Indian football team coach Igor Stimac on Friday lauded his side, said they have "evolved with a renewed vigour to rewrite country's football history" and added that the task is still "far from being done".
His comments came after India played out a 1-1 draw against Oman on Thursday.
Goalkeeper Amrinder Singh saved a penalty-kick in the first half but Oman took the lead in the 43rd minute through an own goal. However, the Blue Tigers went toe-to-toe with their opponents and grabbed the leveller through Manvir Singh, who headed home a cross from Bipin.
In a series of tweets, the Croatian hailed the progress of his team and the 10 debutants who played fearlessly against Oman.
As many as 10 players got their senior India caps on the day - Akash Mishra, Ashutosh Mehta, Chinglensana Singh, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Bipin Singh and Jeakson Singh all started the game, while Lalengmawia Ralte, Yasir Mohammad, Ishan Pandita and Mashoor Shareef came on as substitutes.
"From 19-11-2019 to 25-03-2021, the world has seen more struggles than ever. But, as the coach of @IndianFootball, it gives me immense pride that the beautiful country has evolved with a renewed vigour to rewrite Indian football history. (1/3)," he tweeted.
"That's the reason we could see 10 debutants with unbridled energy coming with hunger and fighting shoulder to shoulder against the likes of @OmanFA who were 23 spots ahead of us in the @FIFAcom rankings - but they dared to fight back. (2/3)
"Our task is far from being done. It's the process that started yesterday night 2000 km away from home and it'll continue until we come out with a team of #BlueTigers who will fulfil the dream of 1.4 billion Indians! (3/3)," he concluded.
On March 29, India will face the UAE at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai.
( With inputs from ANI )
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