game as well. The match had seen the international debut of talented Bengaluru FC winger Udanta Singh, as the youngster was the latest to be blooded in Constantine’s mission to revamp the national team. Constantine said, “We are a very young side. One boy made his international debut today and he will never forget the fact that he played his first international match at the Azadi Stadium against Iran.”
“We tried to contain Iran and paid the price for some mistakes. We were short in some areas and paid the price for that. Iran are one of the best teams in Asia and playing at the Azadi Stadium has its own challenges,” the coach added reported sportsstarlive.
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