Igor Stimac wants to award opportunities to performing players in the current ISL season in the couple of friendlies ahead of Asia Cup Qualifiers

Indian national team is all set to prepare for their upcoming AFC Asian Cup qualifiers with two back to back friendlies against Bahrain and Belarus. The friendly matches will be played in Bahrain on March 23 and March 26 and will kick off from 9:30 PM IST.

Head coach Igor Stimac has called up some very interesting names in the national camp and it will be exciting to see some new talents emerge in national colours. The players are currently fighting it out in their national camp in Pune. In order to do well in the upcoming Asian Cup Qualifiers, India needs to get their plans right in these two friendly matches.

Stimac highlights how the two matches with specific teams are selected very carefully as the match against Bahrain will allow him to know where his team stands as it will be a very competitive affair. “We have chosen the opponents carefully. Bahrain is one of the sides which is competitive, it’ll show us where we stand at the moment,” Stimac said in a press conference on Monday.

“We’re going to give an opportunity to some of the players who performed really well this season and see how they can play in an international stage. (And see) if we can count on them for the qualifiers,” he added.

Once the Indian Super League ends on March 20, the remaining players who are currently featuring in the playoffs will also join the camp in Pune before taking their flight to Bahrain. Stimac has identified eight new faces in the national camp, he has awarded these players for their sensational performances in the current ISL campaign.

He wants to see how the new players will fare out in the friendly matches against Bahrain and Belarus before heading into the important matches. “I’m looking to have a closer look at some of the new faces and find out how much they can do at the international stage. The pace of the ISL is far below the pace of international football,” he explained.

The Croatian tactician understands the difference in ISL and international football and feels that the main work will be to identify their talents and strengths as they aim to make the best team for the Asia Cup qualifiers.

“Sometimes we are impressed by some players in the ISL, but when it comes to international football, there’s nothing they can do to help us at that stage. We need to make sure about what their qualities are and make sure that the team for June is the best we can get.”

India are clubbed along with Hong Kong, Cambodia and Afghanistan in the Group D of the Asian Cup qualifiers final rounds. The Blue Tigers will be hoping to get through the group and qualify for the main event next year.