'Will Do It Again': Igor Stimac, Indian coach, Warns Pakistan And Other Opponents After Getting Red Card In SAFF Championship Match

Indian men's football displayed their dominance over Pakistan in the SAFF Championship clash between the arch-rivals on Wednesday at Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick as India thrashed Pakistan 4-0 in the match. It was a high-intensed match and the heat was so high that Indian coach Igor Stimac lost his cool after finding out that a Pakistani player was trying to play foul. In the first half of the match, Stimac felt that his right back Pritam Kotal was fouled and he decided to interfere in the game on the sidelines, taking the ball away from Pakistan's Abdullah Iqbal who was almost ready to throw the ball inside. Twitter went into a frenzy after seeing Stimac do that to Abdullah. The fans were divided over Stimac's act but he says that he will do it again. 

Also Read | Sunil Chhetri Becomes 2nd Highest Goal-Scorer In Asia After Hattrick Against Pakistan In SAFF Cup

When the referee saw the India and Pakistan players involved in a fight, they came running in to stop the fight. Stimac was eventually shown a red card and he missed the majority of the football match.

Football is all about passion, especially when you defend the colours of your country. _____

You can hate or love me for my actions yesterday, but I am a warrior and I will do it again when needed to protect our boys on the pitch against unjustified decisions. pic.twitter.com/Jgps3hrmDP — Igor Stimac (@stimac_igor) June 22, 2023

Jai Hind, Lets go Croatia ______ — Igor Stimac (@stimac_igor) June 22, 2023

In a tweet posted a day after the incident, Stimac took to Twitter to explain his side of the story and said that what he did was to protect the players of his team. Stimac said that he would do it again. 

Stimac has posted warning to all teams in the SAFF championship, in a way, and other opponents that they better don't make unjustified actions on the field. 

"Football is all about passion, especially when you defend the colours of your country. You can hate or love me for my actions yesterday, but I am a warrior and I will do it again when needed to protect our boys on the pitch against unjustified decisions," Stimac tweeted.

There were many yellow cards given throughout the game to India and Pakistani players. It was a match that saw Chhetri come to his best, scoring three goals. The Indian legend has become the second highest goal-scorer in Asia. Chhetri has 90 goals from 138 matches, and the only man ahead of him in Asia is former Iran footballer Ali Daei (109 goals in 148 matches).