Indian captain Sunil Chhetri has revealed they got some tongue-lashing from Igor Stimac at half-time in the Hero Intercontinental Cup final against Lebanon at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhuvneshwar, Odisha on Sunday. The Blue Tigers didn’t start in a good way and went into halftime at 0-0.
Subsequently, they received a pep talk from Igor Stimac at the halfway break. There was an immediate effect on the team as Sunil Chhetri found the back of the net soon after the interval. 20 minutes later, Chhangte doubled the team’s lead with a simple tap-in.
India was able to come up with a collective effort and registered a 2-0 win to be crowned champions.
“We got some tongue-lashing from the boss at half-time. We were nowhere close to the way we started in the last game against Lebanon. Probably, that was the wakeup call that we needed. A lot of words were spoken, some of which I can’t repeat here. Thankfully, we reacted because we knew we had it (energy) in our tanks, and at the end of the day, we spoke about having no regrets after the game. Of course, it’s easier now to say this after winning 2-0, but we just wanted to give everything we had,” Sunil Chhetri said.
Chhetri was delighted with India’s performance to lift the Hero Intercontinental Cup but the veteran admitted it wasn’t easy. The striker was also happy that they maintained a clean sheet in all four matches of the tournament.
“We enjoyed this tournament. I was telling the boys that I do not remember the last time we won the tournament because we had a different variety of guests coming and playing this tournament (in the last edition). To win a tournament at home is always sweet, but its not easy. Teams that you don’t play generally, you get to play them in the Hero Intercontinental Cup. We’re really happy. The most happiness we have got is keeping clean sheets because that is the first mantra that we had is that no matter what we are going to work hard keeping clean sheets,” Chhetri said.
On the other hand, Chhangte also played an instrumental role in India’s win. He scored a goal and also provided an assist to his captain in the summit clash. Chhangte had earlier also scored against Mongolia in the team’s 2-0 win in the opening match of the tournament.
“It feels great to help the team and get a trophy. But I wouldn’t have done this without my teammates from the back, from our goalkeeper to our defence. They were so good at the back which is why we were getting the freedom (to attack),” Chhangte said after the game.
“We were up against a very good side and there’s no doubt that they were a tough side. But we approached the second half with a different mentality. The coach encouraged us to keep going, creating chances and keep shooting. That’s what we did and it gave us the win,” the Mumbai City FC winger further added.
India will now take part in the SAFF Championships.
