Top 7 contenders who have applied to be new Indian Football Team head coach profiled

#2 Eelco Schattorie

Eelco Schattorie led NorthEast United to their first ever ISL semifinal

Another of the applicants who is no stranger to Indian football, Schattorie only kept adding to his reputation, with his exploits with NorthEast United in ISL 2018-19.

For the first time in the five years of the ISL, NorthEast managed to qualify for the playoffs and that was largely down to the excellent usage of his resources by Schattorie. They lost in the semifinal to eventual champions, Bengaluru, but not before giving the Blues an almighty scare.

NorthEast were unlucky with injuries in the semifinal, where they had Bartholomew Ogbeche and Rowllin Borges ruled out, before seeing Federico Gallego pick up a horror leg-break during the game. That shouldn't take away from what was a sensational season, where they continually punched above their weight.

Schattorie made a promise of good football at the start of the season, and throughout the season, he went about ensuring that his side didn't waver from that. Although they had only five goalscorers all season, it was a complete team effort from the Highlanders.

Schattorie worked with the lowest budget in the league to build a squad that punched above its weight in all respects. He even showed that he could improve the Indian players over the course of the season.

Borges had his most productive season yet. Lalthathanga Khawlhring and Redeem Tlang were livewires on the flank all season. Reagan Singh was one of the most consistent performers in the league, while Keegan Pereira and Robert Lalthlamuana both did their job when asked to do it.

Schattorie had been vocal towards the end of the season that a national team job is something that he would love to add to his CV, and it's no surprise that his name is in the hat, to succeed Constantine.