Stephen Constantine is the Indian football team's head coach. He's with the Indian team for nearly one-and-a-half year now. In his last endeavor he guided India to the silver medal in the Afro Asian Games.
The interview was done by Sidharth Datta, who is a Senior Correspondent at the TV channel Star News.
Thanks to Sidharth Datta and STAR NEWS for the interview!

Stephen, before the Afro Asian Games began you had said that one should not expect India to win a medal. Did you prove yourself wrong?

No, I don't like to make predictions. We knew that the African sides are going to be very strong. You cannot discount anyone before kicking the ball. We have a nucleus of a good side and I did not want to burden my players with extra pressure.

One can see that the Indian players have started playing with a lot of purpose since you came. It's 'Team India' now. What have you changed?

The biggest ting that I tried to change was player's attitude. I hate losing, but I felt that in the past it was okay to lose as long as you didn't get smashed. Play well, but lose...no problem! I could not stand for that. From the first day I told players that we're going to kick everyone's ass. Whether we win or not, the attitude is going to be that we're going to win. The turning point was in the LG Cup. A day before the semifinal I looked at the players and they didn't seem too keen. I called everyone and blasted them for 10 minutes. I asked them not to be happy with just the semifinal, it's not enough. In the semifinal we hammered Indonesia in the first 10 minutes. One of their boy's was taken off on a stretcher. I condone that but the fire was ignited. We went on and won the title.

But even you would admit that India football faces a grave problem, that of a faceless future. Ancheri and Vijayan are fading and Bhutia is not getting any younger.

(Laughs) You are spot on! It's a very good question. We need to develop more. The problem is that there's no program for youth development at the grass root level. Aside from Goa, football is not developing anywhere. Even Calcutta by itself cannot put together a side to compete in the U19 NFL. East Bengal took players from all over the place. The clubs need to do more to develop football culture in India.

Do you talk to Indian coaches about coaching style and methods?

Yes, we had a couple of sessions where we called Under-15 and Under-19 coaches. I gave them practical examinations and from there we took one coach who now works with me for Under-17 team. We need to more such courses and motivate up and coming coaches.

What about tour own coaching course with UEFA?

It's a professional diploma license course. It's only by invitation. This year-long course involves a lot of practical, media, media, mental preparation, dealing with professional players, contracts - you name it. We do conference calls every week. There are a lot of assignments that we have to complete. I'll graduate next year.

You've been in India for some time now and have seen the sporting scene from inside as well outside. What's your impression about Indian sports?

I would say that the government needs to decide on its sporting policy. Ninety per cent of the athletes get absolutely from the government, except when there's a big hoo-hah and we need to show a big contingent. The facilities these athletes train in are a disgrace. The SAI (Sports Authority of India) complexes that we talk about haven't been painted for twenty years. How would you expect to produce top athletes? And yet we produce them. Imagine what it would be like if the government supports them. In India we are sitting on a goldmine - absolute goldmine, but to get the gold out you have got to dig, clean, filter and shine. The only body that can do that is the government.

For more information on Stephen Constantine go to his personal website. The URL is http://www.stephenconstantine.co.uk/ .