Curacao head coach Remko Bicentini on Tuesday lauded the Indian football team, saying there are many good players in the current 'Blue Tigers' lineup.
"The Indian team has a new coach on board, who will understandably transfer his ideas to the team. A number of good players are currently playing in India including Sandesh Jhingan and Sunil Chhetri. We will certainly take that into account," Curacao coach Bicentini was quotedas saying by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
India and Curacao will take on each other in the King's Cup opener. The Curacao coach said the team would use the King's Cup as a platform to prepare for the Gold Cup, which is scheduled to be played next year in the USA.
"We will use the King's Cup as a platform to prepare for the Gold Cup which is due next in the USA. The King's Cup is a competitive tournament in Thailand," he said.
"The circumstances here are ideal for training, and hence, we are focussing on getting ready for our next two matches, the first one of which is against India," added Bicentini.
"I expect an open competition in our first match against India. We will use this game to try out a number of game elements," he said.
Curacao remained unbeaten in 2018 and the team scored 23 goals in five matches. The head coach, however, said that the team will now face better opponents and expecting the team to score these many goals is not a realistic expectation.
"2018 was a good year for us. In the Nations League competition, we scored many goals, lost only one game, and qualified for the elite group which kicks-off in September. From now on, we will play against better opponents, and we would want to score as many goals as possible. But realistically that will not happen," Bicentini said.
"We are going one level up. So as we have done in the last three years, we also have to grow with that. 23 goals in five matches are excellent at the international level. But as a coach, I will always be satisfied as long as we score just one goal more than our opponent," he added.
India takes on Curacao in the King's Cup opener on June 5 in Thailand.
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