India Team Head Coach Igor Stimac admitted that he regretted not picking up the win against Bangladesh. The Blue Tigers were held to a 1-1 stalemate in their opening SAFF Championship 2021 game. He said, “We are ourselves guilty for not winning the match against Bangladesh.”
Talking about India’s first match, the Croatian mentioned: “We had everything in control, we dominated the game, and had a one-nil advantage, and even had a one-man advantage.“
“But despite all of that, for some unknown reasons, we started giving away simple passes, making unnecessary mistakes. And if you boost the confidence of your opponent, that’s how it finishes when you give them a chance.”
India could have done much more vs Bangladesh, says Stimac
India had taken the lead 26 minutes in thanks to a Sunil Chhetri goal. The Blues were gifted an advantage when Bishwanath Ghosh was shown red around the 54th minute.
However, Yeasin Arafat stunned the Indian support with a 74th-minute equalizer and India lost the lead to a 10-man Bangladesh. Thus, their first match in the SAFF Championship 2021 culminated 1-1.
Moving on to game number 2, India are set to face Sri Lanka in their next match day on October 7. The Blue Tigers had their sessions for recovery in the gym. They will now move to the training ground again on October 6.
Mentioning the tie versus Bangladesh, Stimac added: “We were punished today for not being reasonable in certain situations, and for not using our experience. This is an experienced Indian team.“
The former Croatia defender stated that he expected much more of his team. There were too many moments of unnecessary nervousness and it was tough to clarify them.
Thanks to the medical team working tirelessly, there are no worrying concerns. India will have a fully fit squad with everyone available for the match against Sri Lanka.
“We are now looking forward to the next match. We have another three matches in the group stage in which we need to play well. The boys played very good football for more than 75 minutes – progressive football, reasonably passing the ball around, and getting into dangerous positions,” Stimac posited.
India’s match against Sri Lanka will kick off at IST at 4:30 pm on October 7. Eurosport will telecast the match live.
Follow our Twitter for regular updates and news.
