<div align="justify">Goalkeeper Moirangthem Dheeraj Singh was one of the top performers in India's 0-3 thrashing by the United States but he was a disappointed man following the loss in the campaign opener of the FIFA U-17 World Cup here.<br /><br />Dheeraj's exploits under the bar even drew praise from USA coach John Hackworth.<br /><br />But for Dhreeraj, who made at least three fine saves, including a point blank strike by American captain and star striker Josh Sargent, India would have lost the Group A match by a bigger margin.<br /><br />"I am disappointed because we lost the match. My good performance matters little if the team does not win," Dheeraj said.<div align="justify"><br />Besides Dheeraj, USA coach Hackworth had praised the two central defenders Anwar Ali and Jitendra Singh for denying success to the US strikers for long periods of time.<br /><br />Asked what he felt about the praise showered by the USA coach, Dheeraj said, "It is the duty of the goalkeeper to save goals and obviously I have to save as many as possible for my side."<br /><br />The Manipuri also rued about the second goal scored by the US from a deflection.<br /><br />"Basically, it (the goal) was a deflection and you know it was from a corner and one of my team-mates touched it and the ball landed in front of the opponent who kicked it and deflected into the net. I could not do anything," he said.</div><div align="justify"><br />He said he will try to continue his good form in the next matches. "I started confidently (against USA) and hope to continue the same in the next match. I will keep the same confidence in the coming matches," Dheeraj added.<br /><br />India play Colombia on October 9 and Ghana on October 12. <br /></div></div>
<div align="justify">Goalkeeper Moirangthem Dheeraj Singh was one of the top performers in India's 0-3 thrashing by the United States but he was a disappointed man following the loss in the campaign opener of the FIFA U-17 World Cup here.<br /><br />Dheeraj's exploits under the bar even drew praise from USA coach John Hackworth.<br /><br />But for Dhreeraj, who made at least three fine saves, including a point blank strike by American captain and star striker Josh Sargent, India would have lost the Group A match by a bigger margin.<br /><br />"I am disappointed because we lost the match. My good performance matters little if the team does not win," Dheeraj said.<div align="justify"><br />Besides Dheeraj, USA coach Hackworth had praised the two central defenders Anwar Ali and Jitendra Singh for denying success to the US strikers for long periods of time.<br /><br />Asked what he felt about the praise showered by the USA coach, Dheeraj said, "It is the duty of the goalkeeper to save goals and obviously I have to save as many as possible for my side."<br /><br />The Manipuri also rued about the second goal scored by the US from a deflection.<br /><br />"Basically, it (the goal) was a deflection and you know it was from a corner and one of my team-mates touched it and the ball landed in front of the opponent who kicked it and deflected into the net. I could not do anything," he said.</div><div align="justify"><br />He said he will try to continue his good form in the next matches. "I started confidently (against USA) and hope to continue the same in the next match. I will keep the same confidence in the coming matches," Dheeraj added.<br /><br />India play Colombia on October 9 and Ghana on October 12. <br /></div></div>