Lack of pathways a deterrent, says Stephen Constantine

‘Gathering 28-30 boys from all over India and getting them to pull them together is difficult’

Stephen Constantine

India’s head coach Stephen Constantine has rued the lack of “pathways” among various age group sides in the country, which he said often led to assembling a team just a few days before a major tournament.

Constantine said the Under-23 team, which he is looking after at a national camp at the Ambedkar Stadium here, assembled just a few days prior to the continental qualifiers in Qatar.

India is clubbed alongside Syria, Turkmenistan and Qatar. Constantine said the boys under his charge could find it difficult in the tournament as they had been together for just 10 days or so.

“They (Qatar, Syria and Turkmenistan) must have been together for the last four-five years. We are together for just around 10 days. That is the difference,” Constantine said.

“We do not have that continued pathway from Under-17 to Under-19 and from Under-19 to Under-23. Some of these boys have been with each other in Under-19 teams but most of them are not,” he said.

“Getting together 28-30 boys from all over India and pulling them together in a team is a stress. We are trying to make it a team now,” said the 54-year-old.

He also said the Under-17 boys, under Luis Norton de Matos, need a lot of work ahead of the World Cup.

“They need a lot of work. They have been together for a long time now. Luis has been with them for the last three-four months. But it will be difficult for them, very difficult.”

Constantine is happy about the proposed domestic structure. He feels that two leagues running parallel will be beneficial for Indian football.

“My understanding is that there will be two parallel leagues, the team that wins the I-League will go on to play in the AFC Champions League (play-offs), the ISL champion will play in the AFC Cup play-offs.

Constantine said with more clubs in two leagues, Indian players would have extended playing time and that should help.

“If we have 10 teams here and 10 teams there, there is more opportunity for more Indians to play. And for the national team, that is the best scenario because more Indian players are playing means more choices, more competition means the bar goes a little bit higher.”