Igor Stimac should be blamed for India’s defeat against Afghanistan, but what about the players? – First position
The chants of “Stimac out” and “f**k of Stimac” could already be heard as a vapid and uninspired India attempted to find a winning goal against an understrength Afghanistan team in the second half of the World Cup qualifiers. AFC for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Tuesday. Those chants and fans became even louder once the 117th-ranked Blue Tigers suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to world number 158 Afghanistan – a team in disarray amid problems at home. They cannot train at home and eighteen top players have boycotted the team in protest against an allegedly corrupt federation. The current team has five players who don’t have a club and four of them were on the field.
Just as the Indian team and coach Stimac were about to leave the Indira Gandhi Sports Stadium in Guwahati, a large group of supporters, led by the Blue Pilgrims – a group of Indian football supporters – surrounded the team bus and made his displeasure clear with critical chants. Stimac and the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Frankly, we didn’t expect the fans to behave any differently. First defeat against Afghanistan in more than 10 years, while fighting on all fronts, India deserved the score and the criticism. That Stimac is in the eye of the storm is also completely understandable.
Fans chant “F**k off Stimac” and “Stimac out” as India and Afghanistan are tied 1-1. pic.twitter.com/qnw43ax4Zo
– Ujwal (@UjwalKS) March 26, 2024
Disgruntled fans vehemently demanded Stimac’s head as India’s chances of reaching the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the first time were dealt a serious blow.
But will the AIFF fire Stimac soon? That remains to be seen, but there is a must-win match against Kuwait in June that will decide India’s fate.
As so often happens in football, every time the team runs out of steam, the coach is fired. It’s a strategy that can go either way, but at least you’re doing something different that didn’t work for you.
However, as is the case in Indian football, the rot runs deep. Stimac is not the source of everything that is wrong in Indian football.
He’s the most important face, but there are many other culprits.
“AIFF Chor Hain” (AIFF are thieves) chants by Indian football fans #IndianFootballpic.twitter.com/9sgvptTKNd
-Hari (@Harii33) March 26, 2024
In his first reaction to the result, the Croatian quickly apologized in the post-match press conference.
“The result is not difficult, it is unpleasant. I have to apologize to my staff and my players.”
He at least apologized for the result, while the Indian players have still not reacted. Just like most of them did after the disastrous AFC Asian Cup, there is complete radio silence from the players who represented India on the field.
Why is their reaction important?
Because we have seen over the last two years what they can achieve in the current system. In June 2022, India qualified for the 2023 Asia Cup by beating Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cambodia at home with a swagger never before seen under Stimac.
In 2023, India won the tri-national international tournament, the Intercontinental Cup and the SAFF Championship at home by beating teams like Kyrgyz Republic, Kuwait and Lebanon. Teams that are not only better ranked than Afghanistan but also India.
The Blue Tigers have achieved this by playing in a system that demands intensity, peak fitness and defensive pressing. That intensity has been missing since Kuwait’s victory in November 2023, which was India’s first away victory in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in 22 years.
“We could see that half of our players do not bring the intensity necessary to move the match forward. And I can’t change that in five days,” Stimac said after Tuesday’s match, explaining where things are going wrong for India.
“I’m sorry, I have to repeat myself over and over again. I hope you all remember all those players from June, July and May. They are the same players, but they cannot bring the same intensity to the game. Afghanistan is not a better team than Kuwait and Lebanon and the teams we defeated and dominated.
Despite all the disappointment and anger towards the coaching staff, there is no denying that some of the best players have fallen flat in recent months.
Sunil Chhetri scored his 94th goal in what was his 150th international match to give India a 1-0 lead against Afghanistan, but it was a goal that came from the penalty spot. At other times he was largely anonymous or unable to take advantage of his opportunities.
The penalty conceded by India to lose the match was an unnecessary mistake by senior goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu which could have been easily avoided.
There were several instances where midfielders Jeakson Singh and Lalengmawia Ralte (Apuia) lost the ball in crucial positions while the entire group lacked energy and enthusiasm. Where was the spirit to fight and take those three points that could have helped them make history?
0-3 Qatar ❌
0-2 Australia ❌
0-3 Uzbekistan ❌
0-1 Syria ❌
0-0 Afghanistan 🤝
1-2 Afghanistan ❌0 wins and 5 losses in the last 6 matches for the NT senior men. 💔
Is coach Igor Stimac sacked now? pic.twitter.com/WYL4ejKA42
– 90th stop (@90th stop) March 26, 2024
You can copy and paste the above lines for the latest Indian games and it would be correct. India are winless in four months and six matches. In these six matches, they have only scored one goal and it is not because they failed to create, but because they did not take their chances. Like how Chhetri missed a golden opportunity against Australia in January or Manvir Singh failed to put the ball in the net on Tuesday with the goal gaping.
The chances presented themselves but no one scored.
“We had enough chances today to win the game. But we didn’t win it. I can’t go on the field to score goals for our players,” lamented Stimac after India’s defeat against Afghanistan.
“You can see tonight, even when we get to a position, when we have a situation where we can shoot, we pass the ball back. We run away from situations and it’s the same old story that has haunted us for many years. We don’t have many players on our team who shoot from outside the box. So it’s not easy,” added the former Croatia coach, explaining the lack of goals.
The same system that produced exciting and unprecedented results no longer produces anything positive. None of the players complained, but something is wrong. In such a scenario, perhaps sacking the coach is the right way to resolve the problem, but what do you do when the rot runs deep? How do you fix this?
