In the end, India's big day at the FIFA U-17 World Cup came up with an expected result. There were murmurs of approval from within the media gallery that the performance was better than what most had anticipated, though that was at half-time after India had finished their first half on a high.
The team eventually succumbed to a 3-0 defeat, but there were positives and lessons to take away on the historic night, which India will be hoping holds them in good stead in the remaining two group matches.
Dheeraj was fantastic in goal
He has long been one of the most consistent performers in this Indian team, and Dheeraj Singh showed his worth again with a quality performance. Two saves stood out the most -- Josh Sargent sprung the off-side trap early in the first half and must have been thinking about his method of celebration as he stabbed the ball away to the centre of goal. Dheeraj did well to come off his line but not over-commit to going low, and saved comfortably with his body.
In the second half, Andrew Carleton went low to the right of the Indian goalkeeper, but Dheeraj got a firm hand to it to keep it out of the way of any onrushing opponents. When things seemed to be going the way of the Americans, Dheeraj was a reassuring presence in goal for the most part.
No room for napping
One could put it down to their inexperience, but India appeared to linger in the moment for a bit too long from time to time. USA used a very physical brand of football to attack Indian lines in the early exchanges, and that naturally led to a few abrasive challenges early on. While the American players involved in those exchanges invariably moved on to the next play, their Indian counterparts were often still wondering what might have been.
One such move, that probably should have seen Anwar Ali become the first Indian goalscorer at the FIFA World Cup, proved to be the classic example of India getting caught napping. Ali, left unmarked just at the edge of the box, unleashed a powerful shot that took a ricochet off the crossbar after beating goalkeeper Justin Garces.
The transition from that defence to attack for USA was lightning quick, and before long Carleton was left with no opposing defenders around him, simply because Anwar and his defensive colleagues had gone too far forward and some were still wringing their hands in disbelief at the missed opportunity when the ball was cleared from the American side of the pitch.
Composure on the ball needs to be better
It was expected to be a contest between the USA attack and the Indian defence, and one of the first moves itself nearly brought the three-pronged American attack into play, only for India to clear their lines through Jitendra Singh, and then an acrobatic effort from makeshift right-back Rahul Kannoly that just kept the ball in play.
Kannoly's attempt, while effective, highlighted the lack of experience of this young Indian team, going for a flashy bit of defending where calmness was the only requirement. Several times in the first half, the Indian full-backs and wingers appeared to send balls ahead without looking out for options, so much so that the central midfield duo of Suresh Singh and Amarjit Singh were left resorting only to back-passes.
Coach Luis Norton de Matos would touch upon it after the match, saying, "The big problem we have is we don't have a culture of competition. It was the first time for this team to play in front of 40,000 people and with a team as good as the USA. I am not happy with the result, but the players proved that with more experience they can play better."
The substitutions infused energy
With a two-goal deficit, coach Matos pretty much threw caution to the winds, sending out Nongdamba Naorem and Rahim Ali to support Aniket Jadhav and the energetic Komal Thatal in attack. They virtually played a 4-2-4 in the last 20 minutes of the match, and barring one goal conceded on a freak counter-attack, had their opposition pinned in their own half for that portion. It will not be a strategy that they can adopt from the outset in other games, but perhaps a longer stint for Rahim and Nongdamba might work well, especially with the latter showing the confidence to take on and beat defenders, in his very first touch of the ball.
All is not lost
If there was one thing we learned from the opening day of Group A, there isn't much to separate the top three teams on the basis of their first impression. Colombia lost to Ghana only by one goal and created some chances of their own in that match. However, the Colombians were seen wilting physically, with centre-back Thomas Gutierrez going straight down to ground from exhaustion after the final whistle. This is a three-horse race, with 16 teams going through to the next round, and that makes India's next match against Colombia a potential decider for third spot. There's a chance on offer, and this time, India should make sure they don't miss.