Asian Cup Qualifiers: Happy with keeping clean sheet but could have done better, says Chhetri after India’s 2-0 win over Cambodia

Kolkata, June 9 (IANS): After India’s 2-0 win over Cambodia in their opening match of the third round of AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers, skipper Sunil Chhetri said his side is happy with the clean sheet but there are a lot of things that they could have done better.

India started their Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign on a decent note by grabbing all three points with a win over Cambodia at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium on Wednesday. The 37-year-old Chhetri was the difference-maker once again as his brace (14′, 59′) gave India the victory.

India were dominant for almost the entire game and didn’t give the opponents a sniff of getting on the scoresheet. However, the skipper was disappointed that his team couldn’t add more to the tally.

“We are happy with the clean sheet. There are a lot of things that we could have done better. I am not trying to be harsh. The weather was very humid and of course, it was the same for both teams,” Chhetri was quoted as saying by indiansuperleague.com.

“The tempo of the game could not be maintained for a longer time. It was really humid. I’m not trying to give an excuse but at the end of the day to keep a clean sheet and get the three points was very important and we did. I’m sure the coach will have a lot of things to say when he watches the videos,” he added.

The star footballer feels his team couldn’t utilise the opportunities properly otherwise they could have scored more goals.

“We should have got more goals. In international football, you don’t get the opportunity where you can get in your players and get into places where you can cross and do some damage. I think we couldn’t utilise that as much as we should have. But again I’m probably just being old and throwing tantrums, At the end of the day, I’m very happy that we got the three points,” he said.

India, who are placed on top of the points table in Group D, will now face Afghanistan on Saturday.

Talking about the positives from Cambodia’s match and game plan against Afghanistan, Chhetri said, “The biggest positive was the clean sheet. A lot of boys got the feel of what it means to play ninety minutes. A lot of boys hadn’t played after the ISL. A lot of players were in different physical conditions. So it was good for the coach to see. Some of the boys got a run, some of them played ninety minutes which was good.”

“Also the coach has already told us that with three matches in 6-7 days, he will need all of us. So yes, that’s positive. We haven’t yet seen the videos of us and how we have performed and also the Afghanistan vs Hong Kong game. We will sit and watch that and come up with a plan,” he added.