By IANS,
New Delhi : India defender Syed Rahim Nabi said the 3-1 win over Maldives in the SAFF Cup semifinal here Friday might look easy but it was indeed a tough game for the five-time champions.
“The pressure was on us because we were the defending champions. When it was 1-1, it looked the match would slip away from us,” said Nabi, who gave India the lead in the 23rd minute and took his tally to two in the tournament.
“They had two good strikers and there was immense pressure on the defence. But we played an attacking game and got the two goals in the last 20 minutes,” said Nabi, who has been effective in his role as a left-back in the tournament.
The East Bengal player has been impressive in eight-nation meet and has cleverly shifted positions.
“The left-half position is very important and it all depends on how we use it. I enjoy playing in every position and have been given the freedom to do so by the coach. I am prospering in this position and I am enjoying it,” he said.
India coach Savio Medeira was pleased with the win.
“I give full credit to my boys. Maldives were down by a goal in the second half and it is natural for the opposition to put more pressure in that situation. They were more confident in the second half. The most important was that the boys kept the ball rolling,” he said.
“I think our defence did well for the moment. They had quality strikers and I think our defenders performed well. In the second half, they were trying to open up from the left. We will go back to the drawing board and see what went wrong to do the corrections,” he said.