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Stephen Constantine has signed with East Bengal to be their head coach. A source close to the development confirmed that he has signed a one-year deal with the club with a clause of optional extension. The signing will be announced very soon by the club.
Stephen Constantine has played extensive football in the USA. He played for the Pennsylvania Stoners and the New York Pancyprian-Freedoms. However, a serious knee injury forced him to retire at the age of 26.
Constantine started his coaching career for APEP Pitsilia, a 3rd division club from Cyprus. In 1999, he was appointed as the head coach of Nepal's national team. After that, in 2001, Constantine joined AFC Bournemouth as the Youth Coach.
He gained a lot of recognition during his stint at AFC Bournemouth. He had the experience of working under Sean O'Driscoll there. In 2002, he was appointed as the head coach of the Indian National team.
Constantine won the LG Cup with the U-23 Indian team, defeating sides like Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. He later worked as the assistant coach for Millwall under Dennis Wise.
In 2014, the 59-year-old became the manager of the Rwandan national team. In December 2014, when the rankings were published under his guidance, Rwanda attained their highest ever position of 68.
Stephen Constantine was coach of Indian National Team in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
On January 16, 2015, Stephen Constantine was announced as the head coach of the Indian national team. Initially, Constantine was criticized for losing against Guam in World Cup qualifiers.
However, the gaffer built a young squad centered around Sunil Chettri. Under his guidance, Arnab Mondal, Ashique Kuruniyan, Udanta Singh, and Sandesh Jhingan flourished.
He won the 2016 SAFF Cup by defeating Afghanistan in the final. The Englishman also helped India win their first AFC Asian Cup match since 1964 when they defeated Thailand 4-1. He took the Indian national team to a FIFA ranking of 97 from 172.
Stephen Constantine last worked as the manager of Cyprus Club Pafos FC, where he won 12 out of 18 matches and lost only four. He also has experience of working as a FIFA instructor and was a member of the FIFA Elite panel.
East Bengal had a nightmare ISL 2021-22 season
East Bengal, managed by head coach Robbie Fowler, finished ninth in the ISL 2020-21 season. He was replaced by Manolo Diaz at the start of the 2021-22 season but the squad did not improve.
Due to the Spaniard's dismal start to the season, the club sacked him with assistant coach Renedy Singh taking over in the interim.
Renedy did not have an AFC Pro License, leading to the recruitment of Mario Rivera as their head coach. They ended last in the table with only one win in 20 games after three different coaches had a negative influence on their performance.
The club's officials have already begun assembling their team for the upcoming season. They've already started talking to people like Nabi Hussain Khan, Mahitosh Roy, Dip Saha, Suryash Jaiswal, and Aditya Patra.
Mohammed Rakip and Ivan Gonzalez, both ISL players, have also just joined the Kolkata club. They have also finalized Jerry from Chennaiyan FC and have appointed Bino George as the Indian assistant coach. They will most likely start their practice next week.
