Stephen Constantine: Tri-Nation will help us prepare for match against Macau

Indian National Coach Stephen Constantine feels that the forthcoming AIFF International Tri-nation Football series presented by Hero will serve as an ideal platform for his team to prepare for India’s forthcoming crucial AFC Asian Cup Qualifying match against Macau on September 5.

“The two matches would immensely benefit our quest to maintain an all-win record in the Asian Cup Qualifiers,” he said. India stay on top of Group A at the moment, courtesy back to back “hard-earned” victories over Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic.

“Qualification to the 2019 Asian Cup stays the priority. It will be nice to work with the boys again. They will be coming after a long break and we need to work hard for them to attain the fitness levels which are required for an International match,” Constantine said. “The boys need to play matches to understand each other better.”

India are currently ranked 97 in the FIFA ladder. The National Team, courtesy 13 victories in the last 15 matches (including the unofficial match against Bhutan) have moved up 76 places since March 2015.

India were ranked 171 when Constantine took over as the National Coach for the second time in February 2015 and slipped further to 173 in March 2015 in the FIFA ladder even before Constantine could have his first game in charge against Nepal, which India won 2-0 on aggregate.