AFC Asian Cup 2024: 'Igor Stimac One Of The Best,' Says Indian Legend Shabbir Ali; Compares Croat To Former Coach Milovan Ciric

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Losing 3-0 in your last game international game before heading into the AFC Asian Cup 2024, that too when you are up against title contenders Australia in the group opener, can't be a good omen for the Indian football team, who reached Qatar two weeks before their tournament starts.

It is further worrying for some that India didn't play any international friendly in two months leading to the AFC Asian Cup 2024 due to player's domestic league commitments while Australia just faced Bahrain this weekend.

However, Indian football legend Shabbir Ali, who scored 30-odd international goals, saw much more than the scoreline of November's FIFA World Cup Qualifiers loss against Qatar in Bhubaneswar. For someone, who has represented India for over a decade and was followed by a successful managerial career, Shabbir saw the fight that Indian players put up against the reigning Asian champions and could see the hard work that has been put in by head coach Igor Stimac in building the team over the last four years.

"Many may say that India played bad because we lost 3-0 but I saw our players play some good football," the 67-year-old legend tells myKhel. "The fitness of the team and the way they are playing as a team shows the work that has been done by the coach. Earlier, we used to see the team defend and throw long passes but now players are full of confidence and not afraid of their rivals."

Hyderabad-born Shabbir Ali, who was the star of the junior national team that won India's sole AFC U-19 Asia Cup in 1974, compared the Croatian to India's former coach Milovan Ciric, who according to the Indian legend is the best manager to coach the Blue Tigers. Ciric, who had managed some of the top European clubs, was in charge of the Indian team in 1983-85, taking Shabbir Ali and teammates to the AFC Asian Cup 1984. This was India's first appearance at the tournament in two decades.

"Igor Stimac to me is one of the best," says the first Indian footballer to be the recipient of the Dhyan Chand Award. "The top coach that came to India was Milovan Ćirić, who transformed the way the Indian team approached the game but Stimac is really good as well."

However, things haven't always been ideal for Stimac, who made a strong claim ahead of the AFC Asian Cup 2024 that the tournament is not his priority anymore as he wasn't granted the one-month preparatory training camp. A clash with the Indian Super League fixtures meant that top clubs were reluctant to leave their players that early before a tournament.

Shabbir Ali, who played for East Bengal before coming up the ranks of Hyderabad-based Abbas Union FC and managed clubs like Mohammedan, Salgaocar among others, feels that such issues are not uncommon and have always been the case in football and he has faced the brunt of it during his playing days.

"This is not the first time such things happened in Indian football. In 1974, the government wasn't giving us the clearance (for the U-19 Asia Cup) but were eventually granted it. In 1976, I was with Bombay (Tata Sports Club) and many of the clubs refused to release players.

"The case is similar to European clubs, who always complain about international breaks and injuries. Asian Cup is an important tournament for us so if the coach says it's not his priority, he has his reasons while clubs spending on their players have their reasons too," concludes Shabbir Ali, who now serves as the president of his boyhood club Abbas Union FC.

India play their opening Group B match on January 13 against Australia, followed by matches against Uzbekistan (January 18) and Syria (January 23).