New Delhi: The present Indian football team will not be going to the Asian Cup football championship next year just to make up numbers according to coach Stephen Constantine. He is confident that India will produce better results than they did the last time they qualified for the tournament in 2011. The Men in Blue had then lost all their three games to Australia, South Korea and Bahrain.
This time India have been clubbed with hosts UAE, Bahrain and Thailand. Both UAE and Bahrain are ranked higher than India. But even then Constantine evoked confidence.
“I feel we have a decent chance to qualify for knockout rounds, but we will need to be ready both mentally and physically. Thailand in the opener is going to be a good game. We are going there to win and not to make up the numbers,” Constantine told this agency.
As part of preparations for the Asian Cup, India are hosting a four-team Intercontinental Cup starting June 1 in Mumbai. Chinese Taipei, Kenya and New Zealand are the other three teams in the tournament.
“We need these games. We will make mistakes but it is better to make them now than in the Asian Cup,” asserted the 55- year-old, who is in his second stint as India coach.
The Intercontinental Cup will also mark skipper Sunil Chhetri’s 100th international game during the event, he has so far played 97. Constantine was all praise for Chhetri’s dedication and talent. “It will be a remarkable achievement (when Chhetri plays his 100th match). He has been a great servant to Indian football.”
Constantine had earlier served as India head coach from 2002 to 2005 and returned to the country again to take the reins of the team in March 2015. His contract with the Indian team will run till the end of the Asian Cup making him longest-serving foreign coach.
“Every time I represent India, it is a test. We have come a long way since I arrived for my second tenure and am immensely proud of our achievements. No doubt the 2019 Asian Cup will be our biggest challenge, but we are going to be ready for it and make India proud,” Constantine asserted.
Talking about the Intercontinental Cup, Constantine said, “Playing against teams who have players playing in European Leagues or Leagues that are lot stronger than ours is a great way of gaining invaluable experience and these are the type of games we need to be playing if we are going to get better ourselves.”
When Constantine arrived for his second stint, India were ranked 173rd, currently they are 97th
Under Constantine, India achieved a 13-game unbeaten streak from June 2016 to March 2018