Indian Football workforce head Coach Igor Stimac.
| Photo Credit: Ok. Murali Kumar
Emphasising on the necessity to keep optimistic, Indian soccer workforce coach Igor Stimac says accidents to key players resembling Ashique Kuruniyan and Jeakson Singh have made the duty harder ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
India are slated to play Kuwait of their den in a 2026 World Cup and AFC 2027 Asian Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 subsequent week.
India are additionally taking part in within the upcoming Asian Cup in January subsequent 12 months.
“We have entered the new phase of our work, and we know it’s going to be very hard and difficult on the boys. We know that the next few months until March will be very difficult,” Stimac advised the All India Football Federation (AIFF) web site.
“We are very optimistic then that once the players, who are missing now, are back, we will become solid again and show strength on the pitch, no matter who we play against. So, the focus at this moment is how to replace those boys who were the starting 11 players, such as Ashique Kuruniyan, Anwar Ali and Jeakson Singh (currently nursing injuries),” he mentioned.
“They were our strength in the latest successes we had. These boys played very good football; they were adding extra value to the whole team,” he added.
India have emerged victorious 3-2 towards Kuwait on their dwelling turf solely as soon as in a pleasant match in 2004.
Asked if the group is hard, he replied within the optimistic and mentioned the purpose is to bag the second place.
“Yes, the group is very tough and challenging because we know there will be no easy opponents, and they are the top teams. So apart from that, from the third pot we got by far the best opponents available (Kuwait).
“So, the group is hard in the intervening time, however we have to method it sport by sport and put together for it. As far as I’m involved and with my expertise in soccer, November to March will be troublesome.
“To prepare well and to make sure that the national team gets enough time to secure the second spot in the group and qualify — that is our plan.”
Stimac, the 1998 World Cup semifinalist with Croatia, is getting the squad collectively for just a few days earlier than the Qualifiers.
How a lot will that assist in getting the boys again to the specified stage? “We started planning this camp a long time ago and we’re going to have four to five days to execute some training sessions and drills and prepare well for the first game against Kuwait which is important because it’s the opening game. We are quite clear about what needs to be done.
“It’s going to be a really troublesome and completely different sport, so the boys have to adapt to that as quickly as doable. And we’re not going to have a lot time to take action, just one coaching session previous to the match day.
“So, difficulties and challenges will be there, but once again, we know what we can bring to the pitch, we know how to handle the situation. All we need to do is stay focused and well-concentrated on the task we’re going to put to the players.”
India have had the higher hand towards Kuwait not too long ago, beating them on penalties within the closing of the SAFF Championship after a stalemate within the group stage.
“The games we played against them (SAFF Championship) came after a long camp preparation. And our boys should not rely on the latest success because now we are in a different position. The boys are coming from a different pace of football.
“So, we’re not going to mislead ourselves and count on top-quality soccer. Our focus is on the consequence and acquire the consequence within the opening sport of the World Cup qualifiers. My recommendation for players will be to neglect as quickly as doable what occurred in June and July towards Kuwait and to focus on new challenges and new developments that is likely to be ahead of us. And that is one of the simplest ways of approaching this sport,” Stimac mentioned.
