For a moment, the sight at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai seemed a bit worrisome. Constantine was seen wiping the dust off from his allotted seat in the dugout. Two minutes left for kick off, one could hear the birds chirping and the crows cawing. This wasn’t supposed to be a tranquil environment. Far from it.
But fifteen minutes into the match, the crowds began to pour in, the chants began to rise with an ebb and flow. Every touch by the keeper, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was greeted with a resounding roar. Things finally began to fall in place. Twelve wins in fourteen matches, seven on the trot. This was no accident and Stephen Constantine was thoroughly satisfied with what he saw over the course of the ninety minutes.
“It’s good to see the boys win games. We had a tough beginning to my second stint which was always going to be the case. It’s a process, we’re on the right track but haven’t achieved anything yet. We need another two or three wins to get into the Asian Cup, then I’ll be happy”.
“For the two goals, there was some great interplay and movement. It’s something that we’ve been working on, in getting the ball wide and into the box. I think Jeje’s goal had excellent build up play and great crossing by Rafique,” he added.
Less than 36 hours ago, Eugeneson Lyngdoh was the centre of attraction during the pre-match press interaction. The fact that the midfielder couldn’t find a place in the starting eleven, a day later was a surprise. But he was introduced in the first half itself by his manager and his impact was instant.
“How has he been playing for the national team since only two years?” Constantine quipped. “He’s an engine, he sees the game well and is a great passer of the ball. He knows where to be, I thought he had a great game for us today, which is usual for him”.
An unusual suspect, Sandesh Jhingan opened the scoring for India at the hour mark, with a sublime left-footed effort. It left, Constantine speechless who suggested that not for a moment did he believe that Jhingan’s shot would find the target.
“As for Sandesh Jhingan, I don’t know if he’s going to score another goal like that. With his left foot! I thought it was going to go a mile over the bar. Set plays are also something we worked on, we tried to pick up the second ball as quickly as we can and Sandesh took the goal like a striker,” exclaimed the Englishman.
The age-old conundrum of club football schedules clashing with international football continues to hound the manager. Accepting that he will not always get what he wants, Constantine has made peace with the amount of time he gets to train his players.
“Would I like one month to prepare? Yes. Am I going to get it? No. Clubs have commitments. For the first part of the camp we had 12 days and then we got the (Mohun) Bagan and Bengaluru players on June 2nd. The players are tired, some have niggles and injuries, it’s part of it but I don’t like it”, he signed off.
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