Al Rayyan, Jan 12: Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac is well aware of Australia’s formidable prowess and his simple advice to his players ahead of their AFC Asian Cup opener on Saturday is to maintain defensive compactness to stop goals from set pieces.
“We don’t have to give away set pieces. We know the strengths of Australia. They play very pragmatic football,” Stimac said of Australia, ranked 25th in the world.
“They (Australia) caused a lot of problems to England (in a friendly in October) and we can expect the storms coming out of them. We need to stay compact and do everything possible to stop crosses from the flanks.”
“We are excited that the kick-off time is close. We have had a nice 12 days (of training) here working hard. All the boys are excited and we are looking forward to the game.
“Hopefully, it turns out to be wonderful for our 17 debutants. It is a place for them to learn,” said the Croatian.
Stimac is realistic about India’s prospects in the Asian Cup, stating that the most important thing for his team is to play good football.
“Our target is to have a good performance in the next three games as a team and as a country and use the experience from the tournament for the future.
“I’m not putting any pressure on my players. We will go out and fight,” he added.
India will miss Sahal Abdul Samad in the Group B opener as the Mohun Bagan midfielder is yet to recover from an ankle injury he had sustained in December.
“Sahal is not ready yet, not 100 per cent fir for the match (on Saturday). We will do everything we can to have him back for the rest of the tournament,” Stimac said.
Sahal was at the pre-match press conference with Stimac and said the players were looking to give their best. (PTI)
