Discipline helped win tri-nation title: Stimac

New Delhi, March 29

Stability and discipline helped the Indian men’s football team win in the tri-nation tournament in Imphal, head coach Igor Stima said today.

India beat Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan to emerge the winners. “The boys played with a brilliant attitude and the overall environment was also very positive. It’s the result that creates this positivity for us,” he said.

“This was our fifth consecutive win at home, and that’s very important for us to build confidence,” he added.

“We were very stable and disciplined and did not allow Myanmar or Kyrgyzstan any greater opportunities apart from a couple of minutes in the second half, where we were a bit soft. We could have done better in those areas, but the boys are always improving,” he added.

Two all-round performances by the Blue Tigers rounded off a successful campaign for Sunil Chhetri and his men at the Khuman Lampak Stadium.

Not only did India win both their matches against a fighting Myanmar (1-0) and a higher-ranked Kyrgyzstan (2-0), they also kept two clean sheets.

“It felt good to play these two matches, and it was important for us to get the two wins under our belt,” India captain Chhetri said. “It’s the first time I played in Manipur, so that was an extremely special occasion. We also kept two clean sheets, which was very important for our defence,” he added.

Chhetri struck his 85th goal in international football from the spot against Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday.