"I told them that if you get a chance, prove yourself. And many of them did" - Hyderabad FC coach Thangboi Singto on fielding young team | ISL 2023-24

Hyderabad FC, left with a skeletal playing and support staff after hosts of first-team players left the club at the end of the January transfer window, put up a strong fight against FC Goa at the Maidaan in Gachibowli but went down 0-2 on Thursday.

A brace from Spanish forward Carlos Martinez proved to be their undoing as the young Nawabs, aided only by skipper Joao Victor in the centre of the park, tried their best to prevent more goals from going into their net.

Head coach Thangboi Singto, however, seemed pleased with the display of grit and courage from the youngsters, many of whom were promoted from the reserves.

"In some of our previous matches, we conceded within the first 10 or 15 minutes. Today, the plan was to prevent that from happening. In the Super Cup, we came back strongly. However, if you concede early, it's very tough, and the same thing happened," said Singto in the post-match press conference.

"The second half was good, but there is room for improvement. Of course, I think some key players, such as Abdul Rabeeh and Ramhlunchhunga, became a bit tired, which is understandable because the preparation could have been better," he added.

"The young boys are getting the biggest opportunity of their lives" - Thangboi Singto

Several youngsters, who came off the bench in the second half, such as Joseph Sunny, Aron Vanlalrinchhana, and Abhijith PA showed immense bravery going into tackles against the more experienced FC Goa defenders.

Even the players who started for the Nawabs, such as Makan Chothe, Ramhlunchunga and Abdul Rabeeh, showed great heart and put up a fight till the dying stages of the game.

Hyderabad's centre-backs Alex Saji and Mohammad Rafi did well too, and kept the devastatingly creative Brandon Fernandes at bay for long periods of the game.

"The young boys are getting the biggest opportunity of their lives. It is for them to take it up and for us to guide them. I told them that if you get a chance, prove yourself. And many of them did,” opined Singto.

“I think it's not going to be easy for us because we have many, many experienced teams coming out against. But what I'm happy about is that when they went to the pitch, they did not pull up. They did not hesitate to throw punches and they did not get scared even though they had people like Odei (Onaindia) and Carl (McHugh) standing against them today,” he concluded.