Igor Stimac’s smile is contagious. Even while discussing some of the thorny challenges preventing Indian football from progressing. Not with the Asian Cup just around the corner, when he intends to remain the head coach of the United States squad.
India qualified for the continental tournament on Tuesday with a convincing 4-0 victory against Hong Kong in the last qualifier. Football in India was in need of a pick-me-up following a series of setbacks, including a large budget reduction by the government and the appointment of administrators by the Supreme Court to manage its federation, which raised the prospect of a FIFA suspension.
Finally, Stimac was concerned about the legal action against the AIFF and the possibility of sanctions by FIFA. As a result, he was very satisfied with his three victories and qualifying. However, he takes care not to get carried away. According to him, “I don’t want to feel joyful as the fans are.” Everyone anticipated us to make it, so it’s not a big deal.
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Stimac doesn’t only want to reminisce on his moment of triumph, which came after “tough and chaotic” periods and over the three years that had “more downs than ups,” from a peaceful corner of his Warsaw hotel room. Despite this, he adds, “I prefer to talk about issues rather than stay silent.
When it comes to Indian football’s present challenges, Stimac—the Croatian defender who helped lead his country to the semifinals of the 1998 World Cup—is taking a stand.
He speaks on the necessity of a longer season with more matches, providing Indian players more playing time, having longer length national team training camps, and pressing the government to modify its stance vis-à-vis PIOs playing for India, all of which he has spoken about previously.
Source: IPL
This problem has been discussed in football circles but not dealt with effectively, and Stimac tackles it on head-on. The domestic season schedule, which is heavily dependent on the Indian Premier League (IPL), is a big part of this.
IPL and broadcasting issues still need to be worked out in relation to the football calendar, so it’s something that has to be addressed.” If we want Indian football to be great, we must stop this. “The football schedule should not be influenced by other factors,” he argues.
Does Stimac believe that the IPL’s broadcast rights for the next five years will have a negative influence on the domestic season? We should not be fearful of another sport gaining as much traction as cricket in India.” They’ll have to achieve this by letting football in. In the absence of this, it will not occur. “Cricket shouldn’t be penalized because of football,” adds Stimac.
After three years in India, Stimac explains, “We were not in a position to say too much throughout the past three years. Our focus should have been on the task at hand,” he said.
In May 2019, Stimac was appointed as India’s new head coach. He looked to be well-prepared for the assignment, having done extensive study on the Indian players and to have a game plan in place. It got off to a good start, too, as the squad came close to beating Oman in the first match in the joint qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Asian Cup before drawing with Asian champions Qatar.
After that, the wheels came off of the vehicle. Prior to the three consecutive victories in the Asian Cup qualifiers, India had only won six of their previous 25 games under Stimac. My expectations were extremely different from the reality when I joined the position. I expected everyone to be motivated and eager to assist the national team succeed.
That, according to Stimac, wasn’t always the case. He recalls situations in which players came for national team duty from their clubs an “hour-and-a-half earlier” to a game for which they were scheduled. Injured players, he argues, have forced him to pitch debutants and experiment with the starting eleven on a regular basis. That’s why “I was really concentrating on the work, trying to make sure we don’t screw up,” he says.
The deal with Stimac expires at the end of September. One of the three administrators now overseeing the All India Football Federation, SY Quraishi, has allegedly claimed that they would look into it and determine what has to be done about it.. On the one hand, Stimac says he wants to remain in charge of Indian football, but he wants a meeting on his future as soon as possible.
Source: ISL
When planning your football schedule, keep in mind that it’s a little different from your typical one. Coaches are hired in June or July, at the earliest, for the next season. As a result, he argues, “things need to be done sooner than he believes.” “AIFF has a special place in my heart. My goal is to lead this squad to the Asian Cup in order to show to the world that India can compete at the highest level.”
Stimac’s future as coach is still up in the air, but that hasn’t deterred him from making plans. He expects that a more streamlined future season would benefit everyone, has selected his core group of players, and is already preparing to play four international friendly over the two FIFA windows in September and March.
As a result, he wants the players to have longer training sessions and greater communication with the ISL teams about their release and fitness before they are allowed to play. India’s passion for Indian football will not be sparked by the ISL. As he puts it, “it can only be done by the national team”.
