Mumbai: Croatian Igor Stimac will be the coach of the men’s Indian Football team. This was taken after the wise men of the Indian Football Team sat across the table to pick up the chosen one. It was Croatian Igor Stimac who caught the eyes of them all. Free Press Journal was the first to predict the Croatian as the best choice for the job, (May 5, 2019, Croatian likely to be Indian football coach).
Croatia’s World Cupper and former manager Igor Stimac is team’s head coach after the AIFF Technical Committee on Thursday recommended his name for the top job. The 51-year-old Stimac, a member of the Croatian team that finished third in the 1998 World Cup, has got the nod from the Technical Committee which interviewed four shortlisted candidates on Thursday. Born in the small town of Metkovic in the then Yugoslavia, Stimac has played in 53 international matches for Croatia as center-back between 1990 and 2002. He played at Euro 1996 and at the 1998 World Cup when Croatia finished third.
Before that, he played in 14 matches for Yugoslavia Under-20 team in 1987. “We have recommended Igor Stimac’s name to the All India Football Federation Executive Committee after interviewing all the four candidates. We found him as the best suited to become India coach,” said Shyam Thapa, the Technical Committee Chairman while talking to Free Press Journal. The AIFF is to officially announce Stimac’s appointment as India coach on Saturday. Stimac was the only candidate who turned up in person for the interview while the other three, South Korean Lee Min-sung, Spaniard Alberto Roca and Hakan Ericson of Sweden, were interviewed via Skype. The newly-appointed Technical Director Doru Isac was also present during the interview of the candidates.