It’s Mission Asian Cup for the Blue Tigers as coach Stimac prepares a blueprint for the road ahead Premium

Former Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac, who has helmed the Indian team for the past four years, has started the final lap of the preparatory process that will see the country begin its Asian Cup campaign in the second week of January in Qatar.

There is a mix of hope and expectation as the senior Indian men’s football team goes through the paces in the unrelenting summer heat, trying to put its best foot forward in the continental competition — the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup which starts early next year.

Bhubaneswar, home to Indian Super League side Odisha FC, has offered its facilities to the national squad that has been picked mainly from the latest season of the country’s top league (ISL).

Former Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac, who has helmed the Indian team for the past four years, has started the final lap of the preparatory process that will see the country begin its Asian Cup campaign in the second week of January in Qatar.

The journey, which will witness seven months of preparation and competitions, will be crucial for the Indian team as it will take on the higher-ranked sides Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria in the group league stage of the Asian Cup’s final leg.

The Indian men’s football team enjoyed its brightest phase in the middle of the previous century, finishing fourth in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and lifting the Asian Games crowns in 1951 and 1962; it had its glorious moment in the Asian Cup, too. That happened almost six decades ago when it was the runner-up in 1964 in Israel. After the Asian Games bronze in 1970, India’s appearance on the podium completely disappeared at the continental level.

The Indians will find renewed vigour as the national federation, under the new regime of administrators, has redrawn the roadmap of resurgence encapsulated in ‘Vision 2047’. The Asian Cup performance will be the first phase in the evaluation of the country’s ambition to get into the top-10 in the continent. The Blue Tigers have managed to qualify for the final stage of the Asian Cup competition on four occasions in the past four decades (since 1984). But they have not been able to progress beyond the group league stage, finishing at the bottom of the standings almost every time. The biggest challenge is to break the league stage jinx.

“It is going to be a tough battle for us. It is much tougher than four years ago (2019), but we will be there to fight every step of the way. It is all about the time in front of us to prepare well, obtain the work that is needed, and be at the strongest possible point by next January,” said Stimac on the Asian Cup mission.