Indian football team is in the process of rebuilding: Stephen Constantine

August 12, 2015

New Delhi, Aug 12: The Indian football coach Stephen Constantine says the national team is going through a rebuilding phase.

"We are in the process of rebuilding our national team and it's obvious that the door is always open," Constantine said on Wednesday.

stephenIndia are slated to play Iran in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on September 8. They lost to Oman and Guam in their previous qualifying games earlier this year.

Asked about the criteria he has set for selecting players in the Indian team, currently ranked 156th in FIFA rankings, Constantine said, "Some players have not done enough for me while some have done what I want and have, hence, been named for the camp. I never select the national team based on how many awards (MOM) anyone wins.

"Each player must fulfill a specific role within the national team and it's not always the same role which he performs for his club. That's why some get the call, while the others wait.

"I neither select players on the basis of their contracts with their respective clubs. In some cases, it may be about the desperation of the club to get the concerned player in that particular position and it does not always determine his value to the national team.

Talking about the new additions in his probables for the Iran match, he said, "A couple comes back from injuries and it's appropriate we have a look at them. "I also want to see some more midfielders in action. I want to see them train. They are players who have featured prominently in the Hero I-League in the past and this camp gives me the opportunity to see them up close." The Briton said height was a key factor when it came to selecting the goalkeepers for his squad.

"If you look at the group of goalkeepers you will see that we have selected five of them and all have been done in collaboration with my goalkeeping coach Rogerio Ramos. You are also bound to notice one more common trait a significant trait, in fact, and that is their height. It's one of the key factors in international level football."

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June 6,2020

Malappuram, Jun 6: One more COVID-19 death was reported in Kerala on Saturday taking the toll in the State to 15.

The 61-year-old deceased, Hamsa Koya, a former footballer who represented Maharashtra in Santosh Trophy, had returned from Mumbai with his family on May 21.

Koya was undergoing treatment at Manjeri Medical College in Malappuram. The medical bulletin issued said that he was suffering from pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

On June 5, as his health deteriorated, he was administered plasma therapy on the advice of the state medical board. However, he did not respond to medicines and breathed his last at 6:30 am on Saturday.

The medical bulletin said that his family members including his wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren of 3 years and a 3 month-old child also had tested COVID-19 positive and were earlier shifted to hospital for treatment.

With this, the total death toll in Kerala has reached 15. 

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July 31,2020

Hampshire, Jul 31: David Willey's maiden five-wicket haul guided England to a six-wicket victory over Ireland in the first ODI here on Friday.

With this win, the hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

Chasing a small target of 173 runs, England got off to a bad start as opener Jonny Bairstow was given LBW in the third over, bowled by Andy McBrine. Jason Roy was then joined by James Vince and the duo added 22 runs on the board before the former was dismissed.

Craig Young then got hold of Vince, who was caught behind after scoring 25 runs. Sam Billings and Tom Banton then took the charge of the chase but the latter too was caught behind which ended his 11-run innings.

Banton's dismissal brought skipper Eoin Morgan on the field. Billings and Morgan played stunning innings and kept scoring boundaries. Morgan struck a scintillating six on the last bowl of the 28th over to take England over the line. Morgan scored 36 runs while Billings played a knock of 67 runs.

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Ireland witnessed a poor start as Paul Stirling was dismissed in the very first over of the innings, bowled by Willey. Andy Balbirnie then joined Gareth Delany but Willey struck again in his next over, removing Balbirnie.

Delany then played furiously and smashed three consecutive boundaries to Saqib Mahmood in the fourth over. However, the fall of wickets did not stop as England took three wickets in quick succession. Mahmood bowled Harry Tector while Delany and Lorcan Tucker were sent back to the pavilion by Willey.

Kevin O'Brien and Curtis Campher then took the charge and played cautiously, taking their struggling side over the 50-run mark. Adil Rashid got hold of O'Brien (22) in the 22nd over before Simranjit Singh was run out in the same over.

Andy McBrine was the next batsman and he played brilliantly along with Campher, who went on to complete his half-century. Both formed a 66-run partnership before McBrine (40) was dismissed by Tom Curran.

Campher remained unbeaten on 59 but failed to find a partner as England bundled out Ireland on 172 runs.

The second ODI between both teams will be played on Saturday.

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April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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