Igor Stimac ready with his plans as India gear up to face Sri Lanka at the SAFF Championships

India were underwhelming in their SAFF Championship opener against Bangladesh. The Blues Tigers led most of the game only to allow a 10-man Bangladesh team to equalise in the dying minutes. Igor Stimac’s men will be hoping to return to winning ways in their second match against Sri Lanka.

The Blue Tigers will start as favourites in this game but anything is possible in football and Sri Lanka have shown that they are a resolute united. Both teams will look to win the match and hopefully we will be in for a great game.

Ahead of the match against Sri Lanka, Igor Stimac addressed the media at the pre-match press conference. He spoke about the 1-1 draw against Bangladesh in the last match and also assessed his next opponent, Sri Lanka.

The Croatian tactician highlighted how the Lankans were very resolute in their defence. He credited the Gold Army for their perseverance in both matches and feels that they could have easily got two draws instead of defeats.

“Sri Lanka do whatever they can to prevent their opponents from approaching the final third – and that’s allowed in football. All the teams here in the SAFF Championship, despite their differences, have certain technical limitations. Hence, what they can do is to fight. That is exactly what Sri Lanka have been doing brilliantly. They work hard till the final whistle, and we need to see how we can play against them tomorrow,” Igor Stimac quipped

However, Stimac explained how India will look to play against a side like Sri Lanka, as they like to keep a low block in defence. He feels passing the ball quickly and getting into the final third will help the Blue Tigers.

“Some ways to trouble teams like them would be to pass quickly, make lots of movements, and attempt to get to the final third with plenty of through-balls. Yes, Sri Lanka are making things difficult for everyone but we’ll get chances. We need to be clever and patient,” Stimac added.

The Croatian was not very much happy about the social media outrage going on against him. However, he clearly stated that he does not pay much heed to social media.