Reports | Albert Roca, Sven-Goran Eriksson in the fray to become next India coach

Reports | Albert Roca, Sven-Goran Eriksson in the fray to become next India coach

no photo

Former Bengaluru FC coach Albert Roca and former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson are reportedly the front-runners to be appointed as India’s next coach of the men’s football team. The post is vacant since Stephen Constantine decided to step down after India were knocked out of the AFC Asian Cup.

All India Football Federation officials are currently assessing all the proposals that have come in connection with the job of coaching the senior men’s football team. Former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson tops the list of 35 big names that have been shortlisted along with the highly successful former Bengaluru FC manager Albert Roca.

Along with Eriksson and Roca, Tommy Taylor (England), Hakan Ericson (Sweden), Tomislav Sivic (Serbia), Lee Clark (England) and Lucas Alcaraz Gonzalez (Spain) are some of the other candidates shortlisted for the prestigious job. Sven-Goran was in charge of the three lions football team for five years until 2006 and had last month expressed his interest regarding it to AIFF senior officials. The Indian team's improved displays in the last couple of years and their impressive performance at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup has attracted over 250 applications, which included some big names from Europe.

"The federation has received over 250 applications. 125 were selected after that and out of which 80 qualified as per the AIFF's requirements. After that, around 35-40 names, based on various criteria, have been forwarded to the technical committee. Seven to eight will be called for the final interviews, following which the appointment will be made," an AIFF official told PTI.

Eriksson, now aged 71, has won 18 trophies with various clubs in Sweden, Portugal and Italy, between 1979 and 2000. The highly-rated Swede was the first manager to win league-and-cup doubles in three countries. Besides England, Eriksson has also taken charge of the national teams of Mexico, Philippines and Ivory Coast.

Meanwhile, with Roca at the helm of affairs, Bengaluru FC played four finals in his two seasons in charge - making the final of the AFC Cup in 2016 and the Federation Cup and ISL in 2017, and the Super Cup in 2018.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all