Indian head coach Igor Stimac was delighted with the performance of his team after the Blue Tigers defeated Afghanistan by 2-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Saturday. It was a humdinger contest as all the three goals were scored in the last few minutes of the game.
After the first half ended without any goal, Indian captain Sunil Chhetri finally found the back of the net in the 86th minute. But, Afghanistan found parity as Zubayr Amiri scored after one minute.
However, the Blue Tigers were able to take three crucial points after substitute Sahal Samad scored in the injury time to get his team over the line.
“I will enjoy with my boys because of these two victories. I want to qualify for the Asian Cup final stages. I’m proud of my boys, they did everything we asked them to do and we fought with honour and deserved to win,” the Croatian said after the game.
The 54-year-old added that his players played like Blue Tigers on the pitch.
“We are called Blue Tigers. Today we played like Blue Tigers. We need to keep being tigers on the pitch. That’s the way we are heading to. Going out, enjoying the football and fighting for your country with pride and honour.”
In fact, Stimac is mostly criticized that the Indian team under him doesn’t play beautiful football and doesn’t score much. However, the Croatian added that it takes time to savor success and they are on right track.
“In the last few years, I’m getting tired to explain to everyone that good football doesn’t come overnight. It is a process that will take time. We have youngsters that can make us proud but we must be patient. We need to undertake that process of work in football is a lengthy process.
“Knowledge of football in India is so low. You can’t criticize points you don’t understand. I just ask for patience from the fans, nothing else,” he added.
Stimac was full of praise for Sahal Samad, who scored the winner for the team after coming on as a substitute.
“I told Sahal before the SAFF Cup final (16 October 2016) that sometimes one minute on the pitch can work better for you than 1,000. It depends on how you organize your time. I asked him to score if he got the opportunity late in the game as he did today. I need Sahal to rationalize his moves. He has so much quality, he can run he can sprint, but 50% of those are not effective,” he said.
India will next take on Hong Kong on Tuesday at the same venue.
