The Indian women's national football team's hopes of making it to the final of the inaugural Hero Gold Cup came to an end on Wednesday when they lost 2-0 against a strong Myanmar side. India went a goal down early in the match and conceded the second one late in stoppage time.

The result means that Myanmar, who have won all their three matches in the group stages, will face off against Nepal in the final on Friday.

Despite the disappointing result, the Indian team earned some grand plaudits for their spirited display on the night from none other than Myanmar head coach Win Thu Moe. "We are very lucky to win against India. The goal we scored early on was a lucky goal for us. If went goalless into the interval, I’m sure we would have had some problems. India and Myanmar are not very different. In fact, India are the strongest team that we have faced. It was a very tough match to play against them. It is very difficult to win against India," he said.

"Our players became tired in the match. We were stretched to our limits. We wanted to keep ball possession but could not control that," he added.

Moe also singled out Indian midfielder Ratanbala Devi and said, "Ratanbala is a very good player and she is the best in the Indian team."

Incidentally, Myanmar will be one of India's opponents in upcoming Round 2 of the Olympic Qualifiers Tokyo 2020. Referring to the imminent encounter, Moe said, "We play India in the last match of the Olympic Qualifiers and we are sure that it will be the match that decides who goes through. It will be a tough match for us."

India head coach Maymol Rocky stated that the young team would benefit greatly from their experience in the tournament despite the early exit. "The team played well, I believe. We are still in a developmental process with the target being clearing the second round of the 2020 Olympic qualifiers. Playing in the Hero Gold Cup against the likes of Myanmar, Nepal and Iran was really good for us and was a massive learning experience. Now, we know which areas of the game we lack in and what we need to work on," she opined.