New Delhi: Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson headlines a list of 35 names shortlisted for the post of the Indian football team coach, which also includes the highly successful ex-Bengaluru FC manager Albert Roca.
The much-travelled Sven-Goran, a Swede, and Spaniard Roca apart, Tommy Taylor (England), Hakan Ericson (Sweden), Tomislav Sivic (Serbia), Lee Clark (England) and Lucas Alcaraz Gonzalez (Spain) are some of the other candidates shortlisted for the coveted post.
Sven-Goran, who was in charge of England for five years until 2006, had last month expressed his interest regarding the job to the All India Football Federation.
The Indian team’s spirited showings in recent times had a ripple effect with the position of the men’s coach attracting over 250 applications, an unprecedented number that also includes some well-known names from Europe. The post has been left vacant since Stephen Constantine resigned after the Indian team’s failure to make the knockout round of the AFC Asian Cup.
“The federation has received over 250 applications. 125 were selected after that and out of which 80 qualified as per the AIFF’s requirements. After that, around 35-40 names, based on various criteria, have been forwarded to the technical committee. Seven to eight will be called for the final interviews, following which the appointment will be made,” an AIFF official said on the condition of anonymity.
As a manager, the 71-year-old Eriksson won 18 trophies with various clubs in Sweden, Portugal and Italy, between 1979 and 2000, and became the first manager to win league-and-cup doubles in three countries.
