Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 8 (ANI): Indian males’s senior soccer group head coach Igor Stimac stated on Thursday that although the opponents they are going to face in the course of the Intercontinental Cup is not going to be as powerful as these in the course of the Asian Cup, they’re nonetheless aggressive. He praised Mongolia, his facet’s first opponents of their marketing campaign which begins from Friday, for his or her “counter-attacking football”.
The India senior males’s group will start their Intercontinental Cup 2023 marketing campaign with a first-ever assembly in opposition to Mongolia on Friday, June 8, 2023, on the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar at 19:30 IST.
The third version of the Intercontinental Cup will kick off with a conflict between Lebanon and Vanuatu at 16:30 earlier within the day on the identical venue. Hosts, India gained the inaugural match in 2018 in Mumbai, defeating Kenya 2-0 within the ultimate, whereas DPR Korea beat Tajikistan within the final version in Ahmedabad in 2019.
The Blue Tigers are all geared as much as raise the trophy as soon as once more, and head coach Igor Stimac iterated that in the course of the pre-tournament press convention on Thursday. He stated as quoted by an AIFF press launch, “We are expecting to win the tournament, and that’s why we’re here. We will do everything possible to make that happen.”The huge goal for India is the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar in seven months’ time, and with the Blue Tigers set to play a number of matches till the top of this yr, Stimac believes each minute of each sport will depend for the group’s preparations.
“Although our opponents (in the Intercontinental Cup) are not as tough as the teams we’ll face in the Asian Cup, they are still good and competitive. Mongolia is a very aggressive side with a lot of young players in midfield and upfront. They press high press and play counter-attacking football. Even though they may find it difficult to adapt to the warm weather here, their players are arriving in competitive form as the Mongolian league is going on at the moment,” stated Stimac, sharing his ideas on India’s East Asian opponents.
India has been in camp in Bhubaneswar since May 15, giving Stimac loads of time to make a robust evaluation of his squad. The group might doubtlessly play as many as 9 matches in lower than a month, with the SAFF Championship additionally starting on June 21 in Bengaluru.
“Each game will be a challenge for us. We have had enough time for preparation. We need to be physically ready for these games and take everything into our hands. Our players are here to prove that they deserve their place in the national team,” stated Stimac, in response to AIFF launch.
“Playing at home will be a big advantage for us. I hope to see a large number of supporters cheering for us. We saw in Manipur that when we’re surrounded by passionate fans who shower us with love, they can help us beat better-ranked teams,” he added.
Blue Tigers captain Sunil Chhetri can not wait to put on the blue of India for the primary time in Odisha. He stated, “Me and the boys are very excited. It’s strange that we have never played in Bhubaneswar or anywhere in Odisha before in my career, so we are really happy to be here. Everything from our hospitality to training pitches has been top-notch, and we have made good use of the three weeks here. Hopefully, we don’t have just three games here but four (including the final),” stated the skipper.
Mongolia, ranked 183 within the FIFA Rankings, head into the Intercontinental Cup with out a lot expectations however with no scarcity of motivation. Their Japanese head coach Ichiro Otsuka shared his ideas on what he and his facet look to achieve from the match.
“All the other three teams are ranked higher than us. But we will fight and try to have better games against them. We are very motivated to showcase our football here,” he stated.
In their earlier pleasant sport in opposition to 77-ranked Georgia in March, Mongolia put in defensive present, holding the hosts at 1-1 till half-time earlier than finally dropping 1-6. Against India, Otsuka expects his facet to be put to a rigorous take a look at once more.
“Compared to us, the Indian team is very strong. Later this year, we will have our first round of the World Cup Qualifiers, where we will face higher-ranked teams. So we want to concentrate on defending first. But, of course, we also have some ideas going forward,” stated the Japanese.
The heat Odisha climate is one other huge problem the Mongolia facet will probably be coping with. “There is a huge difference between the weather conditions in Mongolia and India. It was snowing back there a few days ago, but it’s so hot and humid here. But we will do our best because it is a good opportunity to test ourselves against higher-ranked opponents,” stated Otsuka. (ANI)