Indian National Team: The Decision To Make Eight Changes In The Starting Eleven Paid Off – India Coach Savio Medeira

The Indian national team defeated Malaysia 3-2 in an international friendly in Kolkata on Wednesday evening and gave Savio Medeira his first win as head coach.

Savio made eight changes to the eleven that started in Guwahati and after the game admitted that his side needed fresh legs as they were playing two international matches in three days.

“I had to make several changes to the first eleven today because we are in the middle of the I-League campaign so players are not getting any rest.

“This was our second match in three days so I had to bring in some fresh legs and thankfully the decision paid off,” coach Medeira told the reporters.

The former Salgaocar tactician also stated that it was necessary to rotate his side as he wants to see how each player fares ahead of next month’s SAFF Cup.

“The SAFF Cup is not far away so I have to get the team ready and these matches help a lot to make an assessment. That is why I wanted to give everyone a chance over the two matches and thus you saw almost two different sides in each game.”

Coach Medeira praised his players for their efforts over the matches despite not getting much time to prepare.

“We still have room for improvement of course and it's true that at times today we could have defended better as a team.