Asian Cup Qualifiers: Igor Stimac confident of AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Success – As the Indian Football team is all set to travel to Bahrain to play a couple of international friendlies ahead of the much anticipated AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, head coach Igor Stimac shared some of his thoughts about Qualifiers and the performance of the Indian players in the ISL 2021-22 season. Stimac also shared his thoughts on the Russia-Ukraine War and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu spoke about the absence of Sunil Chhetri from the team. Follow Football Live Updates on InsideSport.IN
Asian Cup Qualifiers: Igor Stimac confident of AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers success, says ‘we are the favorites in the group’
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“We are the favorites in the group and we host the group and thus there is nothing to complain about it. We cannot take anyone easily as the three teams would also be aiming to qualify. We have to earn the matches on the field,” said Stimac.
“We are looking to perform well in the upcoming games. There will be a couple of new additions to the team, so we are looking forward to seeing the new faces. The pace of ISL is far below that of International football, therefore we will surely be looking into the matter,” said Stimac. India is scheduled to play two international friendlies against Bahrain and Belarus on 23rd and 26th March 2022 respectively.
The hard work continues for the #BlueTigers 🐯 in Pune 💪🏼#BackTheBlue 💙 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/081Xb4fwG9
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) March 13, 2022
New additions to the team like Roshan Singh and VP Suhair are also likely to get chances in the upcoming games. “Roshan has been performing well and will replace Ashqiue Kuriniyan. Ashique is a brilliant player but we will miss him, as he’s injured. Roshan gives us the option to perform in the wide areas and thus will surely play a major role in the team.”
Asian Cup Qualifiers: Igor Stimac confident of AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers success, says ‘we are the favorites in the group’
Amidst the ongoing crisis in the Russia-Ukraine war and the involvement of Belarus in the same, Igor Stimac voiced his option on India’s game with Belarus on 26th March. “We are aware of the situation and we are in regular touch with the FIFA. As per this current moment, the game is on. Bahrain is hosting the game, and we are going to Bahrain to play.”
Speaking about the absence of team skipper Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu said, “We all know what a player Sunil bhai (Sunil Chhetri) is. But we don’t need to be too dependent on him. He will be a great miss, but we need to learn when he is not there.”
Asian Cup Qualifiers: Igor Stimac confident of AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers success, says ‘we are the favorites in the group’