Constantine not happy with team's SAFF Championship performance

National football coach Stephen Constantine said that he is not happy with the team's performance in their opening match of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship against Sri Lanka.

The Indian team had won the match 2-0, but the coach said that though he is happy with the results, the performance was not up to the expected levels.

"We need to rectify the mistakes before the next match. We started off with a good win but I'm not happy with the performance. We could have scored quite a few goals more," Constantine maintained.

"We have to learn how to play more smartly. We can do much better than this. Given the fact that the players are young, you can't expect the consistency every time. Anyway, a win is always the most important aspect of the game and we move on from here," he added.

The coach also emphasised on having more players in the pipeline so that the senior players could be pushed to put in more efforts.

Agreeing with the coach's views, Ashique Kuruniyan, who was adjudged as the Most Valuable Player of the Match against Sri Lanka, stated that the team need to capitalize well on the opportunities and further asserted that he needs to deliver more for the team.

"We won, but we missed many chances. We have to be quick enough on the field to utilise those opportunities. I am extremely happy to have scored my first International goal. I need to deliver more for the National Team," Kuruniyan said.

India are slated to take on Maldives in the final group-stage match on September 9.