'Matches against Kuwait, Qatar will tell us everything': Stimac

The results against Kuwait and Qatar in June will be the real indicator of the Indian football teams prospects of making a maiden appearance in the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers head coach Igor Stimac said on WednesdayIndia will take on lowerranked Afghanistan in their second round qualifying match on Thursday and a win in the hill town will only brighten their chances of progressing to the third round something the Blue Tigers have never achievedEach game is important from the aspect of selfconfidence and rankings But our priority and the final goal is to qualify for Round 3 There are various options to get there and obviously nothing will be decided in the next two games The matches in June against Kuwait and Qatar will tell us everything Stimac saidThis will be the fourth time in five years that India will face Afghanistan in an official matchThe two meetings in the World Cup Qualifiers in 2019 and 2021 ended 11 each while India ran out 21 winners in the Asian Cup Qualifiers in 2022 in Kolkata thanks to Sahal Abdul Samads addedtime strikeThe Indians arrived here on March 15 and have had five full training sessions ahead of the match acclimatising to the conditions in the mountain city which is 2470 metres above sea levelWe have been training normally as usual We came here earlier so the boys can adapt to the different climate in Abha and things look okay at the moment said the CroatAlso ReadNeupane shines for MYJGMSC with a braceStimacs counterpart and Afghanistan head coach Ashley Westwood knows Indian football all too well having coached Bengaluru FC ATK and RoundGlass Punjab FCHe took charge of the Afghanistan national team last November right before the World Cup Qualifiers kicked offAshley knows most of our boys quite well and has been preparing his team for us since the Asian Cup said StimacA few months back they had a camp in Abha to work on their game plan and played a friendly with a local team here But we are sure they will be a much better side than what we have seen in their opening games he addedIndia skipper Sunil Chhetri who won two ILeague titles and a Federation Cup playing under Westwood at Bengaluru FC shared his thoughts on the Afghanistan sideThey will play like a unit they will be aggressive they will know exactly what they have to do because thats how Ashley Westwood is But I think its more about usWe are here right in the corner of Saudi Arabia and we really have to bounce back after what happened in the Asian Cup Its not going to be easy We have to turn up said ChhetriWith three points and one win from two matches India currently occupy the second place in the Group A pecking orderReigning Asian champions Qatar lead the Group A standings with six points from two wins while Kuwait are second with one win Having lost both their games so far Afghanistan are placed lastIndias away win against Kuwait has put Igor Stimacs team in a strong position to progress further in the qualification cycle something the 117ranked side has never achievedVictories in their upcoming outings away and home against the 158ranked Afghanistan will help India acquire nine points and with Qatar expected to win their next two matches against Kuwait the Blue Tigers have a real chance of jumping to second place in the standingsIndia defeated Kuwait 10 in Kuwait City in their opening match of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers before losing to Qatar 03 in BhubaneswarWith agency inputs