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Few would argue that there is a better candidate for the final than these two - both Bagan and Mumbai have been head and shoulders above the rest throughout the season. The Mariners, on the other hand, like to have a sturdy defense and then attack upfront. The Islanders have been clinical in the attack, scoring 37 goals. Both the clubs – Mumbai City FC and ATK Mohun Bagan – have kept 10 clean sheets in 22 matches this season. When somebody who can score better and who has better fitness (comes along), only then he can be replaced, otherwise you cannot replace him and he keeps on playing till the time he is with the team.Mumbai City FC and ATK Mohun Bagan will face-off at the Fatorda Stadium, Goa, on Saturday. He is in the best shape possible and that is why he played in all the matches (of SAFF Championships). He is the most passionate player in the dressing room and his fitness level is unbelievable. He is a role model and leader off and on the field. "His influence is keeping the team going. Stimac was also all praise of the talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri, who at 37 is one of the fittest players in the team. "Because the players will begin ISL season now and we need to make sure as soon as possible that this February opening of the third round of qualifications (for Asian Cup) is part of the ISL calendar so that the players are released for national team duty." "Otherwise, we are going to gamble, as simple as that," he quipped. He said the national team would need good preparation time to produce good results in the Asian Cup qualification matches. They have not yet announced the second leg fixtures. The ISL organisers have issued the fixtures of the first leg of the league from November 19 to January 9. If we are going to succeed in this qualifier which are games to play outside FIFA window, we need to sit down with other stakeholders in domestic competitions (read ISL), how much time the national team players will get for preparation." But we need to prepare ourselves because we have been told our first game will be on February 1. "We don't know yet who we are going to play, we don't know our group yet. That could be tricky as the Asian Cup qualification matches would be outside of FIFA window and the federation will need to convince the Indian Super League organisers and clubs to release players for national duty. The Croatian gaffer said that the side's aim is to make it to the 2023 Asian Cup for which the qualification third round is set to begin early February next year. So, we had a lot of results pressure on our shoulders but we dealt with it the way it should be and in the end we won the trophy which was really important." Stimac was speaking from Bengaluru after his return from Maldives and he is leaving for Dubai Tuesday night with the U-23 national team, which he has taken charge of for the 2022 Asian U-23 Championships qualifiers in the UAE from October 25 to 31. "We scored sometimes and didn't score sometimes and that made the difference. There was no big difference in approach, the numbers and statistics, we had enough shoots, scoring chances, movement and energy by players.
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"It was obviously a difficult situation we found after the first two matches but they looked bad only because of the results. India then beat Nepal 1-0 and hosts Maldives 3-1 in must-win matches before outplaying the Himalayan country 3-0 in the summit clash to stamp their authority. The results had put India in danger of going out of reckoning for the final. He, however, admitted that his team was under a lot of "result pressure" after drawing Bangladesh (1-1) and Sri Lanka (0-0) in the first two round-robin league matches. "I don't consider it (the SAFF title) as a special success because it is normal that India wins when it goes to SAFF but it demonstrates that we are very dominant in this competition and we can progress in our game a lot more," Stimac said at a virtual interaction.
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India won the regional tournament after beating Nepal 3-0 in the final in Male on Saturday to hand Stimac his first trophy as in-charge of the team.
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India winning the SAFF Championships for an eighth time is not a "special success" as the country is dominant in the South Asian region and the bigger aim is to do well in the 2023 Asian Cup qualification, national football team head coach Igor Stimac said on Wednesday.