India’s national team coach Igor Stimac has claimed that the path taken by India in the recent World Cup qualification remains good despite only managing a 1-1 draw with Afghanistan in the latest game. India have been unable to win any of the qualification matches so far. After starting the campaign with a defeat against Oman, they have gone on to draw the recent encounters against Qatar, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Even though these have been stalemates, there has not been a huge fight from India in recent games. As India prepares to play against Oman for the second leg,Stimac has had to fend off questions about complacency within the team.

At this rate, India will be able to make it to the next round of qualification. Only the top team qualifies to the next round automatically, while the second placed team in the group may or may not reach the third round. At present, Qatar occupies the top spot with 10 points whereas Oman are just behind with nine points. India are at risk of being cut off from these teams as a result of dropping seven points behind leaders. The game against Oman is the last for India in 2019 and they take on Qatar in March 2020.

“In football whenever you play you play to win it and that is why we are here. It is not that we are disrespecting the Oman team. Oman are a very good and strong team. We saw their strength in the first leg in Guwahati a few months back. They played really good football. I just hope tomorrow we create a lot of excitement, we play good football,” said India’s coach. India’s last win in any competition was back in June when they beat Thailand 1-0. In fact, India’s only wins of 2019 have been against Thailand.