We are not the kind of team who can afford to give teams a goal lead and then start playing- Constantine

The India manager spoke after his team came from behind to beat their African opponents in the first match of the Tri-Nations Series...

After India defeated Mauritius 2-1 goals in Mumbai, the Indian head coach Stephen Constantine appeared for a press conference after the game. The Indian gaffer gave his inputs following the opening match of the Tri-Nation Series.

“I’m happy about it, I’m okay,” answered Constantine when asked if he was happy about the win as well as the scoreline. “They could have played a little better,” he said before adding, “We gave them too much space, a little bit too much respect and we conceded the goal.”

“They deserved that I think,” the 54-year-old said, pointing to the only goal Mauritius scored. However, the Englishman also pointed to the changes he made in the second half which helped the Indian team score two goals and win the match. “The boys all played very hard and I think we dominated the second half,” he said.

However, the Indian head coach did not sound very happy with the performance the Indian team displayed in the first half. “I don’t like it when we give other teams a headstart. We are not the kind of team who can afford to give teams a goal lead and then start playing.” The Englishman also praised his players’ performance in the second half when he said, “They played their socks.”

Also read Resilient India make it 9 wins in a row with triumph over Mauritius

The match saw several debutants for India, pointing to which Constantine later said, “Look I think these are the games you want to give these young boys the opportunity to play. I don’t say there is no pressure, there is always pressure when you represent India but you always want to play.”

The match saw the likes of Balwant Singh and Amrinder Singh starting on the bench as the coach decided to start Subrata Paul and Robin Singh instead against Mauritius. Talking about Balwant's performance, who scored the winning goal for India, Constantine said, “Balwant for me today was superb. He absolutely ran himself into the ground. I’m really happy that he got himself his first international goal.”

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Robin who was substituted off in the second half, scored the equalizer for India. The former East Bengal player, who has been bashed innumerable times for his performances donning the Indian jersey helped India keep their attacking prowess alive in the first half. Speaking about Robin’s performance the coach said, “I don’t care if he scores or not. I care if he does the work. “Robin is a very particular player, if he does not do his work he does not become the player that he can be,” he further added.