Asian Cup 2019: Top 5 Achievements of Stephen Constantine with Indian National Football Team

#3 Qualifying for Asian Cup 2019

India qualified for the Asian Cup after 8 years

When Stephen Constantine was appointed as Indian National team coach in 2015, the objective was crystal clear; he was to make sure that India qualified for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in UAE.

Many people at that point in time didn't really think that qualification for the Asian Cup was possible given India were languishing in 170s in the FIFA rankings.

The Qualification process for India was a long one as they had to play a couple of rounds of Pre Qualifiers with Nepal and Laos to gain eligibility for the group stages of the Qualifiers.

After getting the better of Nepal and Laos, India was grouped with Myanmar, Kyrgyz Republic and Macau in the group stages of the Qualifiers.

Some again felt that the likes of Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic would be too much for India, but then again the Blue Tigers proved their worth and finished as group toppers. They were also the first team to confirm qualification for AFC Asian Cup from the group qualifiers.