Panaji: In his almost two-hour long media interaction last week, former India coach
Igor Stimac
was critical of many associated with the sport. Senior officials of the All India Football Federation (
AIFF
), the structure, quality of the top league, even the foreign players who come here “since they don’t have anywhere else to go” all got the stick.
Stimac, though, had words of praise for India assistant coach
Mahesh Gawli
and was left in no doubt that the former
India defender
would have a very successful career as coach.
“I am very sure that Mahesh is going to make an impact because he is a great professional and understands football,” said Stimac. He is a wonderful boy, very talented coach, and there is one interesting thing which makes him different to others. He understands the pace of the training process. Without pace in
training process
, there is no pace in the game. I am quite sure that in the future he will be a very
successful coach
.”
Gawli has been an
assistant coach
with the national team since 2022 and was previously associated with Indian Arrows, a developmental team run by the AIFF and featuring in the I-League.
When Stimac was sent off in the SAFF Championship last year and forced to watch a few games from the stands, Gawli was the man calling the shots. He successfully navigated India’s campaign in the regional championship at home.
A former India defender, among the best of his generation, Gawli won three I-League titles with Dempo SC during his five years at the club.
Besides praising Gawli, Stimac said he didn’t see enough of Indian coaches, many of whom were largely assistants to foreign coaches in the top-tier Indian Super League.
“Others coaches were Indian (assistant) and interim coaches, more or less stuck under the ISL calendar and things which are just involving games and travel. You cannot judge coaches based on what you see on television during 90 minutes in a structure where you don’t have proper time for pre-season.
“You are pushed as a coach to start pre-season after the Durand Cup, then the ISL season starts which is only about travel and playing games. There is no time for players to improve. That’s why we are not seeing players’ improvement at all levels.
A bronze medal winner at the Fifa World Cup in 1998 with Croatia, Stimac got the India job in 2019 after convincing the technical committee that he could help Indian footballers punch above their weight. After five years at the helm, he was sacked last week due to a poor AFC Asian Cup campaign and an even poorer Fifa World Cup qualifying run.
English (US) ·