This is India's best-ever FIFA Ranking since April 1996 when India were also ranked 100.
Rathore, Tendulkar lead accolades for Chhetri
The 51-year-old, who was part of Croatia's 1998 World Cup squad that finished third in France, comes with an experience of over 18 years in coaching, structuring, and developing football and players back home, and internationally.
Chhetri is the lone surviving member of the 2011 team who lost all three group games in Qatar but the 34-year-old is determined to make a mark in what is potentially his final appearance in the continent's biggest tournament next month.
India's national football coach Stephen Constantine on Friday anointed towering goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu as captain for Saturday's international friendly against higher-ranked Puerto Rico at the suburban Andheri Sports Complex ground in Mumbai. "Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will captain the team on Saturday against Puerto Rico," Constantine announced at the fag end of the pre-match media conference to give a huge boost to the 24-year-old, one of the youngest players to lead the national football team.
Myanmar coach Gerd Zaise praised Indian National Team skipper Sunil Chhetri highly
Two delectable strikes from magical Manvir Singh and an opportunistic header from substitute Sumeet Passi helped defending champions India breeze past Pakistan 3-1 to romp into the final of the SAFF Suzuki Cup.
The arrival of Quess as sponsors has given East Bengal financial boost while Mohun Bagan are in talks with ATK to collaborate.
Indian football team has turned into a decent home side but it is in desperate need for away games, says inspirational skipper Sunil Chhetri, who feels the next target for the country should be a top-10 place in Asia so that the big guns invite them over.
It was the first meeting between the countries in more than two decades and has been dubbed 'The Earth Derby' as it features nations that are home to a third of the world's population.
Football captain Sunil Chhetri wants India to "set a benchmark" by regularly qualifying for AFC Asian Cup, the continent's premier tournament.
The team spent some 16 hours on the flight and landed in Guam 27 hours after leaving Bengaluru on June 12. They had their first training session on Sunday afternoon at the Guam FA Stadium.
An inexperienced Indian football side gave a good fight before going down 1-2 against Oman in the home leg match of the 2018 World Cup Preliminary Qualification round in Bangalore on Thursday.
Not focussing on grassroot development over the years has led to the players learning the basics only late in their career, says national coach Stephen Constantine.
Indian football team's dismal run continued as they suffered a humiliating 0-4 loss to Iran in a Group D match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
71-year-old Sven-Goran Eriksson won 18 trophies with various clubs in Sweden, Portugal and Italy, between 1979 and 2000, and became the first manager to win league-and-cup doubles in three countries.
India jumped two places to finish 2016 at 135, their best in the last six years, in the FIFA rankings published on Thursday. This is India's six-year highest annual ranking after 2009 when India finished at 134. National coach Stephen Constantine attributed the upsurge to all his players and the staff. "It can't be achieved without the help of the players. We have an exceptional batch of players as we are in the process of building the team for the future," Constantine said.
The Indian football team will play against China for the first time in 21 years, and the first time away from home, in an international friendly in October, continuing its preparation for the prestigious Asian Cup next year.
India finally tasted victory after five straight losses in their 2018 football World Cup qualifying campaign as they beat Guam by a solitary goal in Bangalore on Thursday.
India's football coach Stephen Constantine announced his preliminary squad of 38 probables for India's forthcoming back to back 2018 World Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification matches against Oman and Guam respectively.
Influential skipper Sunil Chhetri has been ruled out of India's World Cup qualifier against Iran owing to a groin injury, dealing a body blow to the beleaguered outfit's prospects of putting up a fight. The match for Russia 2018 World Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 is slated to be played in Tehran on Thursday. A 22-member team on Monday left for the forthcoming game. Six players from the list of 28 probables, including injured striker Chhetri, didn't travel with the squad. "We had to take some bold decisions and we have to travel to Tehran without our influential captain Sunil Chhetri," national coach Stephen Constantine said. "He will be badly missed." Chhetri has been ruled out following a groin injury which he had picked up in the I-League.
India held a dominant Nepal to a goalless draw in their 2018 FIFA World Cup football qualifying Round 1 second leg match to advance to the second round on a 2-0 aggregate in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
The Indian senior national football team will play their home match of the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium at Sajusarai in Guwahati.
India will start as favourites against Maldives in the summit clash of the South Asian Football Federation Cup, in Dhaka, on Saturday.
Englishman Stephen Constantine and New Zealander Ricki Herbert, have been short-listed to take over from Dutchman Wim Koevermans as the new coach of the national football team.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Sunil Chhetri scored a brace to put himself on par with Lionel Messi and lead the home side to Intercontinental Cup title triumph with a 2-0 win over Kenya in the summit clash, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Coach Stephen Constantine says the Indian football team has done enough in the last few years to merit a decent crowd turnout, and begging for support was one thing it did not deserve.
Skipper Sunil Chhetri made it a fairytale 100th international game with a double strike as India recorded a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Kenya
India left their scoring boots and luck behind while hosts United Arab Emirates found both after a subdued opener to record a 2-0 win in the AFC Asian Cup in Dubai on Thursday.
India has a population of 1.3 billion but the nation's obsession with and success on the cricket pitch has left it a massive underachiever on the football field.
Stimac was part of the Croatia team that sensationally reached the semi-finals of the World Cup at the first attempt in 1998 and he is looking to his India squad to similarly buck the odds in Asian qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
India thrashed Nepal 4-1 at the Trivandrum International Stadium, in Kerala, on Sunday, to finish on top of Group A and seal a place in the semi-finals.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'If we are in the first 10, you are giving yourself a realistic chance to play against the best in Asia and then you always have the answer to how much you have to achieve more'
Constantine said silly individual errors cost India the match.
The 51-year-old was a member of the Croatian team that finished third in the 1998 World Cup.
Mumbai City FC star Sunil Chhetri wants to see more Indians start upfront for their respective teams as the Hero Indian Super League 2 nears the 100-goal mark, saying the thought of scoring the landmark goal 'sounds special'.
India began the year on 97 in FIFA rankings, but after two wins, four draws and seven losses, the country ended 2019 at 108
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's ground-breaking journey through uncharted territory reached the most important milestone as he became the first Indian footballer to play for the first team in the top-flight Europa League.
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