Need to go & snatch victory against Afghanistan: coach Igor Stimac

Focussing on the job in hand, Blue Tigers' coach Igor Stimac said winning against Afghanistan was "the only thing" the team was focusing on after they wrapped up the solitary training session at the Dubai Sports City in Dubai this morning. 

"Winning against Afghanistan is the only thing that is going on in our mind now. It will not come to us, rather we need to go and snatch it. We have a steep task in Dushanbe and we have to overcome that. We can't afford to slip at any cost. It's always about us and our performance to achieve something," Stimac stated. 

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The Croatian coach further praised the facility in Dubai where the team stressed on maintaining "the shape" in today's session followed by routine warm-up regimes. 

"The facility has been fantastic and we had another productive session on turf before reaching Dushanbe. We have mainly worked on the shape which will be of utmost importance against Afghanistan," coach Igor Stimac expressed following the training session in the gulf city. 

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Prior to that, the boys took part in short passing sessions while strength and conditioning coach Luka Radman worked on a few players' muscle recovery. 

"Boys are looking focused and that's most important before hitting the ground. We have taken good care of ourselves and Professor (Luka Radman) is working on the players' recovery," the 52-year-old coach maintained. 

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Meanwhile, ‘Captain Marvel’ Sunil Chhetri felt “converting chances” is an area where the team needs to work more as well as be a tougher unit while defending. 

“We are creating chances. But that’s not enough. We have to try our best to convert them and try to be a tougher unit while defending. We have missed against Bangladesh and we need to pull up our socks against Afghanistan. At the end of the day, if we can do better on the pitch, we’ll be happier,” Chhetri mentioned. 
 
"We had come here before and would be happy coming back again. The facility has been superb and this particular session is surely going to help us gel well before hitting the ground on 14th," Pronay Halder expressed.  

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