National coach Wim Koevermans congratulated Sunil Chhetri for overtaking Baichung Bhutia and emerging as India’s highest-ever goalscorer on 43 goals.

“I congratulate him. He deserves it. He scored it in front of his home-crowd. It’s a historic moment for Indian fotball,” he maintained at the post-match Press Conference.

“We saw an outstanding performance by the Indian national team. We were top of Nepal for the entire 90 minutes and the boys deserve every bit of the applause,” he added.

His rival compatriot Jack Stefanowski admitted “India came up with a very good performance.”

At the Dressing Room, Chhetri thanked all his teammates and the support staff for helping him reach the feat. “Without you all, this wouldn’t have been possible. It’s yours more than mine,” he stated.

At the Official Interaction, Chhetri quipped: “Baichung-bhai congratulated me urging me score more. I stay thankful to him. He has guided me to become what I am today.

“In fact, I am very much grateful to Renedy Singh, Deepak Mondal, Samir Naik, Climax Lawrence, Mahesh Gawli and all for helping me during the initial phase of my career.

“When you reproduce all what you have done in the practice session, it feels all the more good,” Chhetri maintained.

“We created a lot of chances all throughout. Two even hit the post. The brand of Football was for all to see,” Koevermans pronounced. “It feels nice to end the year on a high. There were some new faces who have been drafted into the squad and all of them rose to the occasion.”

Speaking at the mixed zone, Mehtab Hossain lauded debutant Narayan Das. “The manner he played in the left-back position in his first match speaks a lot about him. He will go a long way. With him and Gurjinder Kumar both coming up with stellar performances in the position in the two matches, our defence has further been strengthened.”

(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)