FIFA World Cup Qualifiers | Igor Stimac wants India to attack for 90 minutes to break Bangladesh defence
Indian men’s football team head coach Igor Stimac wants his side play attacking football for the full 90 minutes in order to break through the Bangladesh defence during their upcoming 2022 World Cup Qualifiers match in Kolkata. The Indian team is in Guwahati for a 10-day preparatory camp.
India has had a defensive approach in the historic drawn game against Asian champions Qatar in their last match. Indian men’s football team head coach Igor Stimac wants his side play attacking football for the full 90 minutes in order to break through the Bangladesh defence during their upcoming 2022 World Cup Qualifiers match in Kolkata on 15 October.
“We respect Bangladesh as a team. We’re aware of the difficulties that we’re going to face, and we’re working on them,” Stimac said to the PTI. “We need to attack for 90 minutes to break two defensive blocks of Bangladesh. They are a good side who try to cover, and close the midfield.”
India lost to Oman 1-2 in their first match on September 5 before holding formidable Qatar to a goalless draw in Doha five days later. They will need to win against Bangladesh to keep their hopes of advancing to the next round alive. Bangladesh, currently placed 187 in the FIFA rankings, lost to Afghanistan in their opening game and are scheduled to host Qatar in their next World Cup Qualifier on October 10.
The Indian senior national team will be playing in Kolkata after a long gap of eight years. The last time India played an international match in the ‘city of joy’ was in 2011 against Malaysia.
Anticipating a big crowd turning up, Stimac said, “I can say how happy we are to go to Kolkata. It’s the ‘Mecca of Indian Football’. I can see the excitement among the players about playing in Kolkata. I have been told ticket sales are going at a great rate, and there might be 60-65 thousand people on the 15th.”
The team is presently in Guwahati for a 10-day preparatory camp ahead of the match against Bangladesh. According to Stimac, they will have 11 training sessions and a friendly against ISL side Northeast United FC on Wednesday. The team will arrive in Kolkata on 13 October.
“We’re happy to be back here where we got fantastic support [against Oman]. We wanted to come back here to appreciate the local fans,” the Croatian said.
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