Former Croatia defender Igor Stimac has been appointed India's head coach on a two-year contract, the country's football association said on Wednesday.
The 51-year-old, who was part of the Croatia team who finished third at the 1998 World Cup in France, will succeed Stephen Constantine in the role.
Stimac's biggest achievement on his coaching resume is helping Croatia qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and his last assignment was with Al-Shahania Club in Qatar.
'Igor is the right candidate to coach the Blue Tigers,' All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel said in a statement.
'Indian Football is going through a transition, and I am confident his vast experience will guide us to higher echelons.'
India are currently ranked 101 in the world by FIFA but broke into the top 100 last years under Constantine, who did not seek an extension after India's exit from the Asian Cup group stages earlier this year.
India has a population of 1.3 billion but the cricket-mad nation is a massive underachiever on the football field. The national side are yet to play at a World Cup.
AIFF's technical committee made an unanimous recommendation to appoint Stimac, whose first assignment with be the Kings Cup in Thailand in June.
'Indian Football would benefit immensely under Igor Stimac,' AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said.
'His credentials as a coach, and experience as a player are sure to add immense value to the players, and the Indian Football ecosystem. The momentum gained needs to be sustained.'
Thonkim
249
Football is impossible in India because of Cricket. Cricket is impossible in Brazil because of Football.
adil4444
140
great appointment #Blue 😍😍😍😍
vpatil32
127
India's good time in football will come. In will dominate football one day like cricket
Sourin12346
56
INDIA SHOULD CREATE A LEAGUE OF MANY CLUBS (LIKE EUROPEAN LEAGUES) WITH ISL TEAMS AND ALL INDIA'S FOOTBALL CLUBS ❤️ IT CAN HELP ...🇮🇳💙
Cimadelopt
43
that poor under develop country think that they are like usa, uk, canada, germany. indian always want to do everything but in the end they do nothing. hahahah they want to play football, rugby, tennis, basketball, batminton, American football, kabadi , f1 racing, bike racing etc etc. even superior country like usa , Germany don't concentrate on that much sport. even they copy usa culture in india. they copied rap, pop sons, dj, hip-hop dance everything from Hollywood. even they copied superhero movies from Hollywood. they don't follow their own culture. shame. in every sport they include their lame Bollywood actor, actress. lame
18075864(deleted)
14
Lol no way. Indians dont know how to pass the ball and play. They just try long rangers and succeed 1 time in every 100 attempts. Keep playing cricket, football is for others. Indians play football without boots😂
You are sick and mad 100%. you know nothing about Indian football. Please don't waste your time commenting about things in which you have no knowledge. You know..an Indian stays awake till 3 AM in the morning to watch a ucl match. And you wonder if you see Indian spirit of football. And another thing you don't know is that in the status of goals for national team, our Indian star in at second place in which Ronaldo and Messi are 1st and 3rd respectively....U wonder how you became a Barca fan with no RESPECT...Shame on you..
vuyaloprsz
10
Lol no way. Indians dont know how to pass the ball and play. They just try long rangers and succeed 1 time in every 100 attempts. Keep playing cricket, football is for others. Indians play football without boots😂
if u know football vary much तो गांड में डाल लें फुटबॉल अपनी ।
Shabahat
10
Football is impossible in India because of Cricket. Cricket is impossible in Brazil because of Football.
no bro now in india teenagers is finding football more interesting and giving it more time to play than that bullshit cricket.
nutbcdempr
8
Football is impossible in India because of Cricket. Cricket is impossible in Brazil because of Football.
nothing is impossible for INDIA ,we can play well in football as like cricket🇮🇳🇮🇳