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While the Indian U17 team is nearly out of the FIFA U17 World Cup, the Indian senior team qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup by thrashing Macau 4-1 at Bangalore last night thanks to goals from Rowllin Borges, skipper Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and an own goal from Macau midfielder Lam Ka Seng. The win made India’s final two matches against Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan a mere formality. This will be only the fourth Asian Cup for India who were the runners-up during the third edition of the competition at Israel.
Several congratulatory posts flooded social media following India’s memorable win and gave the fans something to cheer about. Among the many social media posts included one from English giants Arsenal, who uploaded a picture of Indian coach Stephen Constantine holding an Arsenal shirt with a congratulatory message written at the back of the shirt in addition to the jersey number 2019.
India’s British coach Constantine, who is currently having his second stint as the coach of the national team (he previously coached India from 2002-2005), is a lifelong fan of the Gunners. As a matter of fact, Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger really appreciates Constantine’s work as a coach.
Constantine met the Frenchman while he was doing his Pro License and Wenger had a lot of praise for him, stating, “I know all about you. If you’d done in Europe what you’ve done in Asia, you’d be coaching in the Champions League by now.”
Arsenal’s Facebook post was pretty much well-received with several comments thanking the Gunners for their respect and support towards Constantine and the Indian team. The Indian coach has also spent a fraction of his coaching career in England, having coached current Championship side Millwall FC and having worked for Bournemouth.
Arsenal’s lovely gesture is bound to be a source of encouragement and motivation for the Indian football team who ended their previous Asian Cup in 2011 ranked rock bottom with no points and a goal difference of -10.
