Xinhua News Agency, Canberra, January 14th, from “seeking light abuse” to getting out-behind the progress of the Indian men’s football team
Xinhua news agency reporters Yue Dongxing and Wang Haoyu
beat the ecstasy of Thailand team from the First Battle 4:1, by the end of the round, the heartbreak of being eliminated by Bahrain was broken. Although the journey of Indian football in the Asian Cup in 2019 ended with regret, there was no lack of surprise.
From the 166th place in the world in 2015 to the 97th highest in history, the great progress of Indian men’s football team in the past four years is not only reflected in the strength of the team, it is also reflected in the players’ mentality of daring to compete with any strong team in the Asian Cup.
“If it was before, everyone would want to lose a few less balls. Now, we are going to win. Moreover, the team’s work and training efficiency have been greatly improved. Therefore, we can come to the Asian Cup because of efficiency and unity.” Coach Constantine said in an interview with the official website of the Asian Football Association.
Indian players have changed
As Constantine said, the performance of the Indian team in the first two rounds of this Asian Cup makes people feel confident and fearless.
The Asian Cup is only final table of the fourth promotion in the history of Indian men’s football team. Compared with the last competition in 2011, the change of the team has impressed the opponents. In the first round of the group match, India swept the Southeast Asian Team Thailand with 4:1, welcoming the first victory in the Asian Cup finals in 55 years, and directly laid the course for rival coach Rajevac. In the second game against the UAE, India once made the host unable to fight back. If it was not bad luck to hit the door frame twice, it might have been out in advance.
“Most of the players in the Indian team look completely different from before. They are getting taller and stronger, and they are making progress in all directions.” Rajevac said.
The 56-year-old coach Constantine is a well-known figure in India. He coached this South Asian team from 2002 to 2005. In January 2015, he served as the head coach of the Indian team for the second time in his career and led the team to make the largest progress in the world ranking on the young pioneer team history record.
Constantine believes that the past four years have proved that the Indian team has become an undefeated opponent. “Although we don’t have the characteristics of some strong teams, I think we can compete with any team in Asia from the perspective of physical confrontation and competitiveness.”
In addition to the improvement of players’ physical quality, Constantine analyzed that the improvement of training and the progress of the league are the key to progress.
For example, the current Indian team has introduced the training method of “sports science”, which can master the physical condition of each player on and off the field through equipment.
In addition, before the last Asian Cup, the Indian team had been training for six months, but now there is no such long preparation time, however, the domestic league competition in which national team players participate is also very fierce, which is more effective for the growth and promotion of players.
Moreover, paying attention to details is another important reason for the progress of the Indian team.
“We will continue to analyze what aspects the team has done well through video and strive to make progress every day.”
With such efforts, Constantine proudly said that under his leadership, the Indian team directly advanced to the Asian Cup final table after winning the first place in the group in the qualifier for the first time. “Our hard preparations for this Asian Cup began in 2015 and will continue.”
“For me, this process will not stop. We must continue to improve and become stronger.”
Football is no longer the “green leaf” of cricket
with progress, there will be attention. Constantine hopes that the Indian team will strive to reach the top 16 Asian Cup and make football more influential in a country crazy for cricket. Despite the failure in the end, Indian football has seen positive changes.
“For Indians, (Asian Cup) is very important.” He said, “I hope the Indian team will become a ‘regular’ of the Asian Cup in the future, because its driving effect in the country will be very huge.”
At the World Football Forum held in 2017, Indian football personage once introduced that the U-17 World Cup hosted in that year had become a catalyst for India to promote football development, the Football League created by heavy gold attracted more fans, and football gradually began to shake cricket’s dominant position in this country.
The 34-year-old veteran Che Terry, who performed twice in the first group match, once recalled that after India successfully held the U-17 World Cup in 2017, football became more and more popular, it also makes India have greater expectations for the progress of the national team and the future success.
“During the World Cup, children from all communities, fans from all over the country and even the whole country paid close attention to the competition. Moreover, the desire for football success brings pressure to every one of us, which can be said to be a kind of “Sweet pressure”, urging everyone to develop football very hard.”
A child, a game, a football dream may change the future. Just like the personal experience of Jiexin Gan, the main Indian central defender.
“In 2011, I saw India being eliminated in the Asian Cup. I hid in the bathroom at home and cried into tears. I swore that one day I would enter the national team and want the team to qualify. Look at the present, it is incredible. Football is so romantic to me and I am lucky to experience all this.”
Coach and youth training are still the direction of efforts
unfortunately Jiexin gan’s dream has not been fully realized, but he and this young Indian team at the age of 25 still have great prospects in the future.
According to the statistics of the Asian Football Association, the Indian team participating in this Asian Cup is the second youngest team among all participating teams. Constantine said that no matter how far the Asian Cup can go, he will lead the Indian team to work towards higher goals. For example, he will become a recognized strong team in Asian football, the main method is to catch youth training and train coaches.
“I think the most important thing is the training of coaches. If we have better coaches, we will have better players.”
“Moreover, we need to make football popular all over India so as to cultivate players nationwide. There is no doubt that we have many talented players, but we need to find them earlier.”
In this respect, Indian football has made great moves. The senior vice president of the All India Football League, surburta Duta, once introduced that in recent years, Indian football has gradually received support from the government. In 2014, with the help of FIFA, it also formulated a 10-year plan, the goal is to rank among the top 50 in the world.
In addition, they also planned to promote football to 11 million students in 15000 schools by holding the U-17 World Cup in 2017. India has specially formulated the qualification examination system for youth football coaches, and students aged 6-12 can practice football under formal guidance. Surprisingly, football is more popular than cricket among young Indians nowadays. This indicates great potential.
Veteran Cherry is full of confidence in the future of Indian football.
He said: “To ensure the development of the league, at the same time, the youth training program should also be implemented. I think India needs the stimulation brought by all-round pressure. Because we have football talent.”