SAFF Championship: Head coach Igor Stimac urges India to be ‘clever and patient’ against Sri Lanka

A 1-1 draw against 10-man Bangladesh dented their confidence. India will need to quickly get their act together as they take on Sri Lanka in their second SAFF Championship match in Male on Thursday. The Indians go into Thursday’s game on the back of a disappointing stalemate with Bangladesh. Indian football players during the training session (Image Courtesy: AIFF Media)HIGHLIGHTSIndia look to register tournament’s first win against Sri LankaSunil Chhetri is just one goal shy of the iconic Pele in terms of international goalsIt’s about patience, attitude, and approach, says Igor StimacIndia head coach Igor Stimac on Thursday said that his team will have to be patient and clever against Sri Lanka in their second SAFF Championship match in Male on Thursday.

The Indians go into Thursday’s game on the back of a disappointing stalemate with Bangladesh, against whom they should have won considering that they dominated the majority of the proceedings and even took the lead courtesy of a Sunil Chhetri strike.However, that was not to be and India are looking forward to the Sri Lanka game to register their first win in the tournament, which they won a record seven times.“We need to look forward. There are three matches left in the group stage. We were punished in the last match, and we need to improve,” head coach Igor Stimac stated.“It’s about patience, it’s about attitude, and it’s about the approach.”The Blue Tigers head coach Igor Stimac has come under fire for India’s failure to win enough matches in the recent past and he will be under the pump on Thursday.The coach did hint that he may bring in some changes to the starting XI after having a final look at the condition of the players.“We still have 24 hours to go. We will have a clear picture of the players in the evening after we finish the training session. At that time, we will get to know how the players are feeling, how much the legs are loaded,” he said.Stimac has made no displeasure about the final result against Bangladesh.“We have analysed our game against Bangladesh and we are not happy with the final result. We are two points from what we have to have in our kitty.“So we need to do everything possible to win against Sri Lanka. We respect Sri Lanka as a team. I feel they could have two points from the two games they played. But they don’t have any, and that’s football,” he added.Sunil Chhetri is just one goal shy of the iconic Pele in terms of international goals scored and a struggling Sri Lanka will be a great opportunity for him to scale yet another landmark in his illustrious career. But he will need support from the others if the team is to secure full points from the game.Click here for our site’s complete coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.