India’s final match towards Afghanistan on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and a day earlier than the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Preliminary Combined Round 2 qualifiers on the Jasim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Indian nationwide group head coach Igor Stimac dismissed the worry Given that India’s non-result.
“I need to say that I do not know any coach or any team that will play for a draw,” Stimac mentioned on the official pre-match press convention on Monday. India are presently on six factors after seven matches whereas Afghanistan have 5 factors from seven matches.
“Even this may seem to be a situation when you are facing much better sides. Then, you need to wait for one, two or three chances to drop and defend for your life and strike back against Qatar. But, we are not going to play for a draw. Rather, we will go all out to win it, ”mentioned the pinnacle coach.
“That’s what we’re aiming to do. We have to start from kick-off. I know and I’m sure all our boys are ready and fit. They need to enjoy the game.”
Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu mentioned: “I feel it is vital for us to remain contemporary and face this new problem towards an excellent group. Afghanistan has received good high quality gamers who can manipulate the ball and convert when given the chance. So, we have to ensure that as gamers, we stick with the plan and we make life troublesome for the opposite group and attempt to finish with a smile. “
In Doha, a 10-man India misplaced their first match to Asian champions Qatar by a singles aim earlier than thrashing Bangladesh 2–0.
Stimac talked about that the boys are assured after the win towards Bangladesh. “The end result towards Bangladesh assures us. We are very completely happy that with three factors towards Bangladesh now we have come out of the hazard of enjoying within the play-offs. Afghanistan is a greater group than Bangladesh and it’ll not be simple.
“Afghanistan is filled with gamers with worldwide expertise, and a lot of the gamers are enjoying in overseas leagues. You can acknowledge this if you assess their confidence on the ball. But on the similar time, we see our likelihood and have to exit on the pitch and play good soccer and ensure we finish this event with a win. “
“As a coach, I have tried to prepare my team in the best possible way – to keep them motivated. Wearing the national team jersey is the biggest motivation for any player and it comes with a huge responsibility. You know how big a population is supporting us, and whoever is wearing an Indian shirt has a unique chance of making 1.4 billion people proud,” quipped the coach.
Gurpreet mentioned that coaching in Doha helped the group to complete third within the group. “We got here out of right here with out a lot coaching. Playing three video games over 13 days helps gamers acquire expertise and maturity. We are grateful to the QFA (Qatar FA) for letting us come first, collect collectively, and it has helped us put together higher. “
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
