First tournament will be a little difficult for Igor Stimac, believes Sunil Chhetri

After a long wait since the departure of Stephen Constantine following India’s exit from the AFC Asian Cup in January this year, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) finally announced the appointment of former Croatian manager Igor Stimac as the new head coach of the Indian men’s football team. The Indian team will play the first tournament – King’s Cup - under his guidance next month in Thailand. 

“I've already texted all the boys on the group, and told them to make sure they are all working hard and they maintain their fitness. The least we can give to the new coach is a fitter team. He can readily get into the tactical aspect of the game, but if he has to bring all the boys and work on their fitness for a week or 10 days, then it's gone.”

“Mr. Constantine left a good batch. When Stephen came, he had nobody. Probably the only seniors were me, Eugene [Eugenson Lyngdoh], Pal, and Anas to an extent, but he had never played for India before. All the others were young, and they've all done well over the last five years. Especially, Gurpreet [Singh Sandhu], Sandesh , Jeje , and Udanta ,” the Indian skipper explained. 

“So in that context, yes, he is going to get boys that have got their rhythm, but then it's a new start, and that comes with its own difficulties. His style of play, his philosophy is something he has to incorporate in us, and that takes time. The only good thing about this team is, with us Indians; we don't shy away from working hard. So, that's not a department where he's going to face problems.”

“His retirement was very abrupt, because he did it right after the game. We were all mourning the fact that we couldn't qualify, and then he spoke. I understand he must have thought about it. I think his time in India, he did really well. He is someone who was hardworking. There were few times when he and I didn't agree with some of the philosophies, but I did understand that as captain of the team, I had to go with whatever he says and thinks. Our chances of doing well are more when the thoughts of the coach and the whole team are in accord, and this is something I understood long back in my career.

“You might not like what the coach says, you might not agree with his plan, but the chances of your doing well are more when the whole team is with the coach,” Chhetri concluded.