Nepal faces acid test against ex-coach Constantine

GUWAHATI, ASSAM, March 11: The next one week will be crucial for two well known foes -- Nepal and India -- in the international football. Former national coach of Nepal Stephen Constantine, who guided Nepal to its last biggest achievement, will be taking charge of the Indian team for the first time since his reappointment as the Indian coach about a month ago.

Former national player Hari Khadka, who played a key role as striker to make Constantine's stint worth remembering in Nepal, will be working alongside head coach Jack Stefanowski as a coach. The two -- Constantine and Khadka -- will be together in the field once again, but as mentor of the opponent teams for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round. Nepal will play the away match on Thursday (March 12) and home match on March 17.

Constantine was the coach of the Nepali national team from 1999 to 200 in the initial days of his coaching career. He guided Nepal to final of football in the Eighth South Asian Games (SAG) at home turf in 1999 which Nepal eventually lost 0-1 and settled for silver medal. Nepal was defeated 4-0 against India in the group stage event. The second place finish is the last biggest achievement of Nepal in international football. Nepal had secured gold in first (1984) and sixth (1993) editions of SAG. Nepal has never crossed the semifinal of SAG football as well as SAFF Championship post 1999.

Khadka, assistant of coach Stefanowski, was one of the key players of the Constantine era Nepali squad. Khadka, who also holds the record of joint highest scorer for Nepal along with Nirajan Rayamajhi with 13 goals under his belt, had netted a crucial goal in the 2-1 win over Maldives in the 1999 SAG semifinal. He had scored twice against Bhutan in the group stage in Nepal's 6-0 win.

Khadka who evaluates Constantine as a technically sound and short tempered coach is also wary of some of his techniques. 'He is technically very sound. He is brilliant in making strategy and implementing them on the field,' said Khadka about Constantine. 'Besides this, his greatest strength lies in his ability to motivate players.'

Despite the words of praise to his former coach and current coach of opposite side he is optimistic of earning good results. "We are hopeful of earning good results and we will go for win," he shared. "The players get self-energized while playing against India, which is one of the major asset of the team. We also had sound training over past few weeks and the players are wary about the seriousness of the match. Everyone knows Nepali football will get an opportunity to play international match for a year if we managed to beat India."

He was however cautious not to underrate India. "Though India is a South Asian powerhouse the match between India and Nepal has always been an evenly contested affair. I think India also takes Nepal seriously."

The outcome of the two leg match will determine the road of the football minnows for the next one year. The winner will join the draw for the second round of the qualifiers consisting of 40 teams. The 40-teams will be drawn into eight groups of five teams each and compete in the double round robin home and away format. The second round of qualification will begin from June 2015 to March 2016.

The winners of each group and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals as well as final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining 11 slots in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup finals.