NEW DELHI, March 15 The Indian senior men’s team will return home after nine months of competition in the Tri-Nation Football Championship on March 22, head coach Igor Stimac claims his ball The team will do their best to win the game.
Imphal will host the Blue Tigers (106th in the FIFA rankings) for the first time, and the tournament will also feature Myanmar (159th in the FIFA rankings) and the Kyrgyz Republic (94th in the FIFA rankings).
Stimak emerged on the Indian football scene a few months after the country participated in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup final. He has successfully led the team to qualify for the Asian Cup again, but he is not satisfied.
“No, it’s not. This is just the first step of what we’re trying to achieve. When I joined, the main goal was to rebuild the team, play different football, and win the hearts of the Indian people with the style of football. I would say we are here We’ve been very successful on the side because our work was interrupted by the pandemic for almost two years. We didn’t get the chance to play any home games. No friendlies, no qualifiers,” Stymark told aiff.com at his national training camp in Kolkata.
“Last year in Kolkata we played three good games and showed everyone that when we have the right time to work we can achieve better results and play better football. But it was the most challenging We are clear that we will be facing the best team on the African continent in the 2023 Asian Cup. To do well in a competition like this, we need to organize ourselves differently, with a different style of football , and stay vertical in the game,” he added.
In two months, the 55-year-old will be in charge of India for four years, a journey he sees as difficult given the huge expectations of the team.
“It’s been a tough journey. I say this because expectations are high in India. It’s great to have dreams. There is no life without dreams and achieving goals. To be successful, time is precious. If you have time to work, you You can count on making your dreams come true. I just hope that the next eight or nine months will prepare us for the Asian Cup,” the coach said.
“Next season’s calendar is going to be tough. We want to make good use of the international window in September, October and November and I hope all stakeholders in Indian football get involved and help the national team,” he added road.
The 2023 Asian Cup is only 10 months away, but Stiemark believes that the team is not quite ready yet.
“At present, we are not fully prepared for the Asian Cup. During this March window, we will commend the achievements of the players this season, recognize their performance, and give them the opportunity to fight for a place for the team. Asian Cup The finalist list will be fought till the end. The spots are open to all Indian passport holders, not just those involved in the ISL,” he said.
“Our focus right now is on all the players who are involved in Indian football – be it the Santosh Trophy or the I-League. So, I would like to take this opportunity to invite all the boys who dream of representing their country in the Asian Cup to work hard and put a lot of effort into it … Our scouting team will be going around watching everyone for the next eight or nine months. We will give opportunities to anyone who we think might help us in the Asian Cup,” he added.
When asked about the expectations and goals for the Tri-National Football Championship, Stymark said that the team will do everything in its power to win.
“It won. We are the hosts and we will do everything we can to win. Obviously it won’t be easy because we have a lot of players who will be in the Hero ISL final and they will be exhausted physically and mentally. Half of them will be in a worse position , because they will be beaten in the final. And my job is to bring them back, help them bounce back and find the strength and ability to play these two games and represent India in a good way,” the coach said.
The coach also shared his assessment of the two opposing teams.
“We analyzed our opponents. Myanmar are lower ranked but they have changed their game over the last few years. They try to play medium pressure football which can be challenging because if you don’t break them in the first 45 minutes, The game just gets more and more difficult. It’s all about patience, passing the ball fast and getting into the final third with quality against a team like this. Playing simple football, passing vertically, playing in the defense Gaining yards behind will be the most important and critical thing,” he said.
The Kyrgyz Republic is a well-organized team. They rank better than us. The quality of football they play is very good. I’m watching their game against Russia. They played fantastic football against such a strong and competitive team. They have a lot of good players with power and speed. It’s going to be very interesting,” he added.
–IANS
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