Constantine in the city. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

He is the hope of millions of football buffs in this country. With his advent, the Indian football scene entered a new dimension. Meet Stephen Constantine, the coach of the national senior football team.

The quintessential English gentleman and football expert was in the city recently to conduct an orientation clinic for the coaches of the region.

“The Northeast is a gold mine of talent. But like any other gold mine, we have to dig it to extract the gold. And this is what the coaches have to do — they are the miners and have to dig out the real talent,” Constantine elaborates.

“The camp was very satisfactory and the coaches worked real hard. I shared whatever information and knowledge I have with them. So all I can do now is wait and watch how they put to use the coaching imparted to them,” he says.

Constantine pointed out to one elementary flaw in the system. It is his firm conviction that talent should be discovered early. “Out here, talent is recognised only at the age of 14 or 15, which becomes a bit late. True and raw talent should be recognised as early as eight, nine or 10 and their talent and skills should be monitored at the age of 14 or 15.”

Constantine himself started early. Football was his passion and he followed the game like a zealot. “I sum up my childhood in just three words — football, football and more football. People have a certain direction in their lives and I discovered mine when I was five or six. I have been kicking the ball ever since. I played it in the dining room, the living room, just about everywhere, smashing window panes and giving my mother a hard time,” he reminisces.

However, his love and interest for soccer affected academics and his grades slipped. “My teachers always said I could do better if I just stopped concentrating on football. They used to complain to my mother that I should stop thinking so much about the game. But I never did,” he jokes.

He feels that local clubs can go a long way in promoting and identifying talent. “People should start at the grassroots level and only when everybody decides to pull up, the game would witness real stars,” he says.

Though football is the numero uno game in the world, it has to face a tough competition in this country with cricket being the staple game of the masses. Constantine, however, has a completely different view of the scenario.

“I totally disagree to cricket being the religion of Indians. It is football, which is played on the streets or in the fields on any given occasion. India is ranked 6th or 8th among the 10 test playing nations whereas it is ranked around 135 among 200 football-playing countries. I consider this as far better statistics,” he says.

“The only difference is the way in which the game is marketed. Cricket here gets the best marketing and only in this context football gets a bit sidelined.,” he rues.

Though the Indian football scene has really perked up, there are, however, there are a few drawbacks among the players. “One of the biggest drawbacks that Indian players have to face is lack of height. Asian players, including the Japanese, have an average height of over 6 feet. But the height of an average Indian player is just 5 feet 8 inches,” he says.

Satisfied with his short but meaningful stint in the region, he is now focusing on the results of his endeavour. “I want to come back and see what the coaches have done as they are the real people who can advance the game. I want to visit the other states too,” he says.

But for now, he is neck deep in work. India has a tour of Singapore and Oman lined up before Constantine can finally relax and go home for Christmas.

“I loved every moment here. The people and the local government were very supportive. If everyone shows this support, India can scale greater heights in the football-crazy world,” he says.

“Where there is a will, there is always a way,” he says, signing off with a wide grin.

Shaheen Salma Ahmed