And on the opening, the Indian team are up for a blockbuster clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. The Indian team are slotted in Group A along with Pakistan, Kuwait and Nepal.
As the Blue Tigers prepare for the SAFF tournament, their coach Igor Stimac was in all praises for their Wednesday opponents. Pakistan, who are ranked 195 in the world, have had a struggle of late but Stimac showed utmost respect to the rivals in the pre-match press conference.
“Let’s not speak about the rankings here. Pakistan were better than Kenya (in their 0-1 loss) away from home. They created better chances and were more aggressive. Yes, they defended deep, but they have six to seven players who were developed abroad,” Stimac said.
Pakistan lost all three of their matches in a friendly four-nation tournament. They lost 0-3 against Mauritius, and then lost 0-1 against Kenya and 1-3 against Djibouti.
India are on the back of the Intercontinental title win as they beat Lebanon 2-0 in the final on Sunday, but the Indian coach wants to emphasize on consistency ahead of the SAFF assignment.
“The mood in the camp is brilliant, obviously, after winning the Intercontinental Cup. But the second step, which is the difficult one, is to repeat it from game to game. Let’s not be misled by the great performance against Lebanon, as every day is a new challenge. Keeping consistency is very important for us,” the Indian head coach added.
He also welcomed the two invitees for the tournament, both Lebanon and Kuwait have joined the tournament which makes it an 8-team event, for the first time in SAFF Championship’s history since 2013.
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