"It was a red card...but it was too harsh": India's assistant coach Mahesh on Stimac's red card

Bengaluru [Karnataka], June 22 : After the red card fiasco unfolded in India's victory in their SAFF championship campaign opener against Pakistan on Wednesday, Blue Colts head coach Igor Stimac said that he is willing to do it again to protect his team.

Stimac was shown a red card by the referee just before half-time, he tried to grab the ball from a Pakistan player to prevent him from taking a throw-in. Iqbal's teammate Rahis Nabi went towards the Indian technical area and exchanged a few words with Stimac. This incident got players from both teams into a tussle.

The Pakistan players were visibly unhappy with the actions of the Indian head coach. After this, the Croatian got sent off and had to witness the game from the stands for the remainder of the game.

Stimac took to Twitter, to reflect on the entire incident and wrote, "Football is all about passion, especially when you defend the colours of your country. You can hate or love me for my actions yesterday, but I am a warrior and I will do it again when needed to protect our boys on the pitch against unjustified decisions."

Football is all about passion, especially when you defend the colours of your country.

You can hate or love me for my actions yesterday, but I am a warrior and I will do it again when needed to protect our boys on the pitch against unjustified decisions. pic.twitter.com/Jgps3hrmDP

— Igor Štimac (@stimac_igor) June 22, 2023

After the match, India's assistant coach Mahesh Gawli gave his views on the entire incident. In the absence of Stimac, Gawli took India's charge on the sideline in the second half. He went on to reveal what transpired on the pitch. The assistant coach admitted Stimac's fault for preventing the player from taking a throw-in. He also went on to reveal that a Pakistan player was headbutting India's manager.

"It was a red card because he (Igor Stimac) can't do that. But it was too harsh because Pakistan players came and pushed him. Either referee didn't see or deliberately didn't give (red card to them). There wasn't any red card for any officials, despite one of them headbutting our manager," he said at the post-match press conference.

Despite the red card fiasco, India ran roughshod over arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game of the SAFF Championship to seal a 4-0 victory. Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri led from the front, scoring a hat-trick (10', 16' and 73') followed by Udanta Singh Kumam's goal in the 81st minute. India will play Nepal in their second Group A match on Saturday.