Indian football legend I.M. Vijayan hails Constantine's belief in younger players

Add as a preferred source on Google

Bengaluru, September 3: Indian football legend I.M. Vijayan has hailed the current National team coach Stephen Constantine for bringing up and giving chances to fresh blood in the Indian squad.

Since taking charge of the squad in 2015, the British coach has already handed debuts to 35 players and his supervision skill has recently led India march into the record FIFA ranking of 97. India has experienced an unbeaten run of 10 consecutive matches in the recent year and nine of them were wins.

While speaking about the impact, Vijayan lauded the approach of the head coach and claimed that giving a debut to so many players shows his belief in youth.

"It shows his courage and belief on his boys," said Vijayan, "Handing debut to 35 players over the course of the 30 months isn't something which you would see every day in the International Football."

In the early 2000's Vijayan played under the 54-year-old coach when he was appointed for his first stint and with that experience, the retired footballer suggested that Constantine's approach to football is very simple. He also stated that he finds similarities of his style with German national team manager Joachim Löw.

"From my experience of playing under him, I can say that his ideology is simple - 'Go, fight and win.' He is someone who can make you win - it's a quality that not all Coaches possess. He studies his players minutely to know their limitations and skill set, and eventually churns the best out of a player. You need to credit him for this," he said.

"Look at the last edition of the Confederations Cup and you will get your answer," he said, "Germany coach Joachim Low preferred a team with an average age of 24 years and went on to win the Tournament. Constantine is walking on the same path."

The Indian football team will be looking to extend their unbeaten run when they face Macau in a crucial AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifier on Tuesday (September 5). Constantine's men haven't lost in their last ten games and a win against the 220 Fifa ranked team would again place them at the top of the table.