Despite pocketing crucial three points, India coach Bob Houghton was displeased with the profligacy of his forward line against Bangladesh in the ONGC Nehru Cup football tournament in Delhi on Monday.
The Indians won by a solitary goal, scored by captain Baichung Bhutia, but could have scored quite a few more had it not been for the wastefulness of their attackers. The Englishman said India cannot afford such mistakes in tougher games.
"We face Syria and Kyrgyzstan in the next two matches and we will be punished hard if we waste such chances."
Houghton said the team missed the presence of midfielder N P Pradeep and the injury to the defender Deepak Kumar Mondal in the second half did the team combination no favours.
"Overall, I am happy with the performance but not with the margin. We should have scored more goals but it is a good sign that we are creating chances," Houghton said.
He added that scoring seven goals without conceding any in the tournament so far was a good omen and hoped the trend continued in the future matches.
"Syria is a strong team and we have to be on our mettle in the next game," Houghton said.
Meanwhile, Bhutia was happy to have found the net early in the game and said that gave the team a positive feeling.
"AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi announced a cash reward of Rs 500,000 for the squad in recognition of the back-to-back wins and we would like to continue on the winning way," he said.
Bangladesh coach Syed Nayeemuddin, meanwhile, denied that the match was a battle between himself and Bhutia, with whom he shares a soured relation.
"It was a match between India and Bangladesh and the team gave a better performance than that in the first match," the former India coach said.
"We want to learn in this tournament and prepare for the World Cup qualifiers," he added.
