Stimac wants more control

Bengaluru, June 29

The Indian football team’s head coach Igor Stimac has expressed his displeasure over his wards losing possession of the ball at crucial junctures of a game.

Following their Intercontinental Cup triumph, India have reached the semifinals of the SAFF Championship, where they meet Lebanon.

“There’s not much to complain about. We need to improve in those moments of the game when our focus and concentration needs to be at the highest possible level and try not to give away anything,” said Stimac.

“The part I’m not satisfied with is when we give away simple passes without any pressure because, after that, you need to waste an enormous amount of energy to get the ball back with the high press that we do. Overall, I’m very happy with the boys. They are coming very close to the level where I want them to be,” he added.

The match against Kuwait may have ended in a heartbreak for the Blue Tigers, who were on their way to victory until an Anwar Ali own goal led to a share of points, but Stimac said that the result hasn’t dampened the spirit in the camp.

“We are improving from game to game. We have a great mood whenever we step out on the training pitch,” said Stimac. “We knew that some time or the other, we were going to concede a goal. We didn’t expect it would happen with an own goal in the last minute. But that’s part of football.”