02 June,2023 09:22 PM IST | Bangkok | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Image (Pic: Istock)
India's junior Asia Cup-winning coach CR Kumar wants the players to inculcate a winning habit ahead of the Junior World Cup in Malaysia later this year. The Men in Blue on Thursday beat arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1 to lift the Junior Asia Cup trophy in Salalah, Oman.
"It's difficult, but want to make winning a habit in the players. The emphasis is on that. They (players) realised that winning is a priority for the team and everyone worked in that direction," Kumar said in a virtual press conference from Oman.
"I am extremely happy that we have qualified for the World Cup. We won this competition for the fourth time and we always want to be the leaders."
Lauding the unity and discipline of the team, Kumar added, "I know the players will deliver the results. We tried to manipulate some things in pool matches. We tried to work on our weak areas from the pool matches and corrected them in the final. We played with more discipline and there were no cards. Unity is very good in this team, they were focussed. The priority is to win every game. We really put a good team effort."
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India captain Uttam Singh too was delighted with the result but said they need to work on their weaknesses ahead of the World Cup to be played from November 29 to December 10.
"India-Pakistan is always close matches. There was pressure but we tried to keep pressure aside and perform. We played better in three quarters. We tried to correct our mistakes in pool matches. We scored 50 goals and conceded just four, we are deserving winners," Uttam said.
"Some things haven't worked...we tried to implement in match situation what we do in practice. There are weaknesses and we need to work on them. World Cup is a major tournament, all the best teams will be there. We will try to work on our grey areas ahead of the World Cup."
(With PTI inputs)
