India are playing in successive editions of the AFC Asian cup for the first time in history and coach Igor Stimac is keen to make it count.
Is it a relief Sunil Chhetri will continue to represent India beyond the Asian Cup?
There is still lot of hunger in him. I once told Sunil that I won’t let him go before he scores 100 goals for India. We had a good laugh because he was then on 80 goals and now he is not far away from 100. His body is still quite young.
With India playing Australia in the opener, what are the concerns? Is it injuries , lack of fitness, lack of prep time or simply the quality of the opponent?
Everything you mentioned is kind of a concern for us, but not having Ashique (Kuruniyan), Anwar (Ali), Jeakson (Singh) and now Sahal (Abdul samad) for such a big game pains me. This game would have been a fantastic experience for them. With them, our team would have been better equipped to take on one of the toughest teams on the tournament. Their physical presence and composure will be badly missed.
Given your previous statements, many believe you are not taking the Asian Cup seriously……….
That’s ridiculous. My statements are being taken out of context. Why would I urge everyone for a longer camp prior to the Asian Cup? The AFC Asian cup is like the world cup for us, so let’s stop playing with my words.
What would be a realistic target?
Realistically, we are the underdogs in our group, but we have proved in 2023 against Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq that on our day we can be a threat.