Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac stated that the Blue Tigers need to overcome tough challenges imposed by Afghanistan besides braving adversities, when they face-off in the Group E encounter of 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers at the Republican central stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Thursday.
“We know how difficult this game is going to be for us. We both (India and Afghanistan) have already faced Qatar and Bangladesh in the qualifiers. We see Afghanistan as a physical side with good composure,” Stimac said in the pre-match press conference.
“They have some players who also have the experience of playing in Europe. They are not in the top division, but playing in Europe always gives you an extra bit of confidence. They have stamina and they’ll pose a tough challenge for us,” he added.
India arrived in Dushanbe on Wednesday in a cold weather as low as 6-7 degrees celsius. However, despite the low temperature, midfielder Pranoy Halder said the fighting spirit of the Indian team remains high as ever.
“As a player, you have to be confident and face every challenge head-on. That’s why we are here. Yes, the conditions have not been in our favour to some extent but that won’t have any effect when the referee blows the whistle. If we can execute the coach’s plans on the pitch, we can surely hope for a good result,” he said.
Meanwhile, experienced centre-back Anas Edathodika flew back home late on Tuesday owing to a family emergency.
“Anas (Edathodika) is having a tough time. Our thoughts are with him and his family. He has been an instrumental member of the squad and we will miss him. The onus is now on the other players to take the mantle and deliver on the pitch,” Stimac added.
The Croatian further analysed India’s last match against Bangladesh as well, saying, “The most difficult games are those when people who are following you, write the result before the game starts. We witnessed it against Qatar as well as Bangladesh.
He added, “When Bangladesh came, they were defending with 10 players and were looking to counter-attack. Without taking away any credit from them, we earned a point against them. We can’t forget that they were leading until the 87th minute.”
Meanwhile, Afghanistan head coach Anoush Dastagiv mentioned though it’s not their own country, they get confidence when they play in Dushanbe.
“Yes, geographically it’s far from own country and we would have been happier if we could have gotten the chance to play in our own country. But, playing in Tajikistan has always given us much-needed confidence. We have beaten Cambodia, Bangladesh here and settled with a draw against Tajikistan, Jordan. Those results will surely give us a psychological boost tomorrow,” Dastagiv said.
“Here, people speak our language. We feel at home. Whenever we play in front of Afghani crowd, we never fail to get positive results. We hope we can get something closer to that tomorrow as well,” he added.