India U-17 World Cup Team Coach Nicolai Adam mentioned that his team needs to “experience the suffering” after their defeat against United Arab Emirates in their first Group League match of the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016.
“I am not happy with the result,” he said at the official post-match press conference. “But you have to suck in the feeling, you have to experience the suffering and put the energy into the next game,” he added.
Also Read: AFC U-16 Championship 2016: India 2-3 UAE - Match Report
In a match which was a tale of two halves, India lost the lead and the match to go down 2-3 to UAE in their opening match.
“On an evening as such, it’s difficult to think positive. But it’s my job. Losing is part of the job and also part of the learning process. We have to learn from losses,” he stated. “We either win or learn; we never lose. We all have seen a very first good half of my team and a pretty bad second half. UAE were very efficient. They played the style of football they had to play,” he maintained.
“My team has a lot of energy to play in these weather conditions. But in football, it’s always about decision making. We lost because of wrong decision making,” he commented.
Nicolai also dismissed apprehensions that finishing stays a problem.
Also Read: AFC U-16 Championship 2016: India 2-3 UAE: 5 talking points
“We played 19 matches during our exposure Tour in Europe and scored 50 goals. Yes, our finishing wasn’t good today but that is never an area of concern. I hope that in the next match, it would be much better,” he quipped.
“We will continue with our work. We have created a style, we have created an attitude and we will continue to do that. We look forward to the next match and want to win it.”
India next plays Saudi Arabia in their next match on September 18.