India’s head coach Igor Stimac reckons they have a team that makes the nation proud by the way they play. The Blue Tigers recently lifted Hero Intercontinental Cup after beating Lebanon by 2-0 in the final clash at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhuvneshwar.
Furthermore, the Sunil Chhetri-led team has qualified for the final of the SAFF Championship with a win against Lebanon in the semifinal at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday.
The hosts won on penalties by 4-2 to qualify for the summit clash, where they will take on Kuwait.
Meanwhile, Igor Stimac took charge of Indian football back in 2019 and since then the team has taken giant strides under his tutelage.
“Football is a process and you need time to make huge changes. At my first press conference, I was very open, very sincere about what needed to be done. And the first goal was to change the mindset of the players. It is again a process which requires time,” Stimac stated in an interaction with Firstpost.
“Now we are in the stage where we have a national team which is making the Indian nation proud of the way they play, of their attitude, of their behaviour, of their warrior attitude which we instilled in them. They are like brothers on the pitch and that is what I like about them,” he added.
In fact, India has been at their absolute best in the recent past, scoring 15 goals in their last nine games. The Croatian showered praise on the team for executing their plans to perfection.
“The best way of defending your goal is attacking very high. Simple as that. And the selection we executed is perfect. We have enough runners in our teams; we have enough muscle strength now in our team because we have been working for the past four years intensively in the gym. Players were given individual training programs to be executed in the gym with their private coaches apart from the club training sessions,” Stimac stated.
In the upcoming AFC Asian Cup, India will take on potent teams such as Australia, Uzbekistan, and Syria. The 55-year-old added his team will continue to play in an aggressive manner.
“We are not going to change our philosophy because of the opponents, that’s not the way of doing things. Even if we don’t succeed, we are not going to stop trying. I don’t mind who is on the opposite side. That’s about our mindset at the moment,” Stimac commented.
“Whoever is there we are going to go up higher and attack with all the forces we have. That’s the India I want. That’s the India I see in the future. That’s the India which will bring all the football hearts together in this country and that’s the kind of culture we need to follow and we need to instil here,” he added further.
India will take on Kuwait on Tuesday in the final of the SAFF Championship at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru.
