By Shoubhik Mukhopadhyay,
AIFF Media Team

MUMBAI: St. Kitts & Nevis coach Jacques Passy declared the current situation of the Hero Tri-Nation Football Series 2017 as a “Two-nation tournament’ and tagged the match against India as “nothing but a potential final” at the pre-match press conference today (August 23, 2017) in Mumbai.

The kick-off between India and St. Kitts and Nevis kicks-off at the Mumbai Football Arena at 8 pm tomorrow (August 24, 2017) and tickets are available on www.bookmyshow.com and at the Box Office at the stadium.

Lavishing huge praise on All India Football Federation for organising the Hero Tri-Nation Football Series 2017 for inviting the Caribbean nation to ply their trade in it, Passy said: "First of all, I want to thank AIFF from bottom of my heart for organising this tournament. They were kind enough to invite us and so we're here. It's a great gesture from them and on behalf of St. Kitts & Nevis contingent, would like to thank them,” Passy expressed ahead.

“When a country thinks beyond the geographical borders and shows the zeal to play against countries from the other continents, it shows the spirit of the Federation. India have the right potential to reach a greater height in the coming days given that they continue the process,” Passy added.

“The Indian National Team has improved dramatically in the last two years,” he stressed, repeating “dramatically” twice. The two strikers are very sharp and though possession is not India’s forte, I feel they have the right philosophy simply because in this era, possession is irrelevant. Rather what is relevant is a >

The eloquent coach went on to say that he believes in ‘no-excuse' logic on being asked whether the tight schedule of his team will dent his dream of beating India at their home.

"I'm a person who believes in 'no-excuse'. We were aware of the fixtures before touching down and now we can't complain about the fixture. Whatever ammunition we have, I believe we can put up a strong fight against India. Moreover, I can guarantee you that even if we lose, the tight schedule won’t be mentioned even once by us,” Passy explained.

On being asked whether the absence of Sunil Chhetri and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will release some pressure from his team, he dismissed it completely.

“Definitely not! At the end of the day, it’s a team game and we have to face the Indian Team. Sunil has scored 54 goals in 94 games but the current bunch of players is really thriving to go and the spirit they showed against Mauritius was really inexplicable,” Passy mentioned. 

Meanwhile, St. Kitts & Nevis made a strong comeback to salvage a 1-1 draw against Mauritius the other night (August 22, 2017).