As a coach, I am very proud of my boys, says Vanuatu head coach Etienne Mermer

Etienne Mermer also revealed Vanuatu's 'actual' objective behind participating in the event.

Etienne Mermer's Vanuatu have suffered another defeat in the Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023, and are the first team to be out of the competition.

The Oceanic side lost by a close margin against India, in a hard fought game. Vanuatu kept the hosts at bay until the 80th minute mark, but a moment of individual brilliance by Sunil Chhetri broke the hearts of the Vanuatu players, who would be proud of their performance against India tonight.

After the game, Vanuatu head coach Etienne Mermer spoke to the media. Here are the excerpts from the conversation.

Thoughts on the game

Despite a determined fight against a tough opponent like India, Vanuatu fell short of a win tonight, and were left heartbroken after such an incredible performance. Looking back at what happened in the game, Mermer said:

“First of all, I want to thank the people from India and the All Indian Football Federation for the opportunity they gave us to be here, to be part of this tournament, and I believe that it will help us as a country from Oceania. I know that people from here don't know us, but I'm so very proud as a coach for my boys to play this game, especially with the Indian team. They gave everything until the end of the game, and I'm very proud.”

On India’s winner

Coach Mermer was asked whether he thought that the five substitutions changed the momentum of the game and led to the goal or whether it was the individual brilliance of Sunil that made the difference.

“I know he is a legend for Indian football and people from India. But yes, this is football. The Indian team continued to press us by playing from outside and doing more crossing. That's why if we are not focused and will lose concentration when there is a crossing every time then that will be possible to score against us,” Mermer exclaimed.

What is lacking for Vanuatu?

Vanuatu have done well in this competition, and have looked strong both offensively as well as defensively. But there still seems to be a missing piece in this team’s success. When asked about the same, Etienne Mermer mentioned:

“As a team coming from Oceania we don't, we never play an Asian team in terms of national teams, but we set a strategy to see, to play, to study how we face this team. If you understand our strategy, it's more about defending. We wait until the right moment we can go forward.” 

“We have to play to give our best and to play for our country also. The most important thing I can say is that we are here to change our FIFA ranking. This is one of our objectives in this tournament, but we will continue to play until we finish. Last match is with Mongolia and I believe we will continue to play good football. If lucky we will beat Mongolia in the last game,” he added.

Plans ahead of Mongolia game

When asked about how he plans on approaching Vanuatu’s final game against Mongolia, Mermer said, “We will see how we will organise for the last game against Mongolia. I know that they are coming on the back of a draw with Lebanon and they will also do their best to beat us. But like I said, we are here to play, and with Mongolia in the last game, we will do our best and we will go for it.”