It's hard to hate irascible Igor Stimac - Fans back India head coach as their own

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It's an exciting time to be an Indian football fan if you are following the national team's performances up close. Result-wise speaking, the Blue Tigers have just reached the SAFF Championship 2023 final in Bengaluru after winning the Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar a fortnight ago.

Coach Igor Stimac and side are also on a 13-match unbeaten streak at home and have conceded just one goal in nine games, including an eight-match clean-sheet run and a 4-0 thrashing of arch-rivals Pakistan in front of a packed Kanteerava Stadium with the skipper Sunil Chhetri scoring a hat-trick.

However, statistics could be misleading. As was the case back in 2017 when beating a much higher-ranked Puerto Rico -- who also fielded an inexperienced squad -- in a friendly match helped India dramatically enter the top 100 of the FIFA ranking spread for the first time in 23 years.

The celebration of that success was short-lived as India eventually phased out of the best 100 footballing nations. Yes, there was a high point in beating Thailand 4-1 at the Asian Cup 2019 but running out of steam by the final group game meant that India exited the tournament with a bitter taste in their mouth.

Earlier this week, when the national team re-entered the top 100 for the first time in five years, the sense of approval, achievement, and attachment for the side ran high among the fans, who finally felt that the Indian football team has an identity of its own.

"I was watching Bangladesh defend in numbers the other day against Kuwait and it reminded me this is how we played not so long ago," says Amol Gamre, a senior member of Bengaluru FC's fan club West Block Blues. "There's no more parking the bus and long passes from the back for Sunil Chhetri to find a way through.

"Instead one can clearly see a style of play and pattern where the entire team combines together through both short and long passes to open up gaps in the opponent's defence. Whether it's Sunil Chhetri at the front or Sandesh Jhingan at the back, everyone has a role to play."

Indeed, it has been a pleasure to watch the Blue Tigers go about their business on the field nowadays and much of the credit goes to coach Igor Stimac, whose relentless pursuit to take the team forward has led to an aggressive brand of football.

Igor Stimac's attack-is-the-best-defence approach

Using the array of Indian talent at his disposal, the Croatian coach, who is the 1998 World Cup third-place winner and also coached his national team for a year spell in 2012, has built a pool of 30-odd players (23 for SAFF Championship), who are fitted into the line-up as per their expertise and tactical requirements.

Quality through and diagonal balls from the heart of the midfield to the space in the flank are a regular sight as Aniruh Thapa is often on the hunt to find those gaps with incredible ease. This allows the talented and pacy wingers such as Lallinzuala Chhangte, Ashique Kuruniyan, and Narem Mahesh Singh among others to stretch the opponent's defence and pepper the box with crosses.

Rivals are often cautious of the wave of attacks that comes down the Indian wings too as fullbacks Akash Mishra's and Nikhil Poojary's overlapping runs, early crosses, and telepathic understanding with wingers only bring them further trouble.

The space that is left behind by the fullbacks is covered with the robust presence of Jeakson Singh, Rohit Kumar, and other talented options in the midfield, who have their own qualities and ways of increasing numbers at the back as Igor Stimac has built a side that is not afraid of playing with a high defensive line and yet conceded a little.

Saying that, there's no way one could play foolproof football and that's why the individual brilliance of the likes of Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu among others at the back are tested every now and then.

That's why the recent eight-match clean-sheet streak didn't come as a surprise as we saw an Indian team that was willing to fall back in numbers during attack-to-defence transition. However, the question that lingers, especially in the mind of skeptics, if this brand of football will withstand the pressure of higher-ranked opponents at big-ticket events?

'Rome wasn't built in a day'

Ardent Indian fans are in no hurry to see a miracle to happen as they believed the coach's job is to take Indian fans to the next level and the first step to that is leaving a mark at the continental stage.

"I know some of the fans want to see India win all the matches but Rome wasn't built in a day," says Sourabh Guha, a senior Blue Pilgrims member, who travels around India to watch the national team for over a decade now.

"We at Blue Pilgrims have seen a lot of losses and we know there are more losses coming. However, Stimac's approach is something that is new to Indian football and is a big positive. Some of us were not sure about him at first as we paid attention to the results too much but looking at what he has built. In my opinion, we owe him an apology for not trusting him."

It's also important to point out that there has been a growth in India's performance against some of the quality rivals that India faced under Stimac. At the ongoing competition, India came close to a historic maiden win over Kuwait, leaving their last humiliating encounter against the Middle East side in the distant memory as India lost 9-1 in 2010.

On the contrary, India were the dominant side at the Kanteeerava Stadium a few evenings ago before three red cards in the space of the last 10 minutes was followed by an own goal by Anwar Ali. However, it was Igor Stimac's red card at the 80th minute that made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Several quarters also questioned the coach's future with the national team as this was the second time in as many games he was given the marching orders in the victory against Pakistan too. The double red card accumulations also led to three-match suspensions including the semifinal and the final of the SAFF Championship while reports have suggested that the Indian football body (AIFF) has urged caution to the 55-year-old as well.

Fans, however, are holding nothing against Stimac for the two red cards. In fact, the stands right behind the dugouts chanted the coach's name in support right after the incident.

'Igor Stimac is one of us now'

"Red cards are what they are, just red cards, they happen in football," says Aritra Das, founding member of East Bengal fan group BADGEB. "Also, the red card during the Pakistan match was justified but the one against Kuwait made little sense.

"But he is neither the first manager to be sent off and nor the last one so we are not reading too much into it. His passion for the team on the touchline and aggression to defend his players only wins are hearts and makes him one of us now."

Igor Stimac, in fact, has shown no repentance for the red cards and has stated that the team is 'shutting out all noises'. Such noises are having little impact on the fans as well, who are finding it hard to hate the coach as the future appears bright to them.