PANAJI
Indian Arrows gave a great display of their steely mental strength as they played like a ‘senior team’ in their come-from-behind 2-1 I-League victory over Churchill Bros at Vasco on Saturday. Portuguese coach of the young Indian players, Luis Norton de Matos showered praises on his boys for keeping the fight going till they clinched the result.
“I think the entire team worked very well. Some players played better than their level, some were outstanding, some players played at same level (that I know they have). All the members of the team worked very hard to keep Churchill Bros always running. Two goals of course for Abhijit (Sarkar), he was in good position to score to win the game (for us), (but) I cannot forget all other players. They played very important role.
“Indian Arrows played to win the game from the first minute but we scored in last few minutes. This is very good for mental (aspect) of the players because they were always fighting for the result with a belief,” said de Matos at the post-match press conference.
De Matos was pleased with the way his boys could prepare for their ‘home game’. “I knew that Churchill were coming from three intense matches with a short period to recover. These players with the age they have, cannot play the fourth game in the same rhythm. So when we refreshed the game (in the second half), I told Boris (Singh) go, go... and you can make (attacking runs) as he is a offensive right-back. This (victory) is important for the development of the players as well as to sustain the project,” explained de Matos.
De Matos hailed the mentality of his side, saying: “Their behaviour was like a senior team. Development means to build one idea to play and one mentality that comprises focus, discipline, solidarity with each other (in the team) and playing compact, which is very important for
the future.”
Churchill Bros coach Alfred Fernandes blamed his team for taking undue risk at the fag end of the match. “Lapse in concentration and thinking that the match is won, these things happen (when) complacency creeps in sometimes. Until the final whistle is blown, you cannot take anything for granted,”
Fernandes said.
“Two mistakes cost us dearly in the last three minutes. It was not the case of tiring out but we took too much risk in our defending third instead of using long-ball tactics and using our attacking third,” said Alfred, adding that Indian Arrows “played a good game and deserved all three points.”
Indian Arrows chased the game very well and coach de Matos knew he had to send in Boris to change the game. “In my mind, if I need to put a winger to win the game; it was Boris. He is very offensive and confident with the ball. I am happy sometimes that coaches make the decisions to win, to make the team better. Today, Boris and Abhijit (Sarkar) went in and got the goals to win the game,” said the very happy coach, after having effected ‘perfect substitutions’.
