Lined up to face strong sides like Australia and Uzbekistan in the AFC Asian Cup football in Doha next month, India head coach Igor Stimac on Friday said "strength of character" will be the parameter to decide who will be included in the final squad.
India are clubbed with formidable Australia, strong central Asian side Uzbekistan and tricky Syria — all above Stimac's team in the Fifa rankings — in the group stage of the Asian Cup from January 13 onwards.
“All the boys in the (probable) list are similar in their football qualities. What we are looking for the final list of 26 is definitely experience, physical strength, and the final line will be drawn by the strength of their character,” Stimac said on the All India Football Federation's social media handles.
“This is very important for us as a team, because no matter the talent, if there is no character nothing can be achieved,” he added.
Stimac will announce his final 26 players before the team's departure on Saturday.
Regarding areas in which the team needs improvement, he said, "I am looking for defensive compactness, offensive transition, and the set pieces mostly.
"It’s also very important to work on man-marking inside the box, because I was not happy with that part of our game, in the last few games. We started leaking some unnecessary goals inside the box because marking was not properly done.”
India will face Australia on January 13, before playing against Uzbekistan (January 18) and Syria (January 23).
“All three opponents are technically good, physically strong, with great speed. So, we are not going to have much difference in approach of all these three games.
"The main focus for us will be to check the fitness level of our players at present and see how much we can develop in the next two weeks," he said.
Stimac is also grappling with injuries to a few of his key players. Glan Martins and Sahal Abdul Samad, both Mohun Bagan players, had suffered injuries recently, which has compounded Stimac's woes.
Central defender Anwar Ali and winger Ashique Kuruniyan, two key players in Stimac's scheme of things, were not named in the 50-player list due to long-term injuries.
Stimac said he wanted the players to believe in themselves and enjoy the game during the Asian Cup in Doha, where they will be playing in the stadiums that had hosted the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
Odisha FC trounce Jamshedpur
Calcutta: Odisha FC pulled off a dominant win over Jamshedpur FC in a dramatic first-half action as the Juggernauts enter the ISL-X season break high on confidence.
Their talented and experienced frontline clicked cohesively to put four goals past the Jamshedpur FC defence in the opening 45 minutes at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar to seal the deal straightaway.
Odisha FC are now unbeaten in 11 games in all competitions.
Later in Guwahati, NorthEast United FC held FC Goa 1-1. That means Kerala Blasters go into the break as table toppers with 26 points. Both FC Goa and Odisha have 24 points each but Goa have a better goal difference. Mumbai City are fourth with 22.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant (19 from 10 games) are fifth and East Bengal (11 from 10) are eighth.
Jamshedpur FC began the game strongly with a Rei Tachikawa stunner from outside of the box to bag the opener in the 23rd minute.
However, Odisha's Roy Krishna, Isak Vanlalruatfela and Diego Mauricio wreaked havoc in the remaining 20-odd minutes.
OUR BUREAU
