Indian National Team Head Coach Igor Stimac, on the eve of the Blue Tigers’ match against Bangladesh, described the opposition as a “team with great fighting spirit”, that puts in “quality work” on the pitch.

Stimac was speaking at the official pre-match press conference for India’s match against Bangladesh in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 preliminary joint round qualification round which was scheduled to be played at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

“In the football world, I would say they are very annoying team who disturb the opposition with so much defensive work, quality work – with blocks – quite similar to what we did against Qatar,” Stimac averred.

“In football at times, you need to do everything possible to irritate the rival team, to annoy them, to cut their passing. Bangladesh are fighting it for every point in the group, and whatever they do, they do it as a team,” the Head Coach averred.

Defender Sandesh Jhingan stressed that the team aims to carry forward the “character” displayed in the match against Qatar into the match against Bangladesh.

“The match against Qatar was not easy. But we displayed a certain character and arrogance in the 90 minutes against the Asian champions.” Jhingan maintained.