Jackichand effective, Jeje good for Europe -- Constantine praises hard-fighting India players

THE NATIONAL TEAM head coach Stephen Constantine appeared pleased after India rammed 6 goals past Laos last night to win the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers playoff tie by a 7-1 aggregate.

Speaking about the attacking attitude India went into the game with, the British coach said,

"There is always an intent to win wether it is Iran or Laos... to attack and score first, but the way we started the game I did not expect to win by 5 goals.”

Constantine said it was a testament to the character of the players that they kept fighting despite being a goal down and came out with a win of epic margins,

“The order in which we won the match says a great deal about our character. We kept our heads high and fought for every inch. I am happy that Laos scored early on in the match as it gave us time to recover and stage a comeback.”

He praised the efforts of Jackichand Singh, the Salgaocar winger who came on as a substitute for Udanta Singh in the first half, had immediate impact on the game, and with three assists, led the charge to bring India back into the game and eventually clinch victory, 

“Jackichand Singh changed the game for us as he had a positive effect from the time he was introduced.”

Jeje Lalpekhlua, who scored 2 goals in the match, also received words of appraisal from the coach who said the Mohun Bagan striker was talented enough to play in Europe,

“He is a complete striker, he works hard, he holds the ball and he knows what he is doing. I am really pleased with his performance and he has the potential to go and play outside of India in the European Leagues.”
 

Thanks to the playoff victory India have reached the final round of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, and Constantine is being given credit for constructing a new look national team filled with talented young players with the potential to vastly improve as they continue their struggle to make it to the showpiece continental championship in 2019.