Setback: Stimac feels that India’s probabilities on the Asian Cup have been hit by accidents to key personnel.
India will attempt to utilise the Asian Cup expertise in bettering its probabilities within the 2026 World Cup qualification course of, mentioned the top coach of the senior males’s nationwide staff, Igor Stimac, after his facet landed in Doha to take part within the remaining stage of the continental competitors.
Stimac mentioned that India can play fearless soccer and he would love to see the gamers convey their finest towards the likes of Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria, who’re the three opponents within the group league stage.
“We are now trying to play fearless football and can prove our stuff without getting intimidated by the opposition. We need to find stability in our team as we know we can play well,” mentioned Stimac.
“But I am not looking at the final result to be honest. I just want the boys to enjoy the tournament and gain experience. As I have said earlier our top priority now is to qualify to the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.”
He mentioned that India might have hoped to do properly within the Asian Cup however the staff’s prospects suffered due to accidents to key gamers. “Things changed dramatically for us owing to injuries that happened to some of our key players in the last couple of months.
“It started with Ashique Kuriniyan. Then it was Anwar Ali followed by Jeakson Singh. Next we lost some of our back-up options like Glan (Martins) and Rohit (Kumar) to injuries.
“We are not as good as we could have been but we do not have time to think of the players who are not with us. We have to focus on those who are there with us. We have to try to utilise the time given to us (by the AIFF) and prepare the team by bringing their fitness to a higher level,” Stimac added.
India performs Australia within the first match on January 13.
