Mumbai: Coaching is not teaching to learn but rather unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. This is what the All India Football Federation is looking for. After Hockey India found a coach, in the name of the Roelant Oltmans, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is on the war footing to find the right person for the job. However, coaching the Indian team in any sport can prove to be a taxing experience, especially when the said coach is being introduced to the country through their job. They will first have to adapt to the fact that they have a dressing room in which players homes could be thousands of kilometers away, languages and cultures can be a barrier.
“Language is no barrier when it comes to sports, but at the same time, AIFF is looking for someone who would be a motivator and not a teacher in a classroom,” said Shyam Thapa, the chief of the AIFF technical committee while talking to Free Press Journal on Saturday from Delhi. “We want a person to manage rather than be a teacher, and I am sure we will find one very soon,” said Shyam Thapa, After going through the over 2000-odd applications AIFF have shortlisted four. ” There are four who have been shortlisted by the AIFF technical committee which includes the two-time South Korean World Cupper Lee Min-sung, Albert Roca, along with ex-Croatia national team manager Igor Stimac and former Sweden coach Hakan Ericson,” said Thapa. And among them, Croatian Igor Stimac looks the best candidate.”Yes, we would love to have an Indian but unfortunately, there is nobody who could fit into the shoe,” said Thapa.
However, Croatian Igor Stimac stands the best chance of going by the profile he has forwarded. “The Croatian appears the best and it all depends on the other members,” said Thapa while adding that Roca’s according to me cannot be one.Talking about Roca, Thapa said, “He (Roca) has done a wonderful job with Bengaluru FC, and it has been in club level, here we are talking about our country India and that makes a big difference,” said Thapa, he went on to add, that the Indian Super league has given a new facelift for the Indian football.
The list also included the likes of France’s World Cup-winning coach Raymond Domenech, former England managers Sven-Goran Eriksson and Sam Allardyce. The Indian team is scheduled to play matches in the Kings Cup on June 5 and June 8, and a preparatory national camp will be held under the new coach in the third week of May. The Kings Cup will be the new coach’s first assignment.
