19 August, 2017
Along with India and Mauritius, St. Kitts & Nevis, will be the third side competing in the tournament.
"St. Kitts are not exactly Jamaica buy have a similar style and philosophy so both these teams bring something new to us".
"We're playing two games before the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers where I can try out more players". "My initial plan was to play one game against Macau, Hong Kong or Chinese Taipie. (But) when the opportunity came to play two games, that gives me more time, it also gives me more opportunities to try new players, so we wanted one team from Africa, one team from Carribean, one team from Asia to make it a four team tournament", he told reporters here.
"The timing of the games are hard". This time most teams are away with clubs, it was quite hard to get the teams we got.
"We are not going to underestimate our opponents", said Constantine, who has made a decision to hand over captaincy to central defender Sandesh Jhingan for the opener against Mauritius. "Don't forget that we have not played since June".
"The back-to-back games will be immensely valuable for us to get back into the groove", said Constantine on the tri-nation series. Constantine announced that Sandesh Jhinghan will lead the side. I've given worldwide debuts to over a hundred players. I believe that they have something to offer, and when they show that they have nothing to offer, they are gone. The Blue Tigers, now ranked 97, has been unbeaten since March a year ago, a run of eight games. Mauritius recently lost to Ghana and teams don't lose by close margins to African giants unless they are doing something right. "It's the same for the U-19 team as well", he added. If we need the ability to play at a good level, then we need to play good countries from different continents instead of just playing Asian teams. We are going to get a real test.
"Constantine, who has handed debuts to more than a score of players in his second spell since March 2015, said he will not cease to give talent a platform".
Earlier in June, the Blue Tigers broke into the top 100 rankings following an impressive showing with 2-0 win over neighbours Nepal and a 1-0 win over Kygryz Republic in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers group match. "We need to qualify for the Asian Cup on regular basis before we qualify for the World Cups", he said.
ON PAPER, THE Mauritius national football team is no big deal compared to India. Only this month they appointed Francisco Filho, a Brazilian who has worked as assistant coach to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, as the national manager and their star player, Kevin Bru, plays for English Championship side Ipswich Town. "We can help him in rehabilitation process", he quipped.
Though Mauritius are ranked 63 places below India, Constantine was not willing to read too much into their ranking. "There are two players in the team from the scouting network we had set up, they weren't anywhere now they are in the national team", he concluded.
The hosts will will take on Mauritius in the opening game at the Andheri Sports Complex ground in Mumbai on Saturday.
