Indian football team coach Igor Stimac focused on friendly matches against Bahrain and Belarus ahead of the Asian Cup qualifiers

 

As we head on to the end of the Indian Super League the Indian football fans will still have enough action coming their way. The Indian national team will play two friendlies against Bahrain and Belarus in their preparation for the upcoming Asian Cup qualifiers. Therefore the entire focus will be on these friendly matches. Head coach Igor Stimac feels that these games will be important to evaluate India’s form ahead of the qualifiers.

Speaking to the AIFF media, the Croatian tactician highlighted how India are in no position to take these games lightly ahead of the important fixtures scheduled in June.

The Indian football team are clubbed in Group along with Cambodia, Hong Kong and Afghanistan. Despite them being the higher ranked team India will be under performance pressure and needs to deliver results to qualify for the Asian Cup scheduled in China next year.

“This is a great opportunity against good teams,” Stimac said. “We are not in any position to take things lightly in the June qualifiers – be it Cambodia, Afghanistan or Hong Kong.”

Stimac shared how he is impressed with some of the new talent and will look to give chances to several new faces ahead of the qualifiers.

“We are playing Bahrain and Belarus, and they are better-ranked sides than us,” he said. “But whatever the rankings are, you need to do it on the pitch. Bahrain will show us where we stand. We will give chances to some young players who have played well in the ISL this season to see how much we can use them for the qualifiers in June.”

The players are currently in the national camp and are preparing for the friendly games. They will play Bahrain on 23 March and Belarus on 26 March.

Several new faces have been called up for the national camp for the first time which includes players like VP Suhair, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Naorem Roshan Singh, and Anwar Ali. Most of them have had great ISL seasons and are completely deserving of their chances to don the India blue.

Stimac has been particularly bene very impressed with Naorem Roshan Singh. The Bengaluru FC youngster has been exceptional this season notching up eight assists this season.

Speaking about the 23-year-old’s progress, Stimac said, “Roshan has been very consistent and has been playing without fear. He has been making great crosses with inch-perfect precision. That’s something which we need. We need those wide players who are capable enough to cover the line.”

It will be interesting to see how things pan out for the Blue Tigers as more players will join after the Indian Super League finals. It will be exciting to see them in action after so many days and will be fascinating to see which players are given chances by Stimac.