Coach Rajinder Singh was found wanting for words following India's stunning 3-4 defeat to Holland in the 25th Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Amsterdam on Saturday.
The dramatic reverse could have happened to any team, he said after the match, which saw India squander a 3-0 lead, and concede four goals in the last seven minutes, to lose their tournament opener.
"We were under a lot of pressure in the final minutes. Also, the fact that our captain (Dhanraj Pillay) was sent off, unsettled the team," he said.
Regarding the third Dutch goal by Floris Evers, which enabled the hosts level the score, Singh said: "Some of my players wanted to lodge a protest, but then we thought that under no circumstances the result of the match can be changed. We will certainly put up a better performance in the remaining four matches."
He, however, was all praise for his players for their showing in the first 60 minutes.
"Towards the end, the Dutch put pressure on us and scored."
Captain Pillay was effusive in his praise for his team mates, saying: "It was one of the finest matches I have played in. Our boys played extremely well for 60 minutes. Our goalkeeper (Devesh Chauhan) gave us life by making some good saves."
Pillay said he was trying to pacify the Indian players after the Evers's goal when the umpire served him with the yellow card.
"It was not a goal and I was actually trying to pacify the players and went to the umpire (Stephen Brooks of England) to tell him that when he pulled out the yellow card.
"Against teams like Holland, Australia and Germany, the last five to 10 minutes are crucial. They always fight back in the closing stages of the match, and that was what the Dutch did today," said Pillay.
The Indian camp decided against lodging a protest over Evers's goal though there was considerable discussion on the subject in consultation with Indian Hockey Federation secretary K Jothikumaran, who is in Amsterdam as one of the judges.
Despite a tremendous win, Dutch coach Joost Bellart berated his team for a mediocre performance.
"We were totally paralysed by the occasion and I must give all credit to India for a wonderful performance," he said.
Bellart said when specialist Bram Lomans hit the post with a penalty-corner drag-flick in the very first minute of the match the team got dicouraged.
"We are known for our conversions. Also, we missed a couple of goals and that really upset our players. There was far too much confusion in the team, but luckily for us, we got our flow back in the last seven minutes," he said.
Further, Bellart said it was the most "bizarre" match from the Dutch point of view.
"I think we reserved our best for the last, but I wouldn't like a repeat of today."
Skipper Jeroen Delmee said today's game reminded him of the 2000 Sydney Olympics final against Korea.
"We were leading 3-1 in the last five minutes, but the Koreans made it 3-3 and we finally won in the tie-breaker.
"Today, we did not play well, but then we now realise that a hockey match is played over 70 minutes and not 65.
"So, I told the boys that though we were trailing 0-3, to have a go, and it worked," the captain said.
