Nepal suffered a demoralising 0-2 defeat against India at the 2023 SAFF Championship which ended their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the tournament. Goals from Sunil Chhetri and Naorem Mahesh Singh were enough for the Blue Tigers to secure a thrilling win and eliminate Vincenzo Alberto Annese men.
The tactician saw his players deliver a fabulous first-half performance, taking the hosts by surprise at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore. However, the experience of the Indian team played a key role in the second-half which swerved the tie in their favour.
Vincenzo Alberto Annese spoke about this and other important topics during the post-match press conference. Here are the excerpts from the conversation:
While analysing the defeat to the Blue Tigers, the tactician talked about his players’ lack of experience and also how their performance in the first half was impressive. He started, “Nepal’s performance was great in the first half. We lost one substitution that created the process of changing the game in a different way. There were too many young players in the second half.
“Last time I said that our players’ physicality was okay and it is true but we don’t have the experience to manipulate the ball,” he talked about how several of the players in Nepal’s team had not played in front of a large capacity crowd which was there to support India.
“We need to improve. I hope we get the experience to play abroad. There are quality players that can certainly play in India. I am proud of what we have done. We go out from the tournament with our heads held high,” the tactician added.
The tactician was visibly upset on the sideline with some of the decisions on the pitch. However, he refused to delve into details about what caused the upset and rather commented, “I don’t like to speak about the referee’s decisions. Everybody watched the game. I just think about my players and performance and not complain about the referee because I can make mistakes as a coach, my players can make mistakes as a player and the referee can make mistakes as a referee.”
Vincenzo Alberto Annese also took time to thank the Nepali fans who came to support the team and also talked about his desire to compete against Igor Stimac, who was serving a suspension due to his red card in the last game. He said, “I am so happy that they came from Nepal. I would love to score and play with Stimac when he is on the bench. It was so sad that he was sent off last time. It was also a Nepali referee to do this (he chuckles).”
Towards the end of the conversation, Vincenzo Alberto Annese talked about getting less exposure on the international stage than India. Speaking about how he got only four days for preparation with the national team, he said, “We need to have more time to coach plus India got tournament after tournament. We don’t have the kind of budget to play in an international tournament because you need sponsorships and stuff. It is not the fault of ANFA or anybody, it’s just the reality.”
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