Despite losing twice to Thailand within five days, coach Bob Houghton defended his wards and praised their resilience.

By Aswin Kanumarath

Having gone down 1-0 to Thailand in Bangkok, India were expected to bounce back when they hosted the same opponents in New Delhi on Wednesday. But India came a cropper as they lost 2-1 in a rain-hit match at the Ambedkar Stadium.

“We played two games in quick succession and it was a good test for us. We couldn’t win either of the matches but I’m happy with the way we played,” Houghton said in a post match conference.

India coach also lavished praise on veteran striker and India skipper Bhaichung Bhutia, who made a brief appearance on his return from a thyroid-related illness.

“It was good to see Bhaichung back in the squad. He came on for only 20 minutes but managed to create chances. It was all about his presence.”

The Englishman also explained that the decision to bring on the East Bengal forward was not made under pressure.

“I wanted to play Bhaichung in this match. It didn’t matter whether he started or was brought on. And he played extremely well. He is a very disciplined player and kept attacking in the penalty area.

Thailand were the better team on the night and Houghton was all praise for the opposition. He said, “Thailand are a very talented team and are progressing in Asia. They completely deserved the win in Bangkok. In Wednesday's game, it was about taking chances and they were rewarded for taking theirs.”

However, the 57-year-old backed his team’s overall performance and their determined spirit to fight throughout the game.

“Our boys played well, especially in the box. (Sunil) Chhetri and (Mohammed) Rafi were good in their positions. We missed Steven (Dias), he was injured early on. Moreover, our centre-backs Gouramangi (Singh) and Anwar were also tight in defence,” said the coach.

India face two stronger teams in Namibia and Gambia in the coming week and Houghton believes that playing the African nations will pose a different sort of challenge.

“It won’t bother us much. We have been playing against Asian opposition for a while. I think it will be a new challenge to play African sides. Hopefully we can win,” he said.