Indian Football in Freefall, Very Disappointing: Coach Constantine
Kolkata: English coach Stephen Constantine, who guided India to a historic top of the FIFA rankings, is deeply disappointed with the country’s current free fall and still believes he should be in charge of the team.
The 63-year-old English tactician was shortlisted to serve as coach of the Indian national team for the third time before linking up with Khalid Jamil and signing a full-time contract.
In an exclusive interview with PTI from Rwanda, where he manages the national team, he partly blamed the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the collapse. He stated that they need to do more to maintain stability after the ISL agreement ends.
He also called for wider structural reforms, including promotion and relegation, youth development and a clear coaching pathway.
“I should have been in India but I’m not. When you give seven years of your life to the national team, of course I have a personal interest too,” he said.
His disappointment is understandable after the AIFF technical committee was overlooked for the India job despite recommending his name over Manolo Marquez last year.
Constantine argued that Jamil was given the A National Team job despite “zero” international coaching experience.
“This time I was shortlisted for the job in India. They put Khalid Jamil in. OK, fair enough,” continued Constantine, who has over 25 years of experience coaching in six different countries, including Nepal and Pakistan.
“But Khalid Jamil has zero experience in international football. Now, if you want an Indian coach, put the Indian coach in a position where he can improve.
“Put him under 23, put him under 20 and then make him the Indian national team coach. You can’t hire someone with no experience just because you want an Indian coach. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Constantine Takes India to Highest FIFA Ranking
Constantine had two successful spells as India head coach and oversaw one of the most important periods in the national team’s recent history.
During his second tenure (2015-2019), he guided India to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, won the 2016 SAFF Championship and the 2018 Intercontinental Cup and improved the team’s FIFA ranking from 171 in July 2017 to a best 96 in two decades.
In his first stint (2002–2005), he led India to the 2002 LG Cup title in Vietnam and cemented his place among the country’s most successful national team coaches.
“So it’s very disappointing. Obviously the decline continues. But you know, there are a lot of things that are wrong… You can’t let the senior players decide what happens in the national team. This has been happening since I left.”
“There needs to be a proper league. There needs to be promotions and relegations. We haven’t had this for a while. The infrastructure needs to improve. Indian coaches need to improve.”
“Also, the AIFF, I don’t know all the details but you have an agreement that has ended with the ISL. But you should have done a lot more to maintain that relationship to make things right.”
First Dominant Region
He also said that for India to realistically aim to qualify for the World Cup, it must first dominate its own region.
“When I came to India for the second time and Mr Patel (then AIFF president Praful Patel) said to me, my coach, how will we qualify for the World Cup? I said sir, we are not dominating the SAAF region. How will we qualify for the World Cup?”
“We have not been able to participate in the Asian Cup based on merit for a long time. How will we participate in the World Cup?
“I mean, Indian football is in free fall at the moment. India qualifying for the World Cup is not on the cards at this point. First of all, you have to qualify for the Asia Cup on a regular basis.”
“You need to dominate the SAFF zone on a regular basis. If you don’t do those two things, you won’t get to the World Cup even if they put 100 teams.
“This is a big disappointment for me. Frankly, I spent seven years as the national team coach. But I think for the first time we made a very good statement about ourselves with Bhaichung Bhutia, Joe Paul Ancheri and many other players.
“My work was there for everyone to see. I could have been India’s coach for the third time but I’m not. And that’s okay. I’m here in Rwanda. We have a good team,” he said as he aims to qualify for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
“We won the first two matches we played here in the FIFA series. We won the FIFA series. Now the African Cup qualifiers are approaching in September.”
India is scheduled to play two friendly matches against New Zealand this November; The team had just come out of the World Cup and finished last in Group G with one draw and two losses.
Constantine questioned the value of playing friendly matches against teams like New Zealand and said India would benefit more from facing strong Asian opponents they are likely to face in competitive tournaments.
“You won’t be playing New Zealand in the Asia Cup, SAFF Championship or World Cup qualifiers.
“If you want a meaningful experience, play with teams you will face in competitive matches such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Japan, China.
“It’s nice to play in New Zealand but from a football perspective it doesn’t make much sense to me.”
The World Cup Isn’t About Charity
He said the 48-team World Cup had largely worked, but he was not convinced that expanding to 64 teams would benefit the tournament, warning that it could affect quality and create logistical problems.
“Look, I wasn’t sure 48 teams would be diluted a bit. “There were some results in the early group stages that showed some teams were out of their depth at this level.
“But it’s called the World Cup and the World Cup starts with the qualifiers, which we had in India a few years ago. So everyone is involved in the World Cup at some level.”
“Being in the World Cup has to be meritorious… It has nothing to do with charity. And I think 48 teams and this World Cup, it’s been a good World Cup, it’s a lot of fun. But I don’t know what 64 teams will look like. How will that work logistically? So I don’t know.”
