Chennaiyin FC head coach Marco Materazzi hailed his players after qualifying for the semi-finals of the 2015 Hero Indian Super League. The Super Machans beat FC Pune City through a Jeje goal at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune on Saturday to become the fourth team to qualify for the semis this season. This was also the fourth straight win for the visitors and they became the second team to have done that in the history of the league. At the post-match press conference, Materazzi praised his players for a remarkable comeback.“I think that our players did a great job to keep us alive. We knew we had to win four games in a row. Most importantly, we knew we were not inferior to any team. We kept on training and now we are in the semi-finals,” Materazzi said.“…I’m proud of my players. Now we have to think about our semi-final and we have to think straight and think ahead.”Chennaiyin would have qualified even if it had been a draw on account of a superior goal difference than that of NorthEast United FC who needed Pune to beat the Super Machans for their own qualification. When asked if he was tempted to play for just one point instead of three, Materazzi said: “You know games are getting tougher and tougher. We knew Pune would give it everything and maybe they even deserved a point since they played so well. But in the end we played well and we got the three points.”When asked to assess the Stallions’ season, the Italian said: “Well, the thing is this is a unique league. It keeps you hold your breath till the last minute. We knew they had 5-6 home games at the start and hence they were top of the table. They honoured the team, and they had injuries towards the end but they still honoured the team and did a very good job.”Chennai, currently in second place, will now have to wait for the result from Sunday’s game between Delhi Dynamos and FC Goa to know what their final position will be among the top four teams.
