"No team has got more than three points now. And the loss of Lebanon to Sri Lanka yesterday has made the tournament open and we can now qualify for the final. For that we have to beat Sri Lanka first on Wednesday," Houghton said at the post-match press conference at Ambedkar Stadium.
"After we lost to Lebanon in the tournament opener lots of people were thinking that Lebanon and Syria will make it to the final. But Sri Lanka's win over Lebanon yesterday has changed that and it has benefited us," he said.
The Englishman conceded that in the last 20 minutes of today's match India's defence was shaky but said it was understandable as Kyrgyzstan was making all out attack to score.
"Our defence had some problem in the last 20 minutes but that was understandable. They were going all out and had more players upfront to our four defenders," he said.
Houghton was a happy man that captain Bhaichung Bhutia, who was playing in his 100th international match, scored today.
"I am happy for Bhaichung. He scored a goal and also won the man of the match award. That was fitting for him in his milestone match," he said.
Houghton also praised goalkeeper Subrata Paul for his performance which included a penalty save in the 58th minute.
"I have said he is the best goalkeeper we have and his performance today proves it."
The home team coach was also happy that striker Sunil Chhetri was on ground for full duration of the match.
"I am happy that he played for full 90 minutes. We had not made him play full 90 minutes in the last match so that he can play more later. So it is good for him and for the team," he said.
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