KUALA LUMPUR: Poor transportation, a terrible pitch, and substandard refereeing were among the elements that may have hindered India's chances of reaching the Merdeka Tournament final on Friday.
India coach Igor Stimac was annoyed and expressed his frustration after the 4-2 defeat to Harimau Malaya at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, adding that the FA of Malaysia (FAM) lacked various aspects.
While it's indeed a significant win for the 134th-ranked Malaysia over world No. 102 India, the circumstances were far from fair for the Blue Tigers.
This incident highlights that the FAM may not be prepared to host major competitions in the country.
Stimac's team had to wait for an hour and a half for their bus to transport them to training venues.
India also claimed that the organisers were slow in confirming suitable training venues for their players.
As a result, some of his players suffered groin injuries due to the poor conditions of the training pitches.
"We only had a couple of sessions on a muddy pitch, and today (Friday), four players were injured due to various training grounds provided here," said Stimac after the match.
"The stadium is beautiful, and the facilities are great, but the pitch was terrible.
"It would be more appropriate to provide quality facilities for visiting teams.
"There should be suitable training pitches for teams coming here. You have the capacity and have invested a lot in football, so you need to provide facilities.
"We shouldn't have to wait for the training pitch for an hour and a half every day, change venues every day, and be left waiting for the bus in front of our hotel for an hour and a half, as it happened yesterday (Thursday).
"These small issues are frustrating and shouldn't be part of such a major tournament."
The zeon zoysia grass also played a role in India's poor performance, and they felt they were 'robbed' of an equaliser from Lallianzuala Chhangte in the 57th minute due to the absence of goal-line technology.
"All I can say is that it was an exciting game, with good football from both sides.
"We tried to make things happen on the pitch, but it's evident that the state of the pitch was terrible, which caused difficulties in sprinting, stopping, and fear of injuries. Nonetheless, congratulations to Malaysia."
On the disallowed goal, Stimac said: "I have no reason to doubt my players who were behind the goal; it was clear that the ball crossed the line completely.
"I could discuss the referee's decision, but I don't want to spoil your excitement about reaching the final," added Stimac."