Coach Stimac demands more preparation time

Having watched his wards lift the SAFF Championship trophy from the sidelines at the Sree Kanteerava stadium, head coach Igor Stimac chose the occasion to demand longer training stints prior to big tournaments if they are expected to perform well.

“Otherwise, neither the players nor myself are taking responsibility for the results in the future if we are not given time to work together,” stated the 55-year-old Croatian, who was red-carded twice in the event here.

Stimac’s observation can't be ignored now with the Indians climbing up the ladder steadily.

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The national football team winning trophies for India is a rarity. But the current squad has managed to break such shackles by capturing three titles this year alone.

While the Blue Tigers finishing on top of the podium at the Tri-nations, Intercontinental Cup and the SAFF Championship has harvested new hope, bigger obstacles await. Merdeka Cup in Malaysia (October), King’s Cup in Thailand (September) and the Asia Cup in Qatar (January 2023) are the upcoming assignments where India are set to face higher-ranked Australia, Japan, Qatar, Iraq and more.

And Stimac is fully aware of what lies ahead and refuses to let the recent wins sidetrack their progress.

“No it won’t because the Asia Cup is far away. Long way to go,” he said when asked if the win on Tuesday evening would give the team more energy going forward.

“This was good. We made some memories. We proved once again to everyone that when we are given time to work together and to create an environment to produce results, we will do it,” he added after their victory over Kuwait in the final here on Tuesday.

Everybody in the Indian camp credited the six to seven weeks of training-cum-tournament stint helped the team to understand each other better.

“The most important part for the national team to prepare for the Asia Cup. And we are looking at getting four weeks of preparation in December. The rest doesn’t mean anything. Nothing,” said Stimac.

The man of the hour in both the semifinal and final, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu exuded a similar sentiment. “There is still a lot of time. Of course this helps but having spent a lot of time together in the past few weeks helped us. To put in the work, prepare and perform as a unit, won us two trophies,” said the 31-year-old.

On a lighter note, the victories have expanded their fanbase with more in the country taking note of their on field pursuits, agreed Sandhu. “I hope this brings more attention and people begin to watch more football in the country. That will motivate us before going to the Asia Cup,” he reckoned.