"We were much closer to winning this game" - Igor Stimac reflects on India's stalemate against Afghanistan in World Cup Qualifiers

The 0-0 stalemate for the Indian men's senior team against Afghanistan in the wee hours of Friday (March 22) wasn't just a dull affair for the fans to witness but also a major blow to their aspirations of making it through to the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

For the most part, there was a lack of commitment on the players' end against a weakened Afghanistan side, who are ranked 158th. But head coach Igor Stimac, while expressing his disappointment, stressed that his men could've walked away with the three points.

"I am disappointed with the result in the end but we were much closer to winning this game [than Afghanistan]. We created three or four really good chances. Unfortunately, we couldn't score, and that's been a problem that has been following us for many years with the well-known problems in our football," the Croatian gaffer said in the post-match press conference (via Khel Now).

There were indeed half chances that the Blue Tigers could've capitalized on, however, except when Subhasish Bose miscued an open header in the 79th minute, India rarely threatened to pull ahead.

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"Need to be much better in attacking the crosses" - Indian head coach Igor Stimac

Stimac pointed out that despite trying out all his attacking options, the team couldn't conjure a match-winning goal. He said the defenders stood up to the task but demanded more from his forwards, especially while attacking aerial balls.

"We tried all the players we had in our frontline, but it didn't work today. A few things we need to improve as we complicate simple things in the offensive plan. I'm not happy about that. The defenders did well and didn't give any clear-cut chances. But we need to be much better in attacking the crosses coming into the box," the national team coach said (via My Khel).

There's no denying that India's attacking department was poor against the Lions of Khorasan, and it's difficult to ignore the lack of control in the middle of the park. The duo of Apuia and Jeakson Singh were rolled over on the break on a couple of occasions, causing great distress to the visitors' backline.

India's FIFA World Cup 2026 aspirations might come to a premature halt if these evident weaknesses aren't addressed and ironed out ahead of the return leg in Bhubaneswar in four days (March 26).