AFC Asian Cup 2023: Won’t be easy, but India ready to embrace challenge, says Stimac ahead of Australia showdown

Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac on Friday admitted his team faces a “very difficult” challenge in the opening game of their 2023 AFC Asian Cup campaign against Australia in Doha, Qatar. Stimac however, added that the ‘Blue Tigers’ are ready to embrace the challenge and are excited a day before kickoff. India begin their Asian Cup campaign against the ‘Socceroos’ on Saturday at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan near Doha with the match set to begin at 5 pm IST. Stimac’s men then face Uzbekistan and Syria in their subsequent fixtures on 18 and 23 January. “Obviously it’s going to be a very difficult match for us because we all know the strengths of Australia. We know their achievements in the past. All of their players are coming from top European clubs, top leagues I would say, playing very competitive football week-by-week. “It’s not going to be easy, we are well aware of that, but we are here to embrace the challenges,” Stimac told reporters on the eve of the match in Doha. Read | India’s height disadvantage at AFC Asian Cup The Croatian, who was part of the team that finished third at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, also felt that the Asian Cup would be a great learning experience for the members of the Indian squad will be playing at such a high-level tournament for the first time in their careers. “We’re excited that the kick-off time is close. We had nice 12 days here working really hard, working on certain things and all I can tell you all the boys are excited about tomorrow. We are looking forward to the game and hopefully this is wonderful experience for all of us, especially for 17 out of 26 players we have here who are debutants here at such competition and it’s something they should learn from,” Stimac said. Read | Who are India’s game-changing players at AFC Asian Cup? Sahal Abdul Samad, who represents Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the Indian Super League, too echoed Stimac’s views and said his side was “ready” for the challenge. “We all are ready, we are excited. We have a lot of mixed players who have experience in this tournament (at the) big stage. We all are looking forward to the best match,” the UAE-born Indian midfielder said during the press conference. India need to stay compact: Stimac Stimac additionally described Australia’s approach towards the game as “very pragmatic” that has troubled top teams such as England in recent meetings. When quizzed on how the Indians were planning on stopping their highly-rated opponents on Saturday, Stimac felt the ‘Blue Tigers’ needed to “stay compact”. “We don’t have to give away set-pieces. We know the strengths of Australia. Graham (Arnold) and myself are the longest-serving managers here at the tournament. He has also coached at the youth setup. “They play very pragmatic football, insisting on their strengths. They caused a lot of problems to England and we can expect the storms coming out of them. We need to stay compact and do everything possible to stop the crosses from the flanks,” Stimac added. On the Indian team’s preparation for the high-profile event, in which they failed to progress beyond the group stage in 2019 despite beating Thailand in their opening fixture, Stimac had a rather interesting revelation. “We have been working on our mindset through meditation. Mindset change was the key element in our approach when I started my work with Indian football. “To switch from a defensive mindset to attacking football, it’s not easy. Hopefully, soon things will change in Indian football and give us elements that other countries are using to get as good as it can in football,” Stimac added. The India-Australia fixture will also witness history with Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita set to become the first female referee to officiate a match in the continental showpiece event.