AFC Asian Cup | Stephen Constantine resigns as coach after Bahrain defeat

01/15/2019

Stephen Constantine announced his shock resignation from the post of head coach of the Indian national football team on the back of a the Blue Tigers’ heartbreaking exit from the AFC Asian Cup. Sunil Chhetri & Co. slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Bahrain in their final group fixture on Monday.

Team India fell to a crushing 1-0 defeat to Bahrain thanks to a 91st-minute winner scored from the spot by Jamal Rashid after Pronay Halder committed a careless tackle in the box. As a consequence of the defeat, India were forced to exit the tournament despite a promising start which saw them defeat Thailand by 4-1.

If that wasn’t enough to break the hearts of Indian fans, Stephen Constantine announced his decision to step down as coach of the national team immediately after the loss to Bahrain. The Englishman was currently on his second stint as coach of the Indian team before he opted to step down last night.

"I've been here for four years. My objective from day one was to qualify for the Asian cup and I've done that and we've broken a few records as we'd done that. I'm exceptionally proud of the players and everything they've given."

"To go out in the 90th minute with a penalty... it's really tough. The boys gave everything, I don't think we created as much as we normally do. The boys are sick as you can imagine and I am disappointed for them. They gave everything they could in the last few games," Constantine said at a post-match interview, ESPN reported.

Constantine, who took charge of the national team back in 2015, added that his side were not in search of a draw against their middle-eastern opponents. He added that the inexperience of his team, one of the youngest in the competition, had them retreating to their own half which allowed Bahrain to launch multiple attacks towards the latter stages of the game.

"We didn't intentionally set up for a draw. Obviously Bahrain started with real energy, looking to get the early goal and as the game wore on, this is maybe a little inexperience on our side... we started defending deeper and deeper and deeper and in the end, we got punished. But I thought we were unlucky. We defended well for ninety-something minutes and as the 70th and 75th minute came on the boys thought, 'okay we can hold on.' Bahrain were playing with six forwards and four in midfield, it was tough, but to get beaten by a penalty is harsh in anybody's eyes."

"We have a crop of young players, I think the future is theirs, they need to quality for tournaments like this on a regular basis if they want to be successful. I think they have the players and the talent pool to do that," Constantine added.

AFC Asian Cup | Stephen Constantine resigns as coach after Bahrain defeat

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