#CUWIND Post-match press conference: Our decisions in the final third weren't good- Igor Stimac

The Croatian explained what went wrong and what the team should focus on.

India were forced to pay for their poor defence against Curacao, as the Blue Tigers were beaten 3-1 in their opening game of the King's Cup. Sunil Chhetri scored for the team through a penalty, but the lack of communication between the defenders revealed the fact that the departure of Anas Edathodika has unsettled the backline and it needs fixing.

Igor Stimac praised his opponents Curacao, who have some very good players with European football under their belt. The gap in the quality of the two sets of players was unconcealable in the first half, as the Caribbean islanders managed to outwit the Indians.

Watch: Curacao 3-1 India highlights

Stimac explained, "As I said yesterday, Curacao were the favourites today and they showed that they are a different class in the first half. Six-seven top quality players who were fit as their season finished just a few days back."

While talking about his own team's display, the Croatian manager used the analogy of the weather. He opined, "Our team today was like the weather - one-half sun was shining and the second there was a storm."

The team started poorly, but seemed to have found their feet in the game in the second half. The players and the coaching staff didn't waste minutes by going into the dressing room and rather started talking about the fixs on the sidelines itself.

The manager came up with a couple of changes, and they did have a huge impact on the team's performance. Amarjit Singh Kiyam and Raynier Fernandes held the ball much better and passed it well. It helped the Blue Tigers come close to scoring a lot of times.

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Stimac praised his side for the change in performance in the second half as he said, "After we changed a few things, we started playing better. We were controlling much better the possession of the ball, especially closing the midfield down for the dangerous passes. I think we had five-six situations in the second half where we could have scored the second goal."

"They (Amarjit and Raynier) gave us good passing in the middle, good movements on the ball. It was positive. Another positive was that we never surrendered. We kept on playing," he said.

The Croatian believes India will have to develop their decision-making in the final half in the foreseeable future. "Our decisions in the final third weren't good. There is a long way for us to keep learning. The learning process will be long. I am very proud of what we have shown, especially in the second half."