Setback: Stimac feels that India’s probabilities on the Asian Cup have been hit by accidents to key personnel.

India will attempt to utilise the Asian Cup expertise in bettering its probabilities within the 2026 World Cup qualification course of, mentioned the pinnacle coach of the senior males’s nationwide workforce, Igor Stimac, after his aspect landed in Doha to take part within the closing stage of the continental competitors.

Stimac mentioned that India can play fearless soccer and he wish to see the gamers deliver their finest in opposition to the likes of Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria, who're the three opponents within the group league stage.

“We are now trying to play fearless football and can prove our stuff without getting intimidated by the opposition. We need to find stability in our team as we know we can play well,” mentioned Stimac.

“But I am not looking at the final result to be honest. I just want the boys to enjoy the tournament and gain experience. As I have said earlier our top priority now is to qualify to the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.”

He mentioned that India may have hoped to do nicely within the Asian Cup however the workforce’s prospects suffered due to accidents to key gamers. “Things changed dramatically for us owing to injuries that happened to some of our key players in the last couple of months.

“It started with Ashique Kuriniyan. Then it was Anwar Ali followed by Jeakson Singh. Next we lost some of our back-up options like Glan (Martins) and Rohit (Kumar) to injuries.

“We are not as good as we could have been but we do not have time to think of the players who are not with us. We have to focus on those who are there with us. We have to try to utilise the time given to us (by the AIFF) and prepare the team by bringing their fitness to a higher level,” Stimac added.

India performs Australia within the first match on January 13.

India is showing within the Asian Cup closing spherical after 2019 with a revamped squad that was reworked underneath Stimac. “We reconstructed the team in a process that started four and a half years ago. The players who are here have sufficient experience, having been with the squad many times in the past. Never mind that 17 of the 26 players are first-timers in a such big tournament, but I am sure it will be a big experience for them,” the National coach mentioned. Stimac revealed that the ultimate preparation might be brief and hoped that the gamers might be persevering with with preparedness that they gained from the continuing ISL season. “We will try to have nine football training sessions on the pitch. Which will be the schedule until the first match (against Australia). We will have a practice match on the January 7 to assess where we stand at the moment before we meet Australia,” he mentioned.