Although Hyderabad FC’s performance on Thursday was not indicative of the difficulties the team has faced during the off-season, they did lose 0-3 to Bengaluru FC to begin their Indian Super League campaign.

They hardly had a roster of players for this season three weeks ago. Defensive player Parag Shrivas claims that they have only been training seriously for the past two weeks. Nevertheless, for forty-five minutes, the eleven Indians in the Hyderabad starting eleven battled it out with Bengaluru, and instead of facing a 1-0 deficit at the interval, they could have even taken the lead.

In the first half, Hyderabad showed great cohesion in their passing, excellent movement, and high work rate. Given that head coach Thangboi Singto acknowledged after the game that he hasn’t had enough time to do adequate tactical preparation with his players, that is quite the accomplishment. Getting the players physically ready to compete in the ISL has been the main focus of the past few weeks.

They did more than just okay, though. “Hum ne bhi khela, yaar, chances create kiya hum ne [we played too man, we created chances],” Parag told ESPN after the game.

Nobody would have blamed Hyderabad if they had taken a lead into halftime. They had a bad start, leaving Rahul Bheke unguarded after a corner, which gave Bengaluru the advantage.

“Hyderabad played a really good game. Under Thangboi Singto, these boys are doing a great job. A lot of teams are going to struggle against them,” Zaragoza said.

For Singto, it’s time to start over from scratch. He is aware that in order to develop this team both tactically and physically, he and his staff must work together. However, their performance, particularly the first half of their first game following a turbulent few months, will give them hope that this bunch of players can compete with the best in the ISL.