The Indian men’s football team landed at the Hamad International Airport in Doha on Saturday for the AFC Asian Cup, to a rousing welcome from the fans in Qatar.
Head coach Igor Stimac, who had arrived the day prior, lauded the fans for their warm welcome, promising a strong showing from the Blue Tigers despite numerous injuries plaguing the side.
“They (fans) came in huge numbers there at the airport, as you could see also, and there was a big welcome here in our hotel,” Stimac said during an interaction with the media on Sunday.
“We have short time to prepare and we are very focused on the work which needs to be done here,” he added.
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The Indian team will get down to business with training sessions planned well ahead even with the head coach not getting his desired time for preparation. Stimac revealed they had the option to train in Dubai, like some of the other teams in the tournament but rather opted to come straight to Doha, in order to acclimatize and “adjust to the football pitches and to settle down in a proper way with a short time”.
“Yeah, we will try to have nine sessions and night training on the pitch. So the scheduled training schedule is organised with two working days, four sessions followed by the rest day. So that will be our schedule until the first game,” Stimac explained.
Drawn in Group B against Australia (January 13), Uzbekistan (January 18), and Syria (January 23), India will have their task on their hands in trying to navigate their way through to the knockouts.
When asked about India’s chances in the tournament, Stimac rallied: “Obviously we are outsiders in our group. So that’s quite clear to everyone because Uzbekistan is one of the dark horses of the tournament with fantastic recent results. Wherever they play, they make it really difficult for them to beat their physicality, speed and technique. They’re fantastic team of players with a great manager. As for Australia, what to say about the players who are playing at the highest level of football at the club level. So they will not have much time to prepare, and will come here six or seven days prior to the tournament. But they are amazing players and we all know what Australia is capable of. They’re regular at World Cups, always they’re trying to get out of the group at the World Cups and mostly they’re successful in doing so. So they are one of the favourites here.”
“We need to try to find the stability in our team because we know that we can play well. We are now trying to play fearless football and intending to do our stuff, never mind who we play. That’s something I’m looking for. You know I don’t mind the final result here (at the AFC Asian Cup) to be honest. I just want our boys to enjoy the tournament and to gain the experience,” Stimac added.
Stimac also harped on the mental aspect of playing in a big tournament and taking the time to get everybody on board and on the same page.
“The first part of our work is mostly based on bringing the focus back onto the national team. Because you know that we have some players coming from Mohan Bagan who are under stress recently with poor results and those players need to come back with great self-esteem and self-confidence,” Stimac said.
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