Indian head coach Igor Stimac said he is happy for the players and people who were supporting them over the years. The Blue Tigers were brilliant in their successful AFC Asian Cup qualifiers campaign as they came up with a collective effort.
India, who were the hosts in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers, defeated Cambodia by 2-0, Afghanistan by 2-1, and obliterated Hong Kong by 4-0. It was a fine performance from the home team as they scored eight goals and conceded a solitary goal.
Furthermore, India received a lot of support at the Salt Lake Stadium, and Sunil Chhetri, the team’s captain, gave a lot of credit to the fans’ support they received throughout the three matches. In fact, this is the first time when India has qualified for back-to-back AFC Asian Cup editions.
Igor Stimac said in the press conference, “Obviously, I feel good and happy, not just for myself. I’m happy for the players and the people who were supporting years in the last three years, which haven’t been easy. I’m happy for the supporters who came here and in the past few games to support us. I appreciate it a lot.”
Stimac has revealed that a lot of effort has gone behind the scenes in the last two months and gave credit to his players for bringing their best to the pitch when it mattered the most.
He said, “I have huge plans with India so this game should be one of the top ones. No, I’m really happy because it’s been tremendous work in the past seven weeks. And that’s what happens when you give me enough time to work with these boys. When you give me these players one or two days prior to the, I will not use that word, then you’ll get shut as simple as that. You need to think about the future, how much these boys deserve to be together, and present India like this.”
He added, “And of course, if I’m with them, I won’t let them lower the level of the game. They showed everyone what they can do now. So, they don’t have the right to bring the level down. It’s really important when you have so many quality players on the bench and each one of them comes as a substitute and performs better than the one who came out. That was not the case before. So, I appreciate all the players and their families who were very supportive. Everyone who was with us throughout the difficult times and the good times and it was a brilliant experience.”
In fact, India wasn’t playing at the top of their game in the last three years but the 54-year-old Croatian added they had to prove their critics wrong by coming up with consistent performances.
He concluded, “Motivation is qualifying for Asian Cup and proving to all those who are thinking that we are not good enough that they are wrong. I had a point to prove also because I came here with such a CV and such experience. And then I put myself in a position where some people start doubting me as a coach. What will that look like? So, I was putting myself at big risk. Because believe me, it’s easy to be a coach and Arsenal, the Man City, and there when you have these players, come here and reconstruct the team, the way everybody’s expecting, okay, show me what you can do.”
