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Indian football team’s head coach, Igor Stimac who is currently enjoying a vacation in his home country Croatia met Real Madrid legend Luka Modric on Tuesday. Stimac recently led the Indian team to their 9th SAFF Championship title last week. Under Stimac, India has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup, which will be held in January and February 2024.
Also Read: AIFF disallows Indian team coach Igor Stimac month-long training camp for AFC Asian Cup 2023
Following the resignation of his former teammate Slaven Bilić in July 2012, Stimac assumed management of Croatia. During his time, he trained the team's captain, Luka Modric. Croatia's performances under Stimac were hardly satisfactory, and the nation was unable to qualify directly for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. After Croatia's final World Cup qualifying match loss to Scotland, 2-0, Stimac announced his resignation.
Stimac and his family met Luka Modric at his residence in Croatia. For them, Stimac writes, it was a moment when a dream came true for his sons. Announcing on Twitter, Stimac shared, Happiness, joy and tears all in one meeting. A friend and my ex-player, one of the greatest of all time, the one and only @lukamodric10 My sons Ivan and Niko finally met their idol, their dream came true!! One day our 🇮🇳 National Team will reach this level.”
Check out the tweet here:
The 1998 World Cup bronze medalist for Croatia, Stimac, and Real Madrid star Modric get along well. During Croatia's 2014 World Cup qualifying run, Modric played under Stimac. Modric was a member of the Croatian team that placed second in the 2018 World Cup and won bronze in the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
In 2019, Stimac was chosen to lead the Indian national team and Luka Modric, the captain of Croatia, expressed congratulations to his former coach for his new position. “Hello, coach. Congratulations to the All India Football Federation for appointing you. I wish you a lot of success in your new journey. I hope you will achieve great things with the Indian national team. All the best on your new journey,” the Croatian skipper said.
The Blue Tigers will start off their AFC Asian Cup campaign against Australia on January 13, 2024, at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar. India will then take on Uzbekistan and Syria in their subsequent fixtures.