1.Preparatory Camps make a huge difference

1. Preparatory Camps make a huge difference

Over the last couple of years one of the major problems that coach Constantine and his staff have faced is that the national team players simply did not get enough time to prepare for crucial matches.

This was mostly due to ISL which being a private tournament does not take international breaks into consideration. AIFF, to make room for ISL matches and pre-season, cut short or scrapped the national team camp multiple times. An elaborate trip to USA planned by Constantine to get the players more international exposure was also scrapped in the name of ISL. 

And during some crucial World Cup qualifiers, the Blue Tigers did not get enough time to prepare. Forget a friendly, even a short camp to acclimatise to an alien climate wasn't allowed. Players were released by ISL franchises to the national team 3-4 days before the match. That doesn't get players prepared for facing heavyweights like Turkmenistan and Oman in their own backyard. Tired players and lack of preparation hampered India's performance a great deal. 

But since I-League has a sizeable international break, Constantine was able to hold an elaborate camp, play a friendly and get players acclimatised to the countries they visited. This definitely helped India performed better.

Constantine has camps and friendlies planned ahead of every Asian Cup Qualifier match over the next year. Since ISL and I-League are about to be merged, the new top division will honour international breaks. And this will allow the Blue Tigers to prepare better for their matches. The fans will hope that before each qualifier the players get to train together just as much as they have done in this international break.