Armando Colaco

Armando Colaco, Dempo’s coach has been appointed as the interim coach of the Indian football team for the next 4 months following the acrimonious exit of Bob Houghton from the coaching setup. This means that Armando, a highly experienced coach at the national level would oversee India’s two FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers against UAE, ranked 111 in the world. The decision was taken by AIFF in order to buy some time and space for selecting a permanent coach for the Indian football team. A step in the right direction, Armando Colaco brings with himself a vast amount of experience to manage players of high pedigree as well as sufficient amount of international exposure in the form of the yearly participation of Dempo in AFC Cup competition.

The decision was taken unanimously by the AIFF selection committee to temporarily appoint him as the successor to Bob Houghton . Colaco would take charge immediately after the end of the I League where they are in a 4 way tussle for the championship. Dempo are also involved in the AFC Cup pre quarter finals and Armando Colaco would definitely like to make a statement by a good performance against the Iraqi outfit, Duhok FC.

Armando Colaco has reiterated the fact that youngsters and I league players would be given high priority and seniors like Bhaichung, Surkumar etc would be not selected for the moment. The attacking strike force of Jeje-Sunil Chettri would definitely be retained which means a temporary curtain to the glorious international career of Bhaichung Bhutia.

Armando Colaco would also oversee two friendly matches against Qatar and Maldives as India would be preparing for the important FIFA qualifiers. A strong performance can also land the job in the hands of Colaco who no doubt have all the pedigree and experience to lead the national football team.

The Indian players have a certain sense of warmth and affection for Bob Houghton who no doubt did a splendid job as team India’s coach. But selecting another foreigner as India’s head coach might not actually be a right step as I league coaches has excellent pedigree and versatility. Notable names include Karim Bencharifa and Trevor Morgan who inspite of being a foreigner has quite a lot of experience at the Indian level.

Tags: AIFF, Armando Colaco, Coach, Dempo, FIFA World Cup 2014, Football, India, Indian Football