Soumo Ghosh

AIFF Media Team

PATHUM THANI, THAILAND: A solid start, a grave setback, and a determined comeback. Perhaps that is the best way to describe India’s opening Group D match of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup in brief.

Vietnam had their chances. India had theirs, perhaps a few more than their opponents. But Long Vu for Vietnam and Malemngamba Thokchom for India remained the only two scorers in a game that was tied 1-1. It may have left many desiring for more, but India head coach Bibiano Fernandes, in his distinctly calm and collective demeanour, summed it up with perfection.

“The scoreline favours everybody. And I mean all four teams in Group D (Uzbekistan held Japan to a 1-1 draw in Bangkok),” said Fernandes. “Of course, it could have been a different story if we got those three points, but we can take confidence from the display and come back stronger for the next two matches.”

Overall, starting the group stage with a point and a solid performance is something that the team can take stock of and build on.

“It was a good result for us in the end. Our boys played very well, and Vietnam also played a good game. Of course, we would have liked to get three points today, but it is what it is,” said Fernandes. “We’ll certainly take the one point from this match and move forward to the next one.”

While Vietnam enjoyed 59 per cent possession of the ball, it was India who created more chances (four), and the Blue Colts head coach takes a lot of heart from that.

“There were a lot of attacks from our end, but Vietnam also defended quite well in those opening exchanges,” he said. “It was a small defensive error on our part that led to their goal, but overall, I am happy with how the boys have done. One point puts us in a decent position, and we need to make sure we do well in the other two matches.

“Of course, there are things that we have learnt from this game. We will watch this one closely and try to improve upon it and take it from there. This was just the first game of the competition for us, and I am sure the boys will be more confident, more relaxed, and put in better performances here on.”

Next up for the Blue Colts are an Uzbekistan side that held the mighty defending champions Japan in their own opening match at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. While Japan created a lot of chances, Uzbekistan weathered the storm before an 83rd minute equaliser by Amirbek Saidov cancelled out Yutaka Michiwaki’s 8th minute strike.

“Uzbekistan are an extremely strong side. We’ve played against them before, and we will use all the information available to us to help the team perform better in the next game,” said Fernandes. “Of course, they are a much-improved side from when we played them back in January. This will be a very different game, but I am confident the boys can work on the shortcomings and do well from there.”