Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri wasn’t impressed with the way India played in their friendly tournament opener against Singapore at the Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho chi Minh City, Vietnam on Saturday, as the Blue Tigers played out a 1-1 draw even after having several chances at goal.

Having cut short Singapore's lead within seven minutes from an Ashique Kuruniyan equaliser, Igor Stimac’s men outplayed Singapore as the better attacking side, but they couldn’t find their shooting boots as they failed to convert several of their shots.

"There are many things that we could have done better. We missed a lot of chances, and maybe we could have defended a little better. I'm sure the coach will have a talk with us about it. Without being too harsh on ourselves, there are a few things that we need to work on,"  said Chhetri in the post-match interview. 

Singapore lost 4-0 to Vietnam in their first match and did enough to manage a draw against India. However, India needs to register a win in their upcoming match against Vietnam on Tuesday, who are the better ranked team to get their hopes up ahead of the AFC Asian Cup.

"We have watched their [Vietnam’s] match against Singapore. They are really good, especially at home. They are one of the most improved sides in Asia in the last five years. We have to really go back to the drawing board and improve ourselves against Vietnam. We have to really work hard. It is not going to be the same (as Singapore)," the striker added.

With plenty of work to do and learn from Saturday’s match, Chhetri lamented the work output in the match and refuted any excuses for the draw against the Lions.

"No excuses from our end about the weather. We were here two days ago, and I must say that the weather is a little different here, but it's quite nice. The ground was great. A lot comes down to how we played and we need to do better," he concluded.

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