Will Become Solid Again: Indian Football Team Coach Ahead Of World Cup Qualifiers

Emphasising on the need to stay positive, Indian football team coach Igor Stimac says injuries to key players such as Ashique Kuruniyan and Jeakson Singh have made the task tougher ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. India are slated to play Kuwait in their den in a 2026 World Cup and AFC 2027 Asian Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 next week. India are also playing in the upcoming Asian Cup in January next year. "We have entered the new phase of our work, and we know it's going to be very hard and difficult on the boys. We know that the next few months until March will be very difficult," Stimac told the All India Football Federation (AIFF) website.

"We are very optimistic then that once the players, who are missing now, are back, we will become solid again and show strength on the pitch, no matter who we play against.

"So, the focus at this moment is how to replace those boys who were the starting 11 players, such as Ashique Kuruniyan, Anwar Ali and Jeakson Singh (currently nursing injuries).

"They were our strength in the latest successes we had. These boys played very good football; they were adding extra value to the whole team," he added.

India have emerged victorious 3-2 against Kuwait on their home turf only once in a friendly match in 2004.

Asked if the group is tough, he replied in the positive and said the aim is to bag the second position.

"Yes, the group is very tough and challenging because we know there will be no easy opponents, and they are the top teams. So apart from that, from the third pot we got by far the best opponents available (Kuwait).

"So, the group is tough at the moment, but we need to approach it game by game and prepare for it. As far as I'm concerned and with my experience