After three consecutive tournament victories, a 16-match unbeaten streak at home, and a re-entry into the top 100 in FIFA Rankings, the Indian men's football team will head abroad for the first time this year in September to take part in the King's Cup in Thailand.
Up against a heavyweight side like Iraq in the first game, it will be a challenge unlike any other the Blue Tigers have faced in 2023.
Yet, head coach Igor Stimac's biggest focus in a hectic month of football is on the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, beginning nine days after India's trip to Thailand.
In a discussion with All India Football Federation, Stimac spoke about his expectations from the King's Cup and the Asian Games, the importance of being injury-free in a tight schedule, and his thoughts on AIFF's Task Force to study the status of PIO footballers.
The head coach feels the players are more eager than him to prove themselves, but the King’s Cup will be a different challenge for the boys as it will be played on foreign soil.
“I am very eager, but I need to check how eager the boys are when I see them. They've spent the last few weeks with their clubs, with their club coaches, working on different things, and also enjoying the Durand Cup. Obviously, the King's Cup will be a different challenge from the previous home tournaments, where we were very successful."
“We’ve got the toughest possible opponents (Iraq) in the first game, and we'll see how we can handle that with such a short time for preparation. I've been following our opponents whom we will face in the King's Cup and also preparing an analysis for the Asian Games," Stimac said.
Incidentally, Stimac started his stint as the head coach of India in 2019 with King’s Cup and has a fond memory of the tournament where the team had performed well.
In the second game against Thailand, the team played without skipper Sunil Chhetri and also most of the first team players were left on the bench. Still, India went on to win the match.
Sunil’s absence in the King's Cup, Stimac feels, will give an opportunity to try out different thins in the attack.
“That's why we are following our boys in the Durand Cup. And they are doing well. They are showing good attitude, putting on good performances. But we have many things happening in September. So we'll see who will get the opportunity and who will use it in a proper way”, Stimac said.
The coach doesn't think that Asian heavyweight Iraq playing in the King's Cup will give the team a fair assessment of what is to be expected in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup.
“No, not really. I keep mentioning that the most important thing for our national team is to be resistant enough and have the level of intensity needed to do well. In the four years since I took charge, whenever we had short preparation time, we couldn't show compactness when facing higher-ranked opponents.
“But crucially, we have stabilised the most important part of our game which is the defence. So from that point of view, we can expect a stable defensive block. But I'm not sure how much energy we're going to have for high-intensity football, which we did magnificently in the previous three tournaments,” Stimac said.
"We need to be very wise and use the time given to us properly. Because we know the time we get will not obviously be as we expected or enough for ideal preparation. But whatever time we get, we need to use it wisely and prepare ourselves in the best possible way for each challenge awaiting us.
"At the moment, we are probably not taking the best possible Indian team to the King's Cup. There will be many youngsters in the final list of 23, because immediately after that, we need to keep preparing for the Asian Games. And that's our priority in September, not the results in the King's Cup. Creating an environment and a team which will represent India in the Asian Games is our priority. That's what we are focused on for now," he said.
With so many matches to be played in the coming months, including club football, Stimac feels maintaining fitness will be key for the players.
“That's the risk every club and national team in the world are taking these days. We can clearly see that there is less and less time for the players to enjoy the rest they need. These things will need to change because there is too much pressure on the players.
"I know that there are many players waiting on the sidelines, knocking on the door of those who are already big stars... So staying injury-free is the key," Stimac said.
“We need to manage these things. What I was doing so far was rotating the players, which is the only way because pushing players to play game after game every three days is just not the way to go about. We are taking too much risk,” he added.
Stimac is happy that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has started thinking seriously about the PIO footballers' issue.
“I'm very happy that we have started taking this issue very seriously and the AIFF is showing seriousness in this respect. If we are looking to get great results for Indian football, it can happen by convincing the government to change the rules and regulations and allowing PIO players to represent India.
"I'm very happy that this process has started, and I just hope it won't take years of studies and analysis because everything is very clear here,” Stimac concluded.
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