Igor Stimac

PANAJI: Igor Stimac ’s best result since taking charge of the Indian team nine months ago is a goalless draw against Asian champions Qatar in Doha. That result put Indian football on cloud nine but were soon brought back to earth with last-minute draws against lowly Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Ahead of the last three games in the Fifa World Cup qualifiers, Stimac explains why he continues to bristle with confidence. Excerpts from an exclusive interview with TOI…

India are now out of the World Cup 2022 race. How confident are you that India can still make it to the Asian Cup 2023?

I am very confident. We have more quality than Bangladesh and Afghanistan, although we need to show that on the field for 90 minutes. We still haven’t found a way to fight with quality in the final third of the pitch. That was our main problem against Afghanistan and Bangladesh, even Oman when, for the first time, we had more ball possession and adopted a different approach to the game.

Are you worried that India are still without a win?

You have to look at the process which cannot make you certain about fulfilling your aim as you wish. There will be sufferings. We are now a team which is very difficult to beat, a team which does not concede too many goals. Whoever is there at the other end, it will be difficult to beat us. I am not saying it will not happen. It may. But it will also show our higher quality. Our next step of training in April and May is to work out in the final third and find a way when we are considered favourites, against teams ranked below us.

India had an excellent draw against Qatar but also frustrating results against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, where the team needed last-minute equalisers…

Equalising at the end of the games confirms the character of this team. It shows we never surrender. We now have a winning mindset and that’s the biggest gain for me in the past few months of our work together. Not winning these games is part of the process. I was aware of the danger (at the back) when we open ourselves and take more risks, but when I look at the number of players missing in the defensive line, I think we still showed quality.

You will continue to miss defensive players. How will you handle that?

It’s going to be very difficult. Once again, we have to field a team which hasn’t played before. We have nine days (during the camp) to find a solution. We need to go with the best conditioned players, the strong ones in terms of mindset and muscle. We also need players with certain technical ability to match Qatar. I have to convince my players that they need to enjoy this game. They need not worry about the result. Just go out, do your best and believe in what we are doing. This match will be a learning experience, particularly for the youngsters. Against Qatar, we need to find a way how we can hurt them. If we took a point off them when they were in their best form, and at home, we certainly have the opportunity now to find a way and hurt them one more time.

Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat said if he was in your position, he would be worried, pointing to the lack of goals and assists from many important players, particularly the likes of Udanta Singh and Ashique Kuruniyan…

That's nothing new. He should be more worried because he has a playoff to play and get the team to the final. I am the one who should be enjoying the good work of club managers, and not the other way round. With respect to all of them, who I consider friends, we should develop players together. They are the ones who have the chance to work on a daily basis and improve their abilities. I don’t have that joy. I am here to pick up the best players so that they can defend India colours and show to the world they have improved, thanks to their work at the clubs. Udanta and Ashique have been used as examples. I want to remind everyone who point at their lack of goals, just look at their defensive work, how much they have contributed to Bengaluru becoming the best defensive side (in the ISL ) and Gurpreet (Sandhu) having so many clean sheets. These players suffer upfront because they don’t have any time to relax during the game. They need to defend and produce (goals) upfront.

