A fierce competitive spirit will dominate the camaraderie between rival coaches as India takes on Lebanon in the final of the Intercontinental Cup football tournament in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. India head coach Igor Stimac and his counterpart Aleksandar Ilic have been friends for a long time since they were teammates at Spanish club Cádiz CF in 1994 and there is a lot of mutual respect between the two. But Stimac’s attitude on the eve of the summit meeting indicated that no inch would be given after two clear scoring chances for India in their previous outing against Lebanon on Thursday were on the line.
Anirudh Thapa missed a keeper in the fourth minute and striker Sunil Chhetri failed to find the back of the net after a perfect throw from the central midfielder.
Judging by the Croatian coach’s strategy of scoring good chances in all three games so far – against Mongolia, Vanuatu and Lebanon – he could also be a surprise in the title fight.
But with too much at stake, it’s unlikely he would deviate too far from his tried and tested combination. Mumbai.
After the opening match against Mongolia, which India won 2-0, Stimac made nine lineup changes beating Vanuatu while driving into Chhetri’s goal.
He made 10 more changes against Lebanon including goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Chhetri in a goalless draw.
Defender Sandesh Jhingan, who wore the captain’s armband during Chhetri’s absence against Lebanon, has been the one constant in all three games, showing how much confidence Stimac has in the tall player and the Indian backline.
The rock-solid backline did not disappoint the coach either, with six consecutive clean sheets in-house.
The one change that surprised everyone was that Chhetri’s name was missing from the starting line-up against Lebanon. But Ashique Kuruniyan, who had to be used as center striker in the absence of the star striker, managed to impress Stimac. So was Udanta Singh, who was transferred to the left wing.
When asked how his team will approach Sunday’s game, Stimac said that tactically speaking, he wouldn’t want to change much from how India played on Thursday.
“Except we didn’t score (in the last game), I don’t think we did anything wrong. I don’t think we need to change a lot of things. We need a lot of speed, we need players with a lot of aggressiveness and energy, who ready to respond to the physical game that Lebanon is playing,” said Stimac.
Stimac, who was part of the 1998 Croatian team that finished third in France ’98, emphasized the importance of staying calm and composed in front of goal.
“The instruction is always the same for our players when they are in front of goal; keep calm and collected and keep an eye on the ball; make sure you hit the goal, you don’t miss it. But it still doesn’t happen.” Stimac pointed to the injuries of key players in the tournament and said Ishan Pandita’s absence due to a thigh injury was a major setback.
The 25-year-old did not play against Vanuatu, leaving the hosts with only two recognized attackers in the squad: Chhetri and Rahim Ali.
“I have to say we had problems with Pandita. I had a lot of expectations from him. He pulled a muscle and we didn’t want to risk him. He could have been a great asset to us in that sense of scoring. Maybe in the come last 30 minutes or even start the game,” said Stimac.
“Ashique (Kuruniyan) also had an unknown situation with his swollen ankle and we didn’t want to risk him (playing the full 90 minutes).” The Indian coach also firmly supported young striker Rahim Ali, who was criticized for not scoring goals in the tournament.
“What I really regret is that I see, I hear from the public opinion that people are getting angry with Rahim Ali. I have to tell you something, if we want our strikers to revolt, we have to support them when they get a opportunity,” Stimac said.
“Rahim made the perfect back pass… an incredible run between the centre-backs where he put himself in a brilliant position to score the goal. Support these guys, don’t blame them and don’t judge.” them,” he said.
Stimac said that getting four chances to score against a team like Lebanon was no easy feat.
“We had four clear chances against Lebanon (Thursday). Creating those four chances against Lebanon is not easy. I appreciate what the boys are doing.” India had finished top with seven points and no goals conceded at the end of the group stage, with wins over Mongolia (2-0) and Vanuatu (1-0) and a draw against Lebanon (0-0). Lebanon were also held goalless by Mongolia after beating Vanuatu 3-1 in their opening game.
The match starts at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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