National Team Head Coach Igor Stimac said that the Blue Tigers view the forthcoming international friendlies as extremely crucial to gauge where we stand as they head to the AFC Asian Cup Final Round qualifiers in June.
The Blue Tigers, currently in a preparatory camp in Pune, are scheduled to play Bahrain on March 23, and Belarus on March 26.
"We are happy that in such circumstances, we can get together again. We are looking ahead to the International Friendlies. The last two years haven't been easy, and life has been hard. But this is no time to complain, and we are looking ahead," said Stimac as per an AIFF release.
"We are playing Bahrain and Belarus, and they are better-ranked sides than us. But whatever the rankings are, you need to do it on the pitch. Bahrain will show us where we stand. We will give chances to some young players who have played well in the Hero ISL this season to see how much we can use them for the qualifiers in June," he added.
Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu stressed the two friendly matches present a 'great opportunity'.
"This is a great opportunity against good teams. We are not in any position to take things lightly in the June qualifiers - be it Cambodia, Afghanistan or Hong Kong," he mentioned.
Speaking on the non-availability of talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet felt, "We need to take it as a challenge. We need to learn to play when he isn't there. We cannot be too dependent - this is a team sport after all. He has been phenomenal for us and surely, it's a huge miss," he stressed.
( With inputs from ANI )
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