India got their AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers off to a perfect start with a comfortable 2-0 win over Cambodia at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Wednesday. A brace from Sunil Chhetri was enough to help the Blue Tigers get a big win, that takes them to the top of their group. Igor Stimac was very proud of his players’ efforts and thanked them for the win. Speaking to the media after the win, Stimac asserted a great role of confidence in the youngsters and players who faced constant criticism following their poor performances.
“Every game brings different things. It’s how the players can adapt to what I’m asking. I as a coach analyze the opponents and find the biggest weaknesses and how to the players. I ask them to adapt to the things when the time comes and that is big task. When it’s a stronger opponent it’s difficult to press, but we can use that against lower opposition. We have youth in our squad and we have gained a lot of experiences for them in the past few years.
“It’s the time that they give back. As you saw today, Roshan (Singh), Suresh (Singh) and Akash (Mishra) played as if they played for 100 games. They are the players who will wear the shirt for the next 10-12 years. The results will keep coming,” he added.
He also revealed India’s ‘secret weapon’ in having two full-backs who are equally comfortable with both feet, saying, “It was our secret weapon. Now, everyone knows about it. I was telling them not to use the weak foot, but they started using it already. They will be okay. I love their quality, it’s fantastic to have young boys in critical positions using both feet in amazing way, shooting, crossing and working forward at full speed. I’m proud of them.
Igor Stimac had high praise for Anwar Ali and Suresh Singh too for their impressive outings. He stated, “He (Anwar) is our secret weapon as well! I praise him so much because he was fighting with some other issues in the past few years. To stay involved and keep playing football wasn’t easy for him. He didn’t deserve to be in the beginning of the camp because Goa didn’t do well last season. But, I knew what he is. I took credit to invite him to the camp and giving him chance, he took the chance with both hands and legs.
“He was brilliant today! I hope his health will serve him well, he won’t face issues in future and he is another great, great player for our future. I’m sorry some other youngsters aren’t here today. But, if everything goes well, we’ll get them back for the Asian Cup finals. When we get Lalengmawia, Rahim Ali, Vikram Pratap here, you will see more energy in the team. They just need to keep their health well and manage their money well!”
On Suresh, he said, “Tonight we need to accept that Anwar and Sandesh aren’t the quickest in the world and the Cambodian strikers were quicker than them. I needed someone to cut the counter-attacks and he did that well along with switching the ball to the sides. He had an amazing game, overall.”
Igor Stimac also explained the importance of the ‘under-performing’ players in his strikeforce to his plans. He asserted, “I mention all of them. With speed and strength that we have in some of the boys, some were criticized int eh last 2-3 years, they didn’t perform to the level we expected, but it’s mostly about how the team is performing and what the coach is doing – is he messing up or doing the proper things.
“I have some players who will be here while I’m here, irrespective of how they play at the club level. The speed and strength I have in Manvir (Singh) and Ashique (Kuruniyan), I need them here to use the speed they have to hurt the opposition, irrespective of how they are playing.. We don’t have a big pool of players to choose from, so we need them in our team,” he further added.
