The goal is to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup first, says India national team head coach Igor Stimac

The Indian national football team will take the field against Cambodia on 7th June as they kick start their AFC Asian Cup qualifiers campaign. Ahead of the match, head coach Igor Stimac shared a lot of stuff regarding his team’s development and approach against Cambodia and the aim going forward.

The Croatian highlighted how excited the players are to see these games come back to India and especially in Kolkata where they will get the support of a massive crowd and hopefully that pushes the team forward. Speaking about preparations, Stimac shared how things have not gone in India’s favour off late but he hopes to turn the tide and qualify for the quadrennial tournament.

“Of course, everyone is expecting us to win the games and qualify. We are expecting great support from the stands. We are expecting football fans to come in numbers, to push the boys and be the extra strength and legs for us as well as help us to win the games,” he added.

More than 50,000 fans are expected to fill up the stands and Stimac is hoping that the crowd pushes his players forward just like it did against Bangladesh a couple of years back when India drew 1-1 against Bangladesh.

“I hope there will be more than 50,000 in the stands. I appreciated when we played here (Kolkata) the last time that we saw a turnout in huge numbers, “ Stimac desired.

“There is a clear passion and the players could feel it. That pushed us to get a late equalizer against Bangladesh. We were sad that they didn’t allow our fans to attend the games in Qatar. Football is always played for supporters, that’s all that matters. I’m very happy that there will be a big turnout.”

Lastly speaking about the evolution of this team under his tutelage, Stimac added how their primary goal is to qualify for the Asian Cup and then think about doing better than the last edition of the competition. “In every project and part of your life, there are certain steps you need to work on. In our current state, we are the favourites of his group. We are in a good position and I hope we can qualify. Then we will look to prepare in the AFC Asian Cup and do better than the last edition,” Stimac concluded.