To improve, India should play more often and against stronger opposition, says Zico
KOLKATA: Zico’s first thought perhaps was to skirt the issue. “I haven’t seen any of India’s games and hence it wouldn’t be prudent to comment,” said the FC Goa coach here on Saturday.
But then, as easily as he would in the time the football did his bidding, Zico changed track. Speaking through an interpreter, he said lack of exposure was affecting the development of the senior national team.
“In two years that I have been here, I have never heard that the Indian football team is going to play friendlies in Europe or South America. You improve when you play against stronger teams. I think the India team can get better when things are planned better,” said Zico.
Zico was replying to a question on why Indians doing well in the Indian Super League haven’t been able to do that for the national team which recently ended a string of five losses with a gritty win against Guam after playing most of the match with 10 men.
What the former Japan coach said next would endear him to India coach Stephen Constantine or, for that matter, anyone helming the national team.
“My personal experience with Japan was that you need to keep the squad together for 20 days to one month at a time. And we would always play teams stronger than us. That way you learn and the players get motivated. Look where Japan is today. I am proud of what I started there,” said Zico, now in the last year of his two-year deal with the Indian Super League franchise.
Former India coach Bob Houghton walked this route before the 2011 Asian Cup. In the 2014 World Cup, asked by HT, Iran coach Carlos Querioz had said the same thing ahead of their group league game against Argentina. “Restricting preparations to Fifa dates is not proper. There has to be a preparation programme that is separate; the World Cup, after all, has an audience of some 3.5 billion. Countries that aren’t like England, Argentina, Brazil, Germany etc should have a special programme to prepare…,” he said.
Zico therefore is stating the obvious but given the way the season is structured in India, his prescription is unlikely to find takers at the All India Football Federation.