DOHA (Qatar): India football team captain Sunil Chhetri believed the cohesive efforts of the team and coach Igor Stimac has helped the side in their Asian Qualifiers campaign at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.
India defeated Bangladesh 2-0 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium here on Monday to sit third in Group E with six points, one point ahead of Afghanistan, who have two games in hand.
Victory against the Central Asians in their final match on Tuesday will certainly boost their hopes of sealing a place in the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup.
Chhetri, who scored a double against Bangladesh, said that the team are fully in sync with Stimac’s coaching methods.
“The players are comfortable with the style the head coach wants us to play,” said Chhetri. “It is a very simplified one and we need continuous training and matches to keep building on it.
“Against Bangladesh, we were hurried at times in the final third and we will surely learn with more matches. For example, Manvir was a bit upset after missing one chance. I told him to relax and keep his head up, and that we all will miss chances.
“The boys are ready now, they are hungry, their numbers are very good and they work very hard. The coaches and technical staff are in sync with the players and the next step is passing more, but it will not happen overnight.”
The 36-year-old, in an online interview with the media, also elaborated on how Stimac has given a number of players chances since taking over from Stephen Constantine two years ago.
“The coach is not afraid of giving chances to players. If he sees someone who is good, he will always give the boy a chance. No player can say that ‘I didn’t get a chance’, which is a good thing. Both the coach and players are looking to make a base of the first 14.”
