Bibiano Fernandes, the head coach of the Under-16 national team will feel aggrieved at his team’s recent tendencies to concede late goals as they conceded two against Malaysia to succumb to a 3-0 loss.
Earlier, they had also blown a 1-0 lead to concede another late goal against Thailand and lost 2-1. In a match against China earlier this month, they shipped in two late goals to lose 3-1.
“And all these wins and defeats only make us stronger as we have been improving every day. We are not far away from achieving our goal we had set long before – qualifying for the World Cup. We believe in that goal and we believe we can achieve it as well,” is what Bibiano had to say after the loss to Malaysia.
A day prior to India Under-16’s second friendly match against Malaysia U-16, Fernandes spoke about losing three matches on the trot, plugging the gaps at the back and more.
What was your assessment of the Malaysian National Team?
Malaysia play counter-attacking football and the players are individually good on the ball. We did not start well in the first-half. However, in the second half we dominated but conceded goals on the counter as we pushed hard for the equaliser. There was desire and our boys gave everything to win but Malaysia did well to hold on.
India have been conceding late goals in every match now? Why do you believe it’s happening?
These being friendly matches it is always better to go all out for a win than play safe and lose by just one goal. In all the recent matches that we have conceded late, we were trying to win games and by doing this we are getting ready for every kind of challenges we might face at the AFC U-16 finals. Even in the last game, we tried our best for the equaliser but conceded a goal due to a lack of concentration from one of our defenders. We are working even harder now to find solutions to get back to winning ways.
How do you plan to mend the habit of conceding late goals?
Even as we are finding solutions to conceding late goals, we are also working hard on our finishing. Every match we have been creating numerous chances and if we are able to convert them, I think it can make all the difference.
The team has for the first time lost three matches in a row. Is that a concern?
Yes, it is disappointing that we lost these matches on the trot. But I wish to stay positive and I am happy with the performances the boys have put in all these matches. We have created many goal-scoring chances and once our boy’s regain their scoring form and start converting these chances, then trust me, there will be no stopping this team.