The Indian national football team slumped to a 3-1 loss against a strong Curacao side in the opening match of King's Cup 2019 at the Chang Arena in Buriram, Thailand, on Wednesday. The final result was a disappointing one for new head coach Igor Stimac, but the Croat can take heart from a good second half display and promising performances by some of the six debutants - Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Rahul Bheke, Amarjit Singh, Raynier Fernandes and Michael Soosairaj - he fielded in the match. All four goals came in the first half with Rolieny Bonevacia, Elson Hooi and Leandro Bacuna scoring for the CONCACAF-based side. Sunil Chhetri scored India's solitary goal from the penalty spot.

For Stimac, it was definitely not the way he would have wanted his first match in charge of the Blue Tigers to have ended. But the Croat, during the post-match presser, conceded that there was definitely a gap in quality between the two sides. He congratulated the Curacao team on their victory and said, "As I said yesterday, they are the favourites here and they showed today in the first 45 minutes that they are of a different class. They have six-seven top quality players. They know the moves. They were fit enough because their season just finished 10 days ago in their leagues in Europe."

The 51-year-old then shared his thoughts about his own team and heaped praise on the character the young players showcased, particularly in the second half. "After we changed a few things in the half time, we started playing better. We were controlling the possession much better, our movement was better. We were especially good at closing down their passes in midfield. That’s what we got with two young players (Amarjit and Raynier) coming on from the bench in the second period."

"I think we had five or six good situations in the second half to score a goal and maybe come back. But our decisions were not good in the final third. When we were supposed to shoot the ball, we were passing. Where we were supposed to pass the ball, we were shooting. There is a long way to go for us. The learning process will be long. I’m very proud of the team, especially the young players. They played fearless football and showed great character. That's what I liked and we have a great future. We didn’t surrender, we kept playing, they kept playing as much football as I asked them to," he added.

Asked about the team's takeaways from the experience, the Croat opined, "This was a good lesson for them today. As I said, Curacao are a different class. You can feel the European academy work in their play, you can feel it in their movements, you can feel it in their self-confidence. That’s an absolutely different world of football. To get to where they are now, it takes many hours of work, much more discipline, passion and self-confidence. It’s a long process, but what is keeping our optimism high is the way the young players stepped up. They are quick learners."