Kenya started its Intercontinental Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory against New Zealand but its head coach Sebastian Migne feels that his side has a difficult game against host India.
“We’re happy to win, it was a fantastic opportunity for my players to discover a new continent and opposition. It was difficult for us to find good balance in the team because of the unavailability of players,” Migne said.
“We were lucky to score in second half. The attitude was better. This will help the confidence of our players. I’m happy for my players, I’m glad with the local coach who started the camp in India,” said Migne, who landed here just a day ahead of the match.
India had spanked Chinese Taipei 5-0 in the opening encounter of the tournament, courtesy a hat-trick by skipper Sunil Chhetri, and Migne feels that the game against India on Monday will be a difficult one.
“We have a difficult game against India. We have only two days to recover but we will try to put up a good attitude. We don’t have a choice, hence the challenge against India will be good. We know it will be difficult, but with a good attitude everything is possible, the Kenyan head-coach added.
Notably, the game against Kenya will be Chhetri's 100th international appearance and all eyes will surely be on him.
Migne said hosts India were a quality side and he followed them closely.
“I know India have quality and have qualified for Asian Cup. I follow them closely. Sunil Chhetri can be interesting for the future and has good quality. Kenya will try to be a good opponent,” Migne added.
New Zealand coach Fritz Schmid admitted that his team struggled in the second half of the game.
“We struggled in the second half in physicality and that’s another point we have to look at. Big amount of the team plays in off-season, some of them are inactive and that’s where we lagged," he signed off.
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