Kolkata: India have gained their best FIFA rankings in a year after the joining of national football coach Stephen Constantine and the Englishman on Friday said his “target” was to breach the 100 mark by the time his two-year contract expires.
“We’ve been below average for a long time. It’s time to change. The only thing we’re happy about is that we’re in the qualifiers. When my contract is up within two years, I want these boys to be in a better position than when I came. That would be progress. Personally I would like to break the 100. That’s my target,” the 52-year-old who returned as India coach just before Nepal matches, told reporters here.
147th-ranked India defeated Nepal 2-0 and drew 0-0 over the two legs on March 12 and 17 respectively to gain 87 average points from the previous month when it was lying at a lowly 173rd among 209 countries.
This was the best ranking for the Indian team in the FIFA charts in nearly a year after its identical 147th in the May 2014 list.
“When you pull on the blue jersey to play for India, you expect a lot. I know we have done a lot in the past but we’re going to change that. We can’t change this overnight. I’m not a messiah with some kind of a magic wand.”
India next play back to back 2018 World Cup preliminary joint qualifiers against Oman at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore on June 11 while the next match against Guam will be played in Guam on June 16.
Constantine said the interest had grown for football in India but the infrastructure was still a lot left to be desired.
Without naming, he hit out at Mohun Bagan and East Bengal for helping little to develop infrastructure.
“What infrastructure do we have? Do you have the facilities to hold the camp here. We have three teams in Goa, we have the two biggest clubs here in India but there’s no training facility. How is that possible, it’s a bit of joke. It’s a crying shame that the two biggest clubs in India don’t have adequate training and medical facilities.” “Now I see a great deal of interests with more foreign coaches, clubs coming in. We have more foreign coaches in the I-League now,” Constantine said. (PTI)
