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India head coach: Constantine, Jamil apply
They are in the list of nearly 170 names that also includes former Australia and Liverpool forward Harry Kewell
Kolkata: Stephen Constantine has again applied for the post of the India men’s team head coach. The Anglo-Cypriot is among nearly 170 candidates that have responded to the advertisement issued by All India Football Federation (AIFF) on July 4 to seek a replacement for Manolo Marquez. Applications closed on July 13.
The former Pakistan coach, Constantine, 62, has been in charge of India twice earlier, from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2015 to the Asian Cup in 2019. He has also coached East Bengal in the Indian Super League (ISL) in 2022-23.
Constantine’s last match with Pakistan was the 0-1 defeat away to Myanmar on June 10 ending a stint that began in September 2023 with one win, one draw and eight defeats. Also on June 10, India’s 0-1 defeat to Hong Kong away was Marquez’s last match before the FC Goa coach and AIFF mutually agreed to part ways.
There is an international window in September but if India skip that, their next assignment will be the Asian Cup qualifiers against Singapore on October 9 and 14.
Former Australia and Liverpool forward Harry Kewell, whose last coaching assignment was with Yokohama F Marinos in 2023-24, has applied as have at least three coaches in the 2024-25 ISL, according to an AIFF official who requested anonymity to protect relationships. They are: Khalid Jamil (Jamshedpur FC), Sergio Lobera (Odisha FC) and Andrey Chernyshov (Mohammedan Sporting). Sanjoy Sen, who won the 2024-25 Santosh Trophy with Bengal and the I-League with Mohun Bagan in 2014-15, is also on the list.
Lobera has won the ISL double with Mumbai City and the Super Cup with FC Goa but missed out on a top-six berth last term. Having guided Mohammedan Sporting to the I-League title, which fetched them promotion to ISL, Chernyshov left midway through the season because of unpaid dues.
Jamil, 48, took Jamshedpur FC to the semi-finals in 2024-25 where they lost 2-3 on aggregate to double winners Mohun Bagan Super Giant. In 2020-21, four seasons after guiding unheralded Aizawl FC to the I-League title when it was India’s premier competition, Jamil became the first Indian coach to make the ISL semi-finals.
He was offered the India under-23 coach’s job earlier but had decided to stay at Jamshedpur FC. “Things changed when the senior team’s job offer opened up. It is unlikely that there would be any national team player whom Khalid does not know well,” said an official connected to the league. Not authorised to speak to the media, the official did not want to be named.
Constantine’s experience with India cannot be discounted but with AIFF officials pitching for an Indian coach till the Asian Cup qualifiers in March 2026 and because he would cost less than a foreign coach, Jamil could be a frontrunner.
The list of applicants will be pruned by Subrata Paul, the national team director, and Syed Sabir Pasha, AIFF’s technical director, and forwarded to the technical committee, said the AIFF official mentioned above.
