Echoing his coach Igor Stimac's strong demand, India captain Sunil Chhetri has highlighted the importance of having a long preparatory camp ahead of crucial tournaments like the Asian Cup. Stimac has been a strong advocate of getting four weeks to prepare the team for the continental event, which boasts of stronger sides like Australia, Iran and Uzbekistan. The Asian Cup 2024 is set to be played from January to February in Doha.
Speaking during the virtual press conference Chhetri stated that long camps are crucial in playing against big teams. "We are going to face Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria in the Asian Cup (group matches), that is why Stimac (as well as goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu) have spoken about long camps. We need it and I really hope we get it," Chhetri said in a virtual media interaction.
Team India won Intercontinental Cup and SAFF Cup 2023
Over a few weeks time, India won two multi-nation trophies including the Intercontinental Cup 2023 (June 9-18) and the SAFF Cup 2023 (June 21 to July 4). The team had been in preparatory camp for both events since mid of May. Chhetri highlighted that players can be better handled when they have time in hand.
"When you go to the national camp, there are injuries to players and they come with different mental levels from their respective clubs. You need to take care of all these, and to do that you need more time," he said, attributing the team's success in the last two tournaments to a long camp of more than 50 days.
Chhetri wants to play one top Asian team ahead of the continental event
Meanwhile, the 38-year-old Indian striker is also of the belief to play against one of the top six or seven Asian teams ahead of the tournament in January.
If we get at least two or three important international friendly games before the Asian Cup, including at least one against a country ranked in the top six or seven in Asia, that will give us a good picture of ourselves and will make us more ready. "If I throw the name, it could be against Iran, Japan or Saudi Arabia. If we don't play against Japan, Iran or South Korea, we will not know the level of Australia (India's strongest opponent in the Asian Cup)," Chhetri said.
Stimac earlier stated that India are not living in the real world and the country needs to act fast to bridge the gap between themselves and the competitors. He stated that the players should get a long time to prepare. But it is 'impossible' to provide one month for preparations, according to AIFF secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran, who is waiting for the ISL schedule.
