Reason for us not winning was our incapability to score, says Igor Stimac
India football team coach Igor Stimac has stated that it was India’s scoring incapability that saw his team missing out on an easy and must-win game against Bangladesh as both the teams shared the spoils. However, the coach has refused to blame individual players for the frustrating result.
India saw more possession, more passing, and way more chances against Bangladesh throughout the entire 90 minutes, but kept on missing chances one after the other until Bangladesh scored from a horrendous error by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.Â
Stimac was quick to state that a team couldn’t concede such goals and then expect to win, but blamed it on the lack of goals that stopped India from winning. “Our scoring incapability was the reason why we didn’t win. We conceded very silly goal. We can’t expect to win the game if you concede such a goal. Their goalkeeper was my man-of-the-match,” said Stimac in the post-match media interaction, reported PTI.
“We deserved to win this game. We pushed until the end and created enough chances to win the game. But our scoring was not good enough. I’m not happy with first 45 minutes. Our players in the back were not passing well. When you play against a team like Bangladesh who put more in defence you need to pass well from behind,” the Croatian added.
Going into the dugout with a goal down from the team 83 places below them, India were bound to come back stronger and they did exactly that. The introduction of Brandon Fernandes and Lallianzuala Chhangte also worked as a catalyst as Stimac stated that his side “absolutely” changed in the second-half. “But we were not aggressive enough. Many more things we need to work on,” he added.
After holding off World Cup hosts Qatar valiantly to a goalless draw, this was quite an unexpected outcome. However, Stimac stated that it was just not India’s day and nothing went their way. “Sometimes you have a great day, sometime you have mistakes in making judgment. We are not here blaming anyone. I defend my players with my heart,” he said.
“Today we dominated for 90 minutes and proved we can change our game in regard to opponents. This team is rising up. This was amazing day for indian football, many of them will never forget the ambience, the support they received in Kolkata. I had many big names in my career. I will remember this as as one of the biggest ones,” the 52-year-old added.
