Head coach Igor Stimac said on Monday that he will resign if the Indian football team fails to reach the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Stimac have prioritized qualifying for the third round and secured direct participation in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. “If I don’t take India to the third round, I will leave, with my pride, with my honor for everything that has been done here in the five years of work. I will leave my position to someone else,” Stimac told reporters. the eve of India’s home match against Afghanistan in Guwahati.
India can still progress to the third round, but the task has become a lot tougher after last week’s stalemate against Afghanistan, from which they managed just one point.
The Blue Tigers are currently second in the group with four points from three games, one ahead of Kuwait who are on three points from as many games. India has never reached third place in the qualifiers.
Stimac, who has been at the helm since 2019, received a contract extension last year, which will keep him in charge until June 2026.
He said he was not surprised by Afghanistan’s good performance against India as several of their players ply their trade in Europe.
Wants longer preparatory camps
Stimac also called for longer preparation camps for the national team ahead of major tournaments.
He said that when a long preparatory camp was held, the results were good.
“In my four years there were three long camps we had. One was five years ago, just before the games against Oman and Qatar, you remember how well the team played then.
“The second place was for the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Kolkata, the team flew – 3 matches, 3 wins, 8-1 goal difference. The third long camp was last year before the tournaments we played brilliantly, we could keep up the intensity and everyone knew what to do.”
Not enough Indian strikers
He expressed concern over the shortage of new strikers in the ISL and said that most of the players occupying the position in the Indian Super League are from abroad.
“The scoring problem has been haunting us for five years, even before I came here, the scoring problem was haunting us. I said that foreign players are occupying scoring positions and that is hurting us.
“It is not easy for them as most of them are not playing in their positions at the club this season, apart from Sunil.” Stimac also said some important lessons have been learned from the disappointing campaign in the AFC Asian Cup where India lost all three matches.
“We have to minimize stupid mistakes. In the match against Uzbekistan we had the game well under control, but the mistakes we made, they scored as a result. We have to learn to punish the opponent for their mistakes, we have to learn that.” “
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