For Indian football, any spark is a big thing and a matter to rejoice. One such came Tuesday when the national team held Qatar 0-0 in a World Cup qualifier.Qatar are the Asian champions who have pumped in goals-against Asian rivals this year. They took on India after slotting six against Afghanistan. And to share points with a champion side is no easy task. They have a right to enjoy the occasion.
Once the celebrations were over, the team as well as new coach Igor Stimac had their feet firmly on the ground. Stimac assessed the situation realistically: Relax, it is just one point which has little value in the larger context unless the team beats Bangladesh and Afghanistan to have any chance of reaching the next stage from the five-team group.
The Croatian, who played for his country and coached the side in the build-up to the 2014 World Cup, was reminding them what happened against Oman at Guwahati the previous week when they conceded two goals at the end after taking the lead. Captain Sunil Chhetri, who missed the Qatar match with fever, concurred with the coach. “Not a big result for the table, but in terms of a fight, as big as it can.”
There had been some planning before they took the field, seeing the way they adopted to defence as the best way of attack. Once they felt secure, they ventured up. With a little luck they could have even scored a goal if not two.
Stimac, who was part of the Croatian side that finished third in the 1998 World Cup, has done a lot of homework and studied the playing pattern of Qatar. It was left to the boys to execute his plan. They did it with a little pluck.
Stimac did not play safe by going with the side raised by predecessor Stephen Constantine, who was in charge for seven years in two spells, and brought in players not even in the list of probables for the Asian Cup. Every coach has his own ideas. Stimac has decided to take the plunge within five months of taking over. He knew what he was doing and yet if the players had not lived up to expectations, he would have been in trouble. The players themselves now believe they can create an impact, irrespective of the result. There were spells in the second half when they played as if they were possessed.
Much of the credit goes to goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu, who captained the side in the absence of Chhetri. Till he came on the scene, India remembered Subrata Paul for his courageous saves, particularly in the 2011 Asian Cup. Paul feels Gurpreet’s best is still to come.Gurpreet studied videos of the Qatari players and their shot-making areas and angles. But he may not have expected them to shoot like they did, using him like a punching bag. When he was beaten on a couple of occasions, the goalpost came to his rescue.
Hovering around near 100 in the FIFA rankings, India had been living on hope more than taking their opponents head-on. Every visiting FIFA official pats the All India Football Federation president on his back to say India is an emerging team in the region. Sepp Blatter even called the Indians sleeping giants. That was two decades ago.
All that it has to show for is 46 coaches since Independence, 13 of them from overseas. The federation apes other international teams who sack coaches if they don’t qualify for the World Cup or don’t do well at the big event.
India sacks coaches mostly for reasons other than the performance, sometimes to please the Indian contenders. If Stimac can inspire the players and create an atmosphere in the changing room for everyone to feel he is wanted, he can make them a fighting outfit and bring them back into the top 100
from 103.
(The writer is a veteran commentator and the views expressed are personal. He can be reached at sveturi@gmail.com)