Football - STIMAC Igor

Croatia
Football
6 Sep 1967
Male
Head Coach

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Huanglong Sports Centre Stadium
Men's First Round - Group A
#1
CHN
China
5
IND
India
1
Finished
Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium
Men's First Round - Group A
#15
IND
India
1
BAN
Bangladesh
0
Finished
Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium
Men's First Round - Group A
#26
MYA
Myanmar
1
IND
India
1
Finished
Huanglong Sports Centre Stadium
Men's Round of 16
#39
IND
India
0
KSA
Saudi Arabia
2
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

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He played as a defender for Croatia and was capped more than 50 times. He was part of the squad that finished third at the 1998 World Cup in France. (fifa, 2023; rsssf, 2023; ftbl, 13 Jul 2018)

His senior club career included stints in Yugoslavia and later Croatia, Spain, and England. After signing for Derby County in England's second tier, he helped the club gain promotion to the Premier League in 1996. He then played in the English Premier League for five seasons, three of which were with Derby County before he transferred to West Ham United in 1999. In 2001 he returned to Croatia to finish his career at Hajduk Split, his formative club. (derbycounty-mad, 22 Jul 2002)
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He was head coach of the Croatian men's team that reached the qualifying play-offs for the 2014 World Cup. However, he was replaced before the team's play-off due to a series of unfavourable results, with Croatia going on to qualify for the 2014 World Cup under a different coach. (nbcsports, 16 Oct 2013)
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2019
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He also serves as head coach of India's senior men's national team.
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He was the Croatian men's team coach from 2012 to 2013. At club level, he became head coach at Hajduk Split in Croatia in 2005, and has coached several other Croatian clubs including NK Zagreb and Zadar. He has also spent short stints coaching club teams in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar.

Additional Information

General
WORLD CUP AMBITIONS
He has said his goal is to take the Indian senior men's team to the World Cup, achieving a top-80 world ranking and top-12 Asian ranking in the process. "My goal, and this has now turned into an obsession of sorts with me, is to take India to the World Cup. [But] if we want to come close to leading Asian football, and become as good as say Japan, Iran and Saudi [Arabia], then we need to provide our senior national team much more time for work than what these countries do at the moment. Second, if we don't collectively make sure that the team gets enough time prior to the November [2023] FIFA window – the first [2026 World Cup qualifying] game away versus Kuwait, and then Qatar at home – we are immediately out of the running. So it is of paramount importance to collectively put our best foot forward in the next three months. Finally, we should think of requesting the government to allow persons of Indian origin to represent India." (khelnow, 01 Aug 2023)
Legend
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Gold Medal Event
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Silver Medal Event
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Bronze Medal Event