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Indian football team needs an Indian coach: Syed Nayeemuddin

Former India football captain and Dronacharya awardee coach Syed Nayeemuddin believes that indigenous coaches can help the country attain a greater degree of success than their foreign counterparts who are "pocketing crores (of rupees) without producing results". "The main problem is you will see Amal Dutta (former India coach) sitting on the footpath and having tea while on the other hand foreign coaches are pocketing the money and insulting officials," Nayeemuddin said, from Bangladesh, where he is coaching a club side. India, coached by Anglo-Cypriot Stephen Constantine, recently lost all their World Cup qualifiers against the likes of Oman, Turkmenistan, Guam and Iran.
They even went down to then lower ranked side Guam (1-2), inviting sharp criticism from fans and former players alike.

Speaking on the dismal performances, Nayeemuddin said, "The country is losing and still we are having faith in foreign coaches. If you consider the population of India as Kolkata's then Guam is like Park Circus (a locality in south Kolkata) and still you lose. It is a great shame. We are having our faith on foreign coaches whereas I believe Indian coaches can give better results."

"We are spending crores of rupees on coaches and in training players abroad but what is the result? Main thing is that India is losing, not you and me," said the Arjuna award winner, who had captained the national squad to an Asian Games bronze in 1970.

The 71-year-old said that the difference between a foreign and an Indian coach lay in that for the latter, money was not the sole driving force. "An Indian coach will always give his best and not think about the money. He will not be worried about salary and all.

He will be only worried about the prestige of the country and therefore he will want to win against anybody that he faces," said Nayeemuddin who had earlier enjoyed three coaching stints with the Indian national team in 1986, 1997-1998 and 2005-2006. He also coached the Bangladesh national football team in 2007.

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