India end 2016 with FIFA rank of 135; best annual rank in six years

INDIA'S BEST year-ending ranking in the last 6 years came about this year as India were listed 135th on the FIFA rankings published for the month of December 2016. Stephen Constantine, head coach of the Indian national team acknowledged the effort put in by the players and his support staff. Speaking to the www.the-aiff.com said,

“It can’t be achieved without the help of the Players. We have an exceptional batch of Players as we are in the process of building the team for the future”

Constantine seemed happy with the achievement but said there was a lot work to be complete and shared,

"One of my priorities was to improve the National Team ranking when I took over. The results do state that we have improved but there’s still a lot more to achieve”

The Head Coach also gave credit to the support he received from the management in being assisted when needed and said,

“Football results are always determined by the support which one receives off the field. I am grateful both to Mr. Patel (AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel) and Mr. Das (AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das) for allowing me to do the things the manner I wanted to do. Both of them envisage a long term plan for Indian Football and it’s a total team effort”

Recollecting the memorable year for the nation, Constantine summed up the achievements saying,

"There have been so many positives for us in 2016. Right from the National Team winning the SAFF Championship to the Women’s Team winning the SAG Gold to the National Team beating a team as high as Puerto Rico 4-1 in an International Friendly, things are looking bright” 

The national Coach further commented on the accolades received in the year,

“The developments off the field saw us win the 2016 AFC Award for the Best Developing Member Association and we also had Uvena Fernandes, the first even Indian referee to officiate a World Cup final match. And off course we need to remember that we had an Indian Club in the AFC Cup final for the first time ever and one of our youth development product becoming the first Indian player to play in the Europa League"

The draw for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers UAE 2017 will be held on January 23, 2016 and India would be playing their first match in the Qualifiers on March 28, 2017.

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