"It's again Sunil" - Igor Stimac laments lack of goalscorers except Chhetri in the Indian side

The Indian national team cruised to a clinical 2-0 victory against Cambodia in their opening game of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata, on Wednesday. A brace (14' and 59') from Sunil Chhetri was what the Blue Tigers needed to sink the Angkor Warriors.

However, in the post-match press conference, head coach Igor Stimac underlined that other Indian forwards need to start contributing with goals and learn to play in the absence of their star forward.

"It's again Sunil. Others are still trying but aren't able to find the goals. I expect Liston (Colaco), Manvir (Singh), Udanta (Singh), and Ashique (Kuruniyan) to score. They all need to start scoring. I took Sunil out because this isn't one game but three games and these boys need to learn to start playing without him."

But overall, Igor Stimac was pleased with how his team performed on the night. The former Hajduk Split boss revealed that he had asked for two things from his players before the game. A clean sheet and goals.

His players delivered it to him in some style. However, Igor Stimac stressed that there are still areas where the team needs to improve.

"They did the best they could today. However, there are still a lot of areas to improve on. But one-third of the job is done. I asked for two things from my players today - a clean sheet and goals. I would be happier if there were three or four goals but two is also good. I'm very happy with the performance and confident about what's coming up."

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"He better watch the next one" - Igor Stimac responds to Afghanistan head coach's statements

In the build-up to their first game of the tournament, Afghanistan head coach Anoush Dastgir had made a notable remark. He said that India were lucky to win against them in their previous encounters but the Lions of Khorasan are eyeing revenge.

Asked what he thought of those statements from Dastgir, head coach Igor Stimac exclaimed that he wasn't sure if the Afghan boss had followed the previous matches at all.

"I'm not sure if he was watching the previous games. But he better watch the next one."

Incidentally, the Afghans lost 2-1 in their opening match against Hong Kong. Hence, the next match is expected to be a do-or-die encounter for them. So whether they can dish out revenge, or face the axe themselves, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the Blue Tigers will be elated with their steady start and will be hoping to build on the same.