The Toyota Yaris LaLiga World 2018 came to a conclusion on Saturday night with Girona FC running out as winners of the tournament after a dominant 5-0 victory over Hero Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. The Blasters had started the first half well, barely affording Girona a sniff at goal. However, a late strike in the first half followed by four goals in the second sealed the victory for the Spanish side.

David James, head coach of Kerala Blasters, was present at the post-match press conference to take questions from the media. The Englishman started off by showering praise on his team’s opponents after their fine performances in the tournament, “Girona are in the LaLiga, which is one of the best leagues in the world. But it is a wonderful competition because we get the chance to play against players in one of the best leagues in the world. I think it is fair to say that every team in India would need to improve to match the standard of Girona. They showed the two teams from the Asian championships that we still have a long way to go.”

Despite the loss, James was impressed with some of the performances exhibited by his players, especially in the first half of the game, “We were very disciplined in what we set out to do. We looked fitter and a lot more organised. It is a pre-season game and we have a bit of time to prepare for the Hero ISL.”

The 47-year-old was grateful for the reception his players received and admitted that he had plenty of positives to take away ahead of the 2018-19 season of the Hero ISL, “Well, first of all, the fans were insane which is always important. I think they had seen a group of Kerala players showing a lot of pride. I have also seen a lot of character in this squad. There are some very skilful players in the squad and I am looking forward to releasing them in the Hero ISL,” no doubt referring to some of the fresher faces on the squad.

From Girona’s end, head coach Eusebio Sacristán took questions from the media at the press conference. The Spaniard spoke of his satisfaction with the performance of his players during the game ahead of their league campaign, which begins in August, “See, I am very happy with the tournament. We played very well and it is important for us to get ready for the season, but we have two or three weeks to prepare.”