AIFF appoints Croatia's Igor Stimac as Indian Football Team Coach

Croatia's Igor Stimac has been appointed the head coach of the Indian football team for a two-year term, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Wednesday. The national team has been without a coach since the departure of Stephen Constantine in January. The official announcement was made on the Indian Football Team's official Twitter account. "AIFF appoints Igor Stimac as new men's senior team head coach," the tweet read. The 51-year-old Stimac, who was part of Croatia's 1998 World Cup squad that finished third in France, comes with an experience of over 18 years in coaching, structuring, and developing football and players back home, and internationally. As a coach, Stimac's major achievement was guiding Croatia to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. During his tenure as the national coach of Croatia, he handed debuts to the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Ante Rebic, Alen Halilovic and Ivan Perisic, amongst others. The centre-back has made 53 appearances for the national team. His last assignment was with Al-Shahania Club in Qatar. As a player, he was part the of the Croatia team that finished third in the 1998 World Cup, and a member of the national squad which qualified for the quarterfinals of the UEFA European Championship 1996 (Euro) in England. Besides, he was also a part of the Yugoslavia U-19 national team which won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1987.