King's Cup 2023: Igor Stimac says India deserved more from Iraq game, will play 'open game' against Lebanon

India would bring their 2023 King’s Cup campaign to an end on Sunday with a third-place match against Lebanon, at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium in Thailand. This will be the fourth meeting between the world No 99 Blue Tigers and the world No 100 side in the last three months after they met twice in the Intercontinental Cup and once in the SAFF Championship in India. Overall India have played Lebanon nine times with three wins and the same number of draws and losses. Two of those wins and one draw came earlier this year and head coach Igor Stimac has said that India will be looking to play a more attacking game against the West Asian nation as compared to their opening game against world No 70 Iraq where the Lions of Mesopotamia dominated the ball possession in a narrow 5-4 win on penalties . “We can expect an open game. I am just asking my boys to be creative on the pitch, to enjoy football and celebrate football when they come out on the pitch,” Stimac said in the pre-match press conference. King’s Cup 2023: A loss that feels almost like a win for India The former Croatia player and coach also took a dig at the refereeing in the tournament. India’s shootout defeat to Iraq came after the game ended 2-2 in normal time. Iraq scored both of their goals from spot kicks and while the first penalty was justified there were doubts over the decision to award the second penalty. “I don’t want to put the pressure of result on them (players), it’s in God’s hands and referee’s hands,” the 1998 World Cup bronze medallist said. “Both teams are very competitive. I can see what Alex (Lebanon coach Aleksandar Ilic) is doing. I was there four years ago when I started my work in India. Many people could not understand at that time what was going on. But it’s a process. What Alex is doing with Lebanon is what we did four years ago and time is needed in football for coaches to teach their philosophy, and make players understand what kind of football they need to adjust to and how to execute it on the pitch. I just hope it’s a very competitive game from both sides and players on both sides enjoy it.” Ilic, meanwhile, praised the progress the Indian senior team has made under the guidance of Stimac and added that there will be pressure on Lebanon to earn a positive result in the match. “India team is very strong. If you compare from the past, they are a completely different team. They had a fantastic game against Iraq. There will be pressure on us but we will try to get a positive result from the game,” he said. Reflecting on India’s performance in the last game where the Blue Tigers came ever so close to earning their first win against Iraq, Stimac praised his players and added that his team “deserved” more from the game. “I am very happy with my boy’s performance. Iraq is a much higher-ranked side. But we gave a good fight and took the lead twice. Throughout the game, you can see Iraq had more quality but we deserved more from the game,” the former West Ham United and Derby County player said.

Lallianzuala Chhangte, one of India’s best players, missed the Iraq game due to fever and a decision about him starting against Lebanon would be taken closer to the game by Stimac, while Ashique Kuruniyan and Rahim Ali are certain to be on the bench due to injuries. “Chhangte is available but he had a fever the last three-four days and I am not sure he can start the game. We will see how he feels today. Fever takes out a lot of energy from the body. I will speak to him on how he feels and we will make a decision together,” Stimac said. “We do have some issues with injuries from the first game with Ashique Kuruniyan and Rahim Ali. I hope they get better and they get involved in the game but I don’t expect them to start and I’ll not risk these players. They are important to their clubs and there’s no need to push them from the first minute. So there will be changes.”