Goals from Jesse Makarounas and Dylan Tamborides ensured the Australian U17s took all three points from their first match of the tournament.

But the scoreline was an unfair reflection of the game with the skillful Ivorians controlling the match, and dominating possession for almost two-thirds of the game.

“I don’t think we played well," admitted Verselijen at full-time.

"We lost too many balls and that made us nervous. In the second-half, we pressured higher and forced them to make some mistakes. The last ten minutes, we played for survival.

“If you compare the Ivorians, they are technically better. They are not clinical enough - there is a simple rule in football that if you don’t have the ball you have to work.

“You can see Dylan (Tombides) has great skills, he is strong on the ball. He is technically good with his left and right foot. He is a key promising player.

“At half time we spoke about trying to use Dylan more. Supply him a bit more and give him decent balls to make the change.”

Versleijen now wants his squad to regroup and focus attention on preparing for the next match against Brazil.

He added: “We will watch the video. We’ll try to add a little more experience and technical awareness to bring the players to a higher level.”