Croatian football team coach Zlatko Dalic on Friday said that Indian leagues have 'too many foreigners,' which is hampering the development of local players.
Dalic, who guided Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final, was addressing an online audience of football coaches from across the country.
The online sessions are being jointly orgsed by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
"I see too many foreigners in Indian local leagues. There should be less foreigners in Indian local leagues because it hampers the development of local players. It is difficult to build a solid base of local talent if too many foreigners playing in the domestic leagues," Dalic said during the session.
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Indian football team coach Igor Stimac were also present during Dalic's talk.
Reflecting on his success with the Croatian team at the World Cup, the 53-year-old said that "no one trusted our team" and the key to their success was that they played as a team.
"No one trusted our team before the World Cup but we had been performing well over the past decade. When you play for the national team, you don't need motivation, playing for the country is motivation enough. The likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, they are fantastic players but my big task was to ensure that this group plays like a team," he said.
"The key to our success in that World Cup was that we played as a team. During the prize distribution, Modric won the Golden Ball but he was very sad because his country could not win the final. Individual recognition was secondary to the team winning," added Dalic.
( With inputs from ANI )