‘Current core India squad good for 6 years’

We now have so much competition in the national team...we have threefour players for rightback, threefour as leftback and no one’s certain.

Had Bolivia not beaten Argentina last week, India coach Stephen Constantine would have been happier. That’s because India then would have been 97 in the Fifa rankings that will be out on April 6, he said on Tuesday. As it stands India are set to be at 101, their highest since 1993, when the rankings started.

As head coach of Rwanda -- his last assignment -- Constantine had taken them to their highest Fifa ranking of 68.

Under his watch, India’s ranking, now 132, would have moved nearly 70 slots in a little over two years. India’s rankings will significantly move north on the back of their successive away wins, in Cambodia and Myanmar, last month.

Constantine also said that he has now found the nucleus of the squad that should serve India in the next four to six years. “We have a team that will hopefully take us to the (2019) Asian Cup finals. But I will always be looking for players. We now have so much competition in the team...we have three-four players for right-back, three-four as left-back and no one’s certain.” He has handed debuts to 30 players since taking charge in 2015.

Having spoken about the Indian Super League (ISL) early in his second stint, not all of which was complimentary, Constantine was more guarded when the conversation moved towards the possibility of a merger of the two leagues.

“Good question,” he said, before adding “all I want is games where Indians play and I can see them and select them for the national team…

“But the ISL has made us universal. It has shown that Indians can play and are not very bad at it, added Constantine. And now with the Fifa under-17 World Cup, we are centre-stage. But once Fifa’s gone, we need to look after the facilities and not be looking for a pitch to play.”