CALCUTTA (India): Igor Stimac dreams of an India victory against Afghanistan at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers, but even the staunchest fan knows that the team has a mountain to climb in Dushanbe, (Tajikistan) on Thursday.
Afghanistan have emerged as a strong side in south Asia, with a win against Bangladesh in Group E has put them ahead of the fourth-placed Indians on the table.
India desperately need a win after two draws and a defeat in their first three matches while Afghanistan have one victory against two losses.
After the Afghanistan match, India face Oman, second in group, on November 19.
With only the eight group winners and four best runners-up advancing to the final round of qualifiers, the Croat face a daunting task.
Former India captain Bhaskar Ganguly lashed out at Stimac by saying that chopping and experiments has not done anything good to the team.
“I think Stimac has a problem. He has repeatedly changed the squad, and doesn’t have a core team.”
Bhaskar Ganguly, former India captain and goalkeeper.
In their home match against Bangladesh, India huffed and puffed to salvage a 1-1 draw in the second-half added time.
Stimac in a spot of bother
The performance, so far, has put the Team India coach in a spot of bother.
There was a lot of hype after India held Qatar to a goalless draw, but that fizzled out after Bangladesh held their neighbours to a 1-1 draw here at the Salt Lake Stadium last month.
“I’m not very optimistic. The team lacks consistency. Stimac has only experimented with the players. There’s no set first XI at the moment. Those who’ve been selected will always play with some kind of anxiety,” said former striker Sisir Ghosh.
Mehtab Hossain, who played for the country between 2005 and 2015, said that India will have to counter Afghanistan’s aggression.
“India is definitely strong on paper, but if Afghanistan play hard, it will be difficult. India’s poor conversion rate is also one of the major problems,” said the 34-year-old.
But former East Bengal and India international Manoranjan Bhattacharya defended Stimac.
“I won’t blame him (Stimac). It’s impossible for a coach to do anything good with this team. It lacks depth and quality barring a few footballers including (Sunil) Chhetri. Still, India will start favourites against Afghanistan,” said Bhattacharya.
