Igor Stimac Reacts On 'Stimac Out' Slogans After India Lose To Afghanistan; Says Not Going Anywhere Before June

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Igor Stimac is not giving up yet on India's chance of qualifying for the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers after the national team suffered a shock 1-2 loss to Afghanistan in Guwahati on Tuesday (March 26).

While the slogan 'Stimac out' was raised by a section of fans at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium after India went down 1-2 late in the game, Igor Stimac said he is not going to give his opinions on the slogans raised while confirming he is not going anywhere until June, when India play Kuwait in a decisive match at home.

"Somebody instructed them (fans) to?" questioned Stimac during the post-match press conference when asked for his thoughts on the 'Stimac out' chant. "I appreciate it but I have a mission to fulfill here. Only a few months back it was an absolutely different story. I have a certain opinion on the matter and won't comment. I will finish my job here till June and then will see where we stand. I told you that yesterday also."

The 56-year-old Croatian raised the stakes high during the pre-match press conference on Monday as he said that he will leave his post as the head coach of the Indian football team if he fails to take the Indian team to an unprecedented third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

While India are currently placed fourth on the Group A points table with four points in four matches, they are likely to keep that spot until June with Kuwait facing an in-form Asian Champions Qatar tonight. However, a positive result against travelling Kuwait in the June 6 encounter will be imperative while aiming to not go down by a sizeable margin against Qatar on June 11 in the last group game.

Igor Stimac remains hopeful that a long camp with his squad, which is on the cards since the Indian football domestic season will be on a break during the summer, will be able to notch up some positive results.

"Of course, I feel we can qualify because we are going to be a different team after the long camp. At the moment, half of our players are not bringing the intensity to keep the game going on and I can't change that in five days (of training camp). I hope you remember all these players last June and July (who won the SAFF Championships and Intercontinental Cup). We defeated stronger teams than Afghanistan last year after a long camp," said Stimac.

The Croatian has been pushing for longer national camps since the success of last year was built around the last summer camp. However, the schedule of the Indian domestic football season has made it difficult for him to get camps for more than two weeks. Before the Afghanistan match, the coach was allotted a camp of less than a week.