The hard-fought 2-2 draw against Korea in the Azlan Shah Cup was Paul van Ass' first international game as India's chief coach and the Dutchman said he was "satisfied" with the way his wards played today, although he regrets not finishing as winners.
India took the lead through Nikkin Thimmaiah (10th minute) before Korea scored twice through Hyesung Hyun (24th) and Seongkyu Lee (53rd) to reverse the scoreline.
VR Raghunath (56th) came to India's rescue with a penalty corner conversion as both the teams took away one point each from the fixture.
"(I am) not satisfied with the result but satisfied with the way we played. We haven't lost that is good and don't forget there is a long way to go," Van Ass said after the match.
"I am very positive about the team. For me they played with their heart today and I liked what I saw. Especially in the first half we were exerting more pressure without much success."
The India coach, however, regrets at least four missed opportunities, two of which according to him should have been converted.
"We had four good shots at the goal and out of them two should have been goals. Akashdeep (Singh) got two chances in the first half and Ramandeep in the second half If we would have scored those goals we would have won the match," Van Ass said.
He, however, is realistic about India's progress and with barely three weeks into his new job, the Dutchman feels there is plenty of work to do.
"India is ninth in the world ranking and Korea is eighth. I don't think India is better than Korea," he quipped when asked about India's improvement in the recent past.
"Let's not rush (on India's progress). I understand Indian people think we are a candidate for a medal in Rio but it's still a long way to go. Yes, there are improving but you need more than that."
Korea coach Seok Kyo Shin was visibly disappointed with the result as they failed to avenge their 0-1 loss to India in the semi-finals of last year's Asian Games in Incheon.
"I am not happy. We wanted to win because we lost to them 6 months ago in the Asian Games," he said.
"India have a strong team, good and skillful individual players. We didn't have the best side here. We have six young guys in the team.
