Indian men’s football dominated Pakistan in the SAFF Championship clash between the arch-rivals at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday. India beat Pakistan 4–0 in the match thanks to Sunil Chhetri’s hat-trick. It was a high-octane match and the heat was so high that Indian coach Igor Stimac lost his temper when he realized that a Pakistani player was trying to foul. In the first half of the match, Stimac thought his right back Pritam Kotal had been fouled and decided to intervene in play on the sideline, taking the ball away from Pakistan’s Abdullah Iqbal who was almost ready to throw the ball in . Twitter went into an uproar seeing Stimac do this to Abdullah. Fans were divided on Stimac’s move, but he says he would do it again.
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When the referee saw the players from India and Pakistan involved in the fight, he rushed to stop the fight. Stimac was eventually shown the red card And he missed most of the football matches.
Football is all about passion, especially when you defend your country’s colors. ,
You may hate or love me for my actions yesterday but I am a warrior and I will do it again if need be to defend my boys on the pitch against unfair decisions. pic.twitter.com/Jgps3hrmDP— Igor Stimac (@stimac_igor) 22 June 2023
Jai Hind, let’s go to Croatia ______ – Igor Stimac (@stimac_igor) 22 June 2023
In a tweet posted a day after the incident, Stimac took to Twitter to explain his side of the story, saying that what he did was for the safety of his teammates. Stimac said he would do it again.
Stimac has in a way warned all the teams and other opponents in the SAFF Championship that they better not indulge in inappropriate behavior on the field.
“Football is all about passion, especially when you defend your country’s colors. You may hate or love me for my actions yesterday, but I am a warrior and will fight against injustice when need be.” I would do it again to protect my boys on the pitch.” Decision,” Stimac tweeted.
Several yellow cards were given to Indian and Pakistani players throughout the game. It was a match in which Chhetri was at his best, scoring three goals. The Indian legend has become the second highest goalscorer in Asia. Chhetri has 90 goals in 138 matches and the only person ahead of him in Asia is former Iranian footballer Ali Daei (109 goals in 148 matches).