The Indian national football team achieved the unthinkable as they beat world number 112 Puerto Rico 4-1 in a friendly in Mumbai.
It was an impressive performance by the Indians who were facing opponents ranked 38 places above them. Puerto Rico came visiting and were humbled by Stephen Constantine’s side in the financial capital of the country.
The visitors drew first blood in the eighth minute of the contest, courtesy of a strike from Emmanuel Sanchez. However, it was all India post the goal, as they went on to dominate proceedings and came away with the victory.
Narayan Das, Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua netted shortly after Puerto Rico’s goal and sent the hosts into the break with a 3-1 lead. Jackichand Singh then scored in the 58th minute to give India a memorable victory over a higher ranked opposition
Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was outstanding between the sticks and may have proven his point to become the permanent heir to Subrata Paul’s throne as number one.
ISL kicks off global phase of Premier Skills in Mumbai
Premier Skills – a joint initiative between the Premier League and British Council – will launch in Mumbai on the 5th of September in partnership with the Indian Super League and All India Football Federation.
This will mark the start of a three-year programme in India as well as globally, and will be taking place in the city of Mumbai for the very first time.
Premier Skills is a proven model. Since its incpetion in 2007, 7600 coaches and referees have been trained in 29 countries, who in turn have reached 1.2 million young people.
Building on that success, Premier Skills is embarking on a new three-year global programme, starting with phase 1 in Mumbai, strengthening the quality of current coaches and rolling out training to a new generation of community football coaches across the world.
The course in Mumbai will be led by Jeremy Weeks, Premier Skills Head Coach. He will be supported by Robert Parrett, Development Manager at Crystal Palace Football Club and Katie Bottom, Women and Girls Development Officer at West Ham United Football Club.
They will be joined by three Indian Premier Skills coach educators who will be present to assist the Premier League coaching team and pass on their experience to their fellow Indian coaches.
Kushal Das, the General Secretary of the AIFF, had a few words to say about this initiative.
“All India Football Federation welcome the initiative and are delighted to associate with Premier Skills. AIFF will award ‘D’ licensing certificate to all the candidates who successfully complete the Premier Skills Phase 1 certification.”
