Mumbai: Head coach of the Indian national football team Stephen Constantine was highly impressed by the Indian captain Sandesh Jhingan and showered praise on him for his performance in India’s 2-1 victory over Mauritius in the tri-nation tournament that also involves St. Kitts and Nevis.
He said, “The captain has to reflect the character of the team. He has to set the tone of the team. Sandesh is a fighter like me who loves to lead from the front.”
Interestingly, Jhingan had made his debut for the national team against Nepal in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match, which was also Constantine’s first match in charge, in his second stint as a head coach of the Indian national team.
With the performances that Jhingan has put up so far not only for the national team but also for the clubs he has played for, Constantine thinks it’s time for the lanky defender to play in the bigger leagues. “Sandesh to me is a player who should be playing in the bigger leagues,” he said.
The 24-year old defender, who made his captaincy debut for India in the match against Mauritius, led from the front and along with Anas Etathodika, he had an excellent match as they successfully thwarted most of the attacks, to help India register their record ninth win on the run.
Impressed with his performances, Constantine thinks him to be the captain for the future.
“In the coming days we can identify Sandesh as a leader once Sunil hangs his boots,” he added.
However, the defender himself didn’t look much excited about his performance. Instead he saw the opportunity to play for the country as an honour and that he wants to repay it with his performances. “Playing for your country is itself a great honour and here I am, leading my country,” he said in a statement.
Riding on two brilliant goals from Robin Singh in the first half and Balwant Singh in the later part of the game, India overcame a tough challenge from Mauritius, who despite being low in rankings, took an unexpected lead in the match.
Indian next face St. Kitts and Nevis in their next and final match of tri-nation series and will look to continue their winning run, to make it 10 wins on the trot.
Sunil Chhetri, who missed the first game of the series due to his commitments with Indian club Bengaluru FC, is expected to miss the next match also and will join the team for it’s AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers against Macau on September 5.
Talking about the match against India on Tuesday, head coach of the St. Kitts and Nevis team Jacques Passy stated that their first priority is to win when they take on India, in the Mumbai Football Arena on Tuesday.
“You don’t travel around the world only to compete but not win. Obviously, our first priority is to win. We’ll take one game at a time,” he said in an interaction with the AIFF.
“You don’t get the opportunity like this every day. The challenge lies in playing outside our Continent, our comfort zone. The character of of the players will be significant,” he added.
The match is stated to start at 5:30 P.M. IST and will be held in the Mumbai Football Arena on Tuesday.