NEW DELHI: India's abysmal show at the Asian Cup -zero points, zero goals and six conceded in three games -and for all his nationalistic grandstanding on social media, Igor Stimac's refusal to take any responsibility for it has rankled the AIFF brass. The March 2024 meetings with Afghanistan in the second round of 2026 World Cup qualifiers are largely being seen now as providing an opportunity for a beleaguered All India Football Federation to finally take a call on the senior national coach's future - does he go or does he stay on.
"At the moment, it is too precarious to make any sweeping changes. It is true that our poor performance in the Asian Cup has been alarming," an official in the AIFF told TOI, "The March World Cup qualifying games could be the catalyst for us. But then, we were banking on the same thing against Syria too in the Asian Cup. See how that turned out" the official admitted.
