Stephen Constantine has sent out a stern message to everyone as the Indian football coach believes that India has not achieved anything yet. There has been a lot of celebration over the fact that India has attained their best FIFA rankings in 21 years. But we should remember that India is still quite far away when it comes in terms to competing with the best in Asia which should be the immediate target.
Constantine held a press conference in which he spoke about the recent surge in the rankings as well as the targets for the Indian football team in the near future.
“We need to stay focused and make sure we understand we have not achieved anything yet. I would rather be 101 in the Fifa rankings and qualify for the Asian Cup UAE 2019 than be 95 and not be there.”
“If we do our job and work hard we will, I am sure, achieve both of those goals.”
“It’s been a difficult road. We had last qualified for the World Cup Qualifiers long back and we were struggling on all fronts. Of course, you can’t change things overnight but we will continue to try and improve and get better.”
“Bringing in new blood and creating competition for places in the team has been a process, and I’m pleased we are moving in the right direction.”
While the Indian football coach believes that India has not achieved anything yet, he has paid tribute to the contributions of the back room staff and everyone involved in the preparations for the games.
“I think one of the major points which is often overlooked is the competence of the backroom staff and the use of the GPS system.Contributions from Danny (Danny Deigan), Ramos (Rogerio Ramos), Venky (Shanmugam Venkatesh) and all the backroom staff have been immense.”
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“Of course, it is the players who have to deliver on the field and all of them have contributed in their own way which is why we are where we are.”
“I don’t dwell too much on either as things change so quickly. For me it is always about what comes next and right now, I am looking to the next game.”
