Legendary Indian football player, Bhaichung Bhutia hopes for a change in the perception of Indian football in the very near future. These comments come in after India rose to 101 in the latest FIFA rankings and 11 in the AFC rankings yesterday.
“The ranking plays a big role in people’s mindset in India. Here the perception of ranking is very very high. Everyone only talks about ranking, hopefully they will now take pride in this achievement,” Bhutia said.
In a country like India, rankings do play a major role and this quantum leap in the rankings is why Bhaichung Bhutia hopes for a change in the perception of Indian football.
“Personally, it’s really satisfying as when I joined the technical committee it was 167-171 and now it’s 101. It’s really a proud moment for all of us. We have to continue building on this. To maintain the ranking is more difficult.”
Bhutia has also praised the efforts of Constantine and his team for their success. He also lauded the captain Sunil Chhetri who has led the team to 11 wins from 13 games scoring 31 goals in the process.
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Bhutia was one of the main men who was responsible in bringing back Constantine as the coach of the national team and must be very happy with his decision.
“A big congratulations to Constantine and his team. At the same time the Federation played a big role in organising friendlies and playing the right kind of matches to ensure that the team is benefited. Every plan was put in place. It’s a complete team work.”
