Indians have potential for European leagues: Stephen

New Delhi, August 9: The Indian national coach Stephen Constantine urged more players to follow in the footsteps of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who is plying his trade for Stabaek FC in Norway…
For a country of over 1.2 billion, only one player is playing for a professional top division club in Europe. In the past we have had instances of Sunil Chhetri, Subrata Paul trying their luck but for one reason or another, the move never materialised and when it did, they were no competetive games under their belt.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who plays for Norwegian club Stabaek FC, has made immense strides in his professional career. He is the first Indian to play in a competetive European league and also started for his club in a crucial Europa League fixture. From an error-prone teenager to a confident India number one, Sandhu’s metamorphosis is there for all to see.Under the tutelage of Stephen Constantine, over 25 players have made their debut in less than 18 months or so. The English was asked if he felt more Indian players must venture out of India to look for better opportunities in Europe.
“I fully agree. I think that Indian players should start looking abroad. But by saying so I mean that players shouldn’t be deceived into thinking that they will be playing for top European clubs or leagues like EPL (English Premier League), La Liga, Bundesliga, simply because the Indian players are not there yet,” Constantine told Goal.
The former Rwanda boss believes that Sandhu has the potential to play for even better leagues than the Norwegian one. He further opined that there are a few national team players who have the talent to ply their trade in some of the European leagues as opposed to playing in the domestic circuit.
“From my coaching experience I can say that Indian players are good for many European and US leagues. You need to look at what Gurpreet has done. The Norwegian league is not the best in Europe but it has given him the opportunity and he is doing very well. If he continues, he will move to higher leagues. I feel there are some Indian national team players who can play in leagues ranked higher than the Norwegian league,” he shared his thoughts.