Antonio Lopez Habas, the head coach of Atlético de Kolkata, was gracious following his team’s first defeat in the second season of the Hero Indian Super League at the hands of hosts FC Pune City on Saturday night.“I don’t want to lose a game. Ever. But today, we had problems in all sectors. Offensive pressing, second ball, everything. The opponent today played better; congratulations to them,” the Spaniard told reporters at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium after a 1-0 defeat.“We did not deal with their long ball style of play well. We missed out on a lot of second balls.”Reviewing the game for his side, Habas continued: “For me, I want to say that this was maybe the worst game for me in charge of ATK. I have to analyse the game but I think the opponent had a two-second advantage on us. I think we have continued too many games with the same players. I think there may have been a mistake in today’s line-up and that is the coach’s mistake. But today was very difficult, very impossible especially since we conceded in the second minute. We will recover; I will have to prepare the team for our next game.”But was it a blessing in disguise for the Hero ISL 2014 title winners that they faced such a result at an early stage of the league? “We have to have confidence in the team because today before the game, Atlético de Kolkata was the only one team unbeaten. I know people will say this was bad and catastrophic, but the idea is to get to the final four. We will battle games mentally and physically,” Habas said.
