AFC Asian Cup: “Good learning experience,” says Stimac following India’s 1-0 loss to Syria

Following India’s 1-0 loss to Syria in the Group B match of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 at the Al Bayt Stadium on Tuesday, the Blue Tigers head coach Igor Stimac said that it was a “good learning experience” for them.
While speaking at the post-match press conference, Stimac said that his side proved that they can compete at this level.
“(It was a) good learning experience for us, I would say, because overall, in three games, we proved that we can compete at this level. Everybody sees what the missing points are in the Indian play: scoring goals, which comes with having good goal scorers in the team – people with confidence in front of the goal,” Stimac said as quoted by Indian Super League’s (ISL) official website.
The Croatian head coach was optimistic and said that they would be much stronger in the next edition of the AFC Asian Cup.
“We can take a good lesson from here, and in the next edition of the AFC Asian Cup, we’re going to be much stronger, definitely,” he added.
The 56-year-old congratulated the Syrian football team for their win and said that they deserved it.
“Congratulations to the Syrian team; they deserved it in the end. They were more powerful and more relaxed in those final third moments,” he added.
Recapping the match, a spirited Sunil Chhetri-led side held on to their clean sheet until the 76th minute of the game. Super sub, Omar Khrbin found the back of the net to clinch the game for Syria.
The Blue Tigers’ goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu at the goalpost looked like an unbreakable wall, but Khrbin managed to sneak past him and clinch the victory for Syria.
In reply to Syria’s 20 shots, India managed to fire back eight at them with only one on target. Even though the first half was quite level in terms of play, Syria looked in control with their ability to pierce India’s setup.