‘Should’ve won first leg too’: Afghanistan coach Westwood rubs salt in India’s wounds after WC qualifiers win

Buoyed Afghanistan coach Ashley Westwood has rubbed salt into the Indian wounds by claiming that his rag-tag team should have won the first leg in Saudi Arabia as well. The Khorasan Lions tamed the Blue Tigers at their home stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday (Mar 26) night to dent India's hopes of entering the next round of World Cup qualifiers.

Indiawent down 1-2 against the Afghan side, despite leading the game, courtesy of a penalty kick goal from veteran forward Sunil Chettri.

“We remained confident even when we were trailing. To be honest, we also could have won the earlier match. We were always the dominant side in the match,” Westwood said, referring to the first-legwhich ended in a goalless draw.

“It was unlucky at 0-0 in the last game. We could have won that if we took our chances. I was not under pressure at 1-0 at half-time because I knew we would score. I never felt pressured because I always believed in the boys, and I am glad we got the result,” he added.

Westwood coached a win despite missing some of the key players of the team. A bitter pay dispute with the football association resulted in a strike by 18 Afghan players prior to the World Cup qualifiers, which forced Westwood to assemble a makeshift team to mount a challenge against the superior-ranked Indian team.

Stimac blames players

While Westwood was all praise for his team, his Indian counterpart Igor Stimac once again reiterated that the players and their intensity was perhaps the undoing.

“Yes, we lost the game, of course. I accept the responsibility. I’m the coach at the end of the day. But we are second in our group. And look what we are creating. We are not playing poor football. We are playing decent football. We need much more support as a team, and as a unit, to provide more. As I said two days ago, we’re going to qualify.”

On the eve of the match, Stimac had vowed to resign if he failed to take the Indian side to the next round. After the match, there were chants of 'Stimac Out' in the stadium as well as a sustained online campaign where fans demanded that Stimac leave the job.

Despite being at the helm for more than five years now, Stimac has failed to instill a clear philosophy in the team. The lack of identity was truly on display on Tuesday as Afghanistan constantly played the Indian team off the park.

(With inputs from agencies)