Igor Stimac and his support staff had drawn up a schedule for every individual player, says Pritam Kotal
AIFF
Pritam Kotal has said that India’s football coach Igor Stimac and the support staff have prepared a proper fitness schedule for every player ahead of the Intercontinental Cup. Sandesh Jhingan has mentioned the players will come fit from here and then focus will be on the technical aspects.
The Indian footballers are now in a camp in Mumbai ahead of the four-nation Intercontinental Cup which will be held in Ahmedabad from July 7. The main focus for the players currently is to improve their fitness ahead of the start of the tournament.Â
“Coach (Igor) Stimac and his support staff had drawn up a schedule for every individual player. It was a kind of an off-season, but we had to deal with it as a kind of pre-season for the camp. I never compromised on my fitness schedule (during the break). In fact, I did more. The awareness levels were higher,” Kotal was quoted as saying by the AIFF website.
According to Sandesh Jhingan, the Indian footballers will come fitter and after the fitness sessions, the support staff will take care of the technical aspects of the game. The defender also explained about the session with Luka Radman which was very helpful for the players.
“The schedule came from the Professor (Luka Radman), who was very categorical. He highlighted what a player needed to do when he is away from his club, and the national team set-up. Now everyone will come back fitter and the coach can work on technical aspects, and on the system, on how we want to play,” said Jhingan.
India will take on Tajikistan on the first day of the tournament before meeting DPR Korea and Syria towards the later stages of the Intercontinental Cup. India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has mentioned that the players are fresh and all set to carry on the momentum.
“The camp will be a different one. All are fresh and ready to carry on the momentum of learning the new system, and implement it on the pitch, said Sandhu.
