Regret the penalty, not the result: Materazzi positive after Chennaiyin's draw with ATK

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS CHENNAIYIN FC drew 2-2 in their opening match against Atletico de Kolkata at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium on Sunday. CFC coach Marco Materazzi at the post-match press conference said that he was happy with the draw as ATK are a strong team and there could have been more goals.

"It was a good game. I’m very happy with my guys because we were losing 1-0 and then they kept together and earned a lead. The penalty was hard to tell, but the referee said it was a penalty so it was a penalty. The only thing I regret is the guy (Jerry Lalrinzuala) who caused the penalty is only 19 years old and it was due to a lack of experience."

When asked if there is an area that needs to be improved, he said,

"There is always something to improve, otherwise the game would have ended 3-0. Last year, we lost 3-2 [to ATK in the league opener], and you know when you face Kolkata, it’s going to be a great game. They have great strikers, they play good football."

Stressing on not being affected by the tag 'defending champions', Materazzi said,

"I don’t think it’s much pressure because we are the defending champions. I would rather have this pressure than be obsessed about winning the league. If you keep on training hard, you see the results. We don’t have [Stiven] Mendoza who can score by himself but we have shown today that anybody can score, like Jayesh had many chances. Also Davide Succi had many chances. I’m happy about it. It shows the team is playing well and many can score. I’m happy about today’s performance."