Play the brand of football I want you to play and the door is open for you: Stephen Constantine

Stephen Constantine, coach of the Indian football team, issued a rallying call to the youngsters who have been selected for the tri-nation football series, in a bid to identify the potential candidates who want to make it to the national squad, reported PTI.

“When I see any player and from all levels, I just try to find out whether he can play the brand of Football which I want him to play. If you can, the door stays open for you,” said Constantine.

Ahead of tri-nation football series against Mauritius and St Kitts, Constantine said that focus will be on the youth policy.

“As long as I will be the coach, I will always try and develop youth players and give them opportunities. The lifespan of any team is around four to six years. When you are in the fourth year, you need to keep searching again - you need to look for change. So why not do it all the time,” said Constantine, who has selected ten 10 under-23 players in the squad for the tournament.

Ahead of their first clash against Mauritius, the coach said the team will be a blend of youth and experience.

“Of course, you need the experience and need to learn from the senior players but that can sometimes lead us to a bit of stagnation. It’s extremely important for senior players to need to work hard to keep their positions as much it is important for the kids to learn to take their positions. At the moment, I feel we have the right balance as even the young players have some 8-9 matches under their belt and you cannot call them inexperienced anymore,” said Constantine.

We are becoming a better team day by day: Jackichand

Indian football team winger Jackichand Singh on Thursday said that his side were not over confident and will take one game at a time in the Tri-Nation Series beginning on Saturday, PTI reported.

“We need to take little pressure. We are becoming a better and consistent team day by day. We are not over confident but we are taking one match at a time,” Singh told reporters here ahead of the team’s training session in Mumbai.

Asserting that the team was performing well, Singh gave the credit to the coach.

“The team is performing well. What has changed it is because of the coach and trainers. The players work together all the time and I think that’s why we are becoming stronger. GPS has also helped us,” said the Manipuri player.

Singh said the coach has shown them videos of their opponents Mauritius and St Kits and Nevis.

“The coach has shown us some (videos) but not a lot. We go by what the coach tells us to do,” the India player added.