Games like these important for players, asserts Kuwait boss Rui Bento

Rui Bento was unwilling to dive deep into his altercation with the officials on the touchline.

Kuwait managed to avoid a defeat against India at the 2023 SAFF Championship thanks to a late own goal by Anwar Ali. In the final fixture of Group A at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore, both teams settled for a 1-1 draw after an extremely competitive contest.

The game saw Igor Stimac, head coach of India, secure his second red card of the tournament. In addition to the tactician seeing a red, Rahim Ali of India and Hamad Al-Qallaf of Kuwait also were sent off due to an altercation between them on the pitch. The head coach of Kuwait, Rui Bento, was pretty animated on the touchline and argued with the fourth official numerous times.

https://youtu.be/YXvAtg9EsAE

He did not intend to explain his actions during the post-match press conference with the journalists and felt that the result was a fair one considering the effort of both teams. Here are the excerpts from the conversation:

Not my work to comment on the referees

Responding to why he was animated on the sidelines and what did he think of the referee’s performance, the head coach said, “Normally, if you see me on the bench, I never talk with the referees. I know it is difficult for them and they need games like today to improve their work. It is not my work to analyse the referees. The technical committee can do the work (of analysing referee's performance).”

A competitive game

Kuwait hung in there and finally managed to salvage a point thanks to an uncharacteristic error from Anwar Ali. Talking about the game and explaining how it being competitive was a positive, Bento said, “We know it is difficult to play against India in their home. They have a good team with good players. We played a strong and hard game.

"It is good for the teams, a very competitive game. In the first half, my players sometimes did not believe in themselves enough. I think we had chances to score in the first half. But, the two teams showed competitiveness and a game like today is good for us and the players,” he added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnRDHAz2BEE

A fair result

Towards the conclusion of the interaction, Rui Bento talked about how the result was a fair one, given the match was extremely competitive and equal. He said, “I think the result is correct, considering the work of both teams.”

He also talked about how his team struggles without the ball and needs to retain more of the possession and use their technically gifted players.