Stephen Constantine insists Indian football deserve huge crowd turnouts
Stephen Constantine believes that the Indian football team have done enough in the last few years to deserve a decent crowd turnout and shouldn't be begging for support from the fans. Sunil Chhetri scored a brace in his 100th match to lead India to a 3-0 win over Kenya and put the team in the final.
Stephen Constantine had a contrasting view as opposed to other people who thought that Sunil Chhetri’s impassioned plea urging people to come and cheer the team in the ongoing Intercontinental Cup was encouraging. He opined that the Indian team shouldn’t be begging people to come and watch the play in the ground. After the team moved from 173rd spot in 2015 to 97th spot in 2018, the coach of the national team insisted that they have done enough to merit huge crowd turnouts. However, he did appreciate the support that people showed in their game against Kenya.
"Look, I have said it before and I don't feel that we should be begging people to come and watch the national team. The response today was unbelievable, what I expect from the Blue Pilgrims and the rest of the people, it's not only the Blue Pilgrims. But the national team is playing in the manner, we've been playing for last three and half years, and the things that we have achieved in three and half years, (and) we still feel disappointed to see such a crowd in the last game. Today I thank every single one of them and I expect them to be here for the following two games," Constantine was quoted as saying by PTI.
Chhetri's video on twitter touched the hearts of Mumbaikars, who turned up in numbers for the game against Kenya, after not showing up in huge numbers in the tournament opener. From 2000 in the game against Chinese Taipei, the number of fans swelled to almost 9000 for the last night's match, pretty impressive for a stadium that can accommodate around 10000 people. It was Chhetri's 100th international game and he made it memorable by scoring a brace and guiding India into the final with a 3-0 win. Constantine said that he was delighted over this win and for Chhetri.
"I was thinking before this game, who is going to spoil this day for him (Chhetri) and for us. I am delighted that he got a couple of goals and obviously delighted that we won. So, I don't think that he is going to forget it for some time," the coach stated.
"Firstly I am going to congratulate the boys for a hard-fought win. Difficult conditions obviously because with the rain, we couldn't play particularly well in the first half, gave them too much space, difficult to play in those conditions. By the
He also requested the government to send the football team to the Asian games. India would be playing final of the competition on June 10, and before that, they will take on New Zealand on Thursday.