India Football Coach Igor Stimac Not Ready To Predict Asian Games Outcome

Indian football head coach Igor Stimac is not sure where the country would finish in the Hangzhou Asian Games next month given the U-23 format of the quadrennial showpiece and with very little known about the opposing teams. Asked what finish at the Asian Games would satisfy him, Stimac said on Monday that while India does have a strong team, the fact that it is the only side having "not played a single game with the under-23s in the last two years" made predicting the outcome difficult.

"It's difficult to say (how far India will go in the Asian Games) because it's an under-23 competition, and you don't have much information about all the teams you're going to face there. I think we are the only team that hasn't played a single game with the under-23s in the last two years.

"How much we can do in a short preparation time is a huge question. Obviously, we do have strong under-23 players, who are already a huge part of the senior national team, and it should help us. But as you say, it's a similar competition to the Asian Cup, but different also because you don't have time between the games for recovery.

"We're going to face the biggest opponents in our group, China, in the opening game. And less than 48 hours later we have to play the next opponents (Bangladesh), which is hugely surprising. We're going to put all our efforts into the opening game and do our best to beat China to make our life easier," added Stimac in an interview to AIFF.

With the prestigious King's Cup all set to kick of in Thailand on September 7, Stimac is also looking at options in the likelihood of ace striker Sunil Chhetri not being part of the squad.

The King's Cup will be India's first outing abroad this year following their stupendous performance