Talismanic India striker Sunil Chhetri said on Sunday that his team cannot wait to make the mistakes they had made in the Bangladesh draw in the Competition of the Asian Cup competition 2027 in March. India was held in a 0-0 draw by the Bangladesh of the lower class during its group C opening match of the third round match of the Asian Cup on March 25 in Shillon, who left head coach Manolo Marquez Fuming. India is against Hong Kong in its second game – an outside match – June 10 in Kowloon. Chhetri said the match against Hong Kong will be a chance for the team to redeem himself.
“The initial feeling after the Bangladesh match was that we dropped, that we dropped the country. After seeing the replays, I thought we, as a team, could have done so much more. It was a huge opportunity to take the lead in the table, playing Bangladesh at home. We should have done so much,” said Chhetri.
“Finishing with just one point, I think we, the players, have only ourselves to blame. We did not appear as we should have.
The Indian team is currently training here and will leave for Pathum Thani on May 28 for an international friendly match outside Thailand on June 4.
Angry and disappointed by the result against Bangladesh, Marquez had clearly indicated that her team needed a lot of improvement if she wants to qualify for the continental centerpiece.
“We have to improve a lot because I felt that the team was going ahead in each FIFA window except the last,” said Marquez, referring to the match against Bangladesh.
“It is true that for the match against the Bangladesh, we lost very important starting players. But this is no excuse for our bad performance in this match,” he said.
“We must be aware that we have a difficult match in Hong Kong. We must be competitive and try to win and get the three points.” India is placed in group C of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying the third round with Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Singapore, and only the best team after six home and outside games qualify for the continental centerpiece.
The national camp began on May 19 and Chhetri, who came out of international retirement to help India qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup, said the head coach had a little time to formulate a plan.
“We, the players, must make sure that we are synchronized about what the plan is, and try to execute it at best of our capacities. But more importantly, the error that we made against Bangladesh was that we did not appear. And all the preparation, the technical aspect put aside, you have to go and present yourself.
“We have seen a few clips from Hong Kong. We are going to watch them more. But I think, right now in the scene we are, we are thinking more of ourselves and slowly, we will progress in what the opponent is and how they play,” said Chhetri.
India aims to qualify for the Asian Cup for the third consecutive time and Chhetri said it was a “minimum requirement” for the country to appear in the continental centerpiece.
“We have to qualify for each Asian cup, and it’s compulsory. But I don’t want to put pressure on the boys and the team. Take a match at a time.” “Hong Kong, of course, will be very crucial. But yes, for India, it is a strict minimum to qualify for the Asian Cup, so that we can test ourselves with the best of Asia and continue to prove that we are improving,” said Chhetri, who is the only Indian player to have played in three editions of the Asian Cup – 2011, 2019 and 2023.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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