India’s first match against Bangladesh ended in an underwhelming 1-1 draw and the last match against Sri Lanka finished 0-0, therefore the Blue Tigers are now desperate for three points.
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The Indian football team will take on Nepal in a must-win game in the 2021 SAFF Cup on Sunday. After two consecutive draws from the opening two matches, the seven time champions are beleaguered. India’s first match against Bangladesh ended in an underwhelming 1-1 draw and the last match against Sri Lanka finished 0-0, therefore the Blue Tigers are now desperate for three points, in order to keep their hopes of qualifying for the final alive. The top two teams after the round-robin stage would go through to the final.
“Nothing much has changed,” head coach Igor Stimac said in the official pre-match press conference.
“We are here, and we are still alive in the championship. We are still here to win the tournament,” he added.
Stimac’s men know the Nepal team pretty well as they had played two friendlies in the first week of September where India won the second match 2-1 after drawing the first match 1-1.
“We know them very well and have played twice against them. It’s an open game and if we play well, and do it right on the pitch, I am sure that we can win the game. There is no other option for us than to go out there and win it,” Stimac stated.
The Nepal team is in very good form having won the first two matches of the tournament and are placed on top of the table. Nepal defeated Maldives 1-0 in their first match before overcoming Sri Lanka in a 3-2 thriller.
“They may have a different approach. They may calculate while playing against us. But we are not worried about them. We will go out to do our job from the first minute itself,” the coach added.
Midfielder Brandon Fernandes insisted that the team has “everything to play for.”
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Brandon said: “We have had two disappointing results so far. Understandably, the mood was dull in the camp. But tomorrow we have everything to fight for. We are positive and have prepared well for this game. Everyone is focused in winning the match.”
Stimac was critical about his team’s lack of discipline on the pitch.
“We haven’t been disciplined enough on the pitch. For all those simple mistakes, we are currently on two points whereas we should have been on six points now,” he opined.
“We know it will not be easy against Nepal. But we could win against them in Kathmandu, we can do it here too. But I reiterate that for that to happen we need to be committed and disciplined.”
In the last match, the Blue Tigers managed to register only one shot on target, which is not at all acceptable. Stimac would certainly have to add a bit more creativity and firepower in the starting line-up against Nepal. Sahal Abdul Samad and Brandon need to come back into the playing XI. Both of them are extremely talented playmakers who are capable of making things happen.
