We cannot take the foot off the pedal against Myanmar, says Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri scored the only goal against Myanmar. (Source: AP)

Skipper of the Indian national football team, Sunil Chhetri, is in no mood to take the upcoming AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Myanmar lightly. Stating that the visitors are no pushovers, Chhetri said that India will need to be at the top of their game to secure a positive result.

“The entire country will get to see their technicalities when we meet them. There is no shame in admitting that they dominated us when we played in Yangon. But we were resilient. Also, do not forget that they came back from 0-2 down to make it 2-2 against the Kyrgyz Republic. That speaks to their strength,” Chhetri said. “It may sound cliche but we need to prove a point. We cannot take the foot off the pedal and need to continue our winning streak,” he added.

Defender Sandesh Jhingan also gave his insights on the visitors and complemented their hard-working nature and style of play.  “They are a very hard-working side who run a lot. In addition, their ball control is quite exemplary. They have a number of very good players in the middle and their No. 10 is a special one. It’s not going to be an easy match for us,” he said.

“But we want to win. There is not any place for any complacency just because we have already qualified. We need to continue the winning streak and will keep doing what we have been doing to get the result we want,” he added.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who enjoyed a stellar season with his club also said, “Myanmar are a strong unit with very talented and technically sound players who can create havoc with the ball. There will always be a tendency for all to underestimate them but we won’t.”