‘Coach was never the problem for Indian Football’: Igor Stimac opens up secrets of Team India

Kolkata : India ended their AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers campaign on a soaring note, with a 4-0 win over Hong Kong at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata on Tuesday (June 14). Anwar Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh and Ishan Pandita werw the scorers for the Blue Tigers as they led Group D of the qualifiers. Igor Stimac was pleased with his team’s performance, and getting into the Asian Cup on a high.

In the post-match conference, the Croatian discussed his future plannings and loop holes in Indian football. Speaking of his journey as the coach of team India, Igor finds “Coach was never the problem for India. India need more communication between AIFF and clubs. It is important to have better connections with club coaches to provide individual working plans for players. The players seems to have trying to save Igor’s job. “I came here for a less salary than what was my market price. I had offers from others for better-paid jobs than I saw in India. The coach was never the problem in this country, you should talk about other problems.”

“I had great relationships with the managers of the ISL clubs, but exchanging information for me is important.” said Igor who regularly checks on his players focusing on the national team. Boosting the confidence of youngsters, Igor raised a question on the need of foreign players in domestic leagues. “We need to take foreigners out of ISL, I-League. “In ISL there is a 3+1 rule. But, we need to reduce foreigners altogether from I-League going forward, if we want to go forward. I need players playing as strikers or forwards than centre-backs. I’d give you 100 reasons why there is no need for foreigners in India. We need to start thinking about the future. We are 8-10 years late in the development phase. 8-10 behind the top eight Asian countries.” the coach added.

Igor needs to give players time to develop and carry out the strategies, “When you give me players 2-3 days before the game, you can’t expect much success. You need to think about the future, how much these boys deserve to be together and present India like this.”

Igor did not blamed on any individual about the loop holes but is focusing more of his duty towards the team. Coming with such an high profile CV and experience as a successful manager, Igor said “It’s easy to be the coach for Arsenal and Man City with those players. But, to come here and reconstruct the team with expectations from everyone, show me what you can do and teach these boys to do something in 5-6 days! It’s a matter of perspective. I’m not guessing or wondering about anything. I have clarity on what we must do and I follow that.”

Stimac asked AIFF and federation to work upon his thought to provide a proper schedule to the team. Individual players need more attention in the club rather than foreigners. Praising the Indian team and it’s motive to win the Asian Cup Igor quoted, “Be it FSDL, AIFF or the government. Beware of the Indian national team. We represent India, if there are ambitions in the country to think where we can be, they must follow our motto.”

Speaking of his early days in team India, Stimac recalled “The journey to this success was started back in the SAFF Cup Championship.” The team was shaping up since then and we see today is a result of this. The team went through a lot of hurdles, tough nights before reaching where they are today. ” To come to the end of road, you need to come through it. We didn’t go back.” said Igor.

Finally, Igor Stimac clarified questions on his contract situation, which is set to expire in September.“We had no time to talk about contracts. We don’t even have a board. Nobody thought about how that drama could affect the players. “I’m not getting into what is right or wrong. I’m just talking about the timing. At such an important time, such a thing is happening, is anyone normal?.” the coach concluded.