The Indian football fans suffered a major heartbreak on Monday as captain for the day, Pronay Halder, and his men bowed out of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup after holding Bahrain to a stalemate until the 90th minute. The readers can read the match report here.
The fans were quick to demand Stephen Constantine’s resignation as his tactic of parking the bus didn’t pay any dividends and the Indian players could hardly hold on to the ball. However, the frustration soon turned into a moment of solace as the Englishman announced his resignation at the post-match press conference.
While he did a substantially good job of improving India as a footballing nation, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that India could have performed much better in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup under someone else’s guidance.
The Twitterati didn’t show any mercy on Stephen Constantine and showed sympathy towards the Blue Tigers who came agonizingly close to make it to the knockouts.
Stephen might have stepped aside, but it is not the end of our problems. The sheer reluctance of the Fed and associated parties to adopt a productive ecosystem with year long leagues, disbanding of the franchise ecosystem and Pro-Rel will forever keep us in the shadows.
— Hasan Rizvi (@RizTalks) January 14, 2019
.@GurpreetGK @SandeshJhingan so proud of you lads! To do what you did, in the face of awful tactics and superb opposition is no mean feat! Keep your head held high, gents!
— Aaditya Narayan (@Aaditya_LFC) January 14, 2019
Great man. I know you've said you'll play till you're 50. I have seen enough of you to know that it could well be a possibility. But, realistically, you might have played your last game for our country in a major tournament. If you have, then thank you. pic.twitter.com/Ay5LsqLDpq
— Aaditya Narayan (@Aaditya_LFC) January 14, 2019
Gutted and Devastated to say the least. #AsianDream ends. #IndianFootball #ConstantineOut pic.twitter.com/I73U7Xd5vW
— ThePanenkaView (@ThePanenkaView) January 14, 2019
With Constantine out, appoint technical director, who should have good control over design of academies with its own local scouting. High time, Indian football is run more professionally like a club, if we are to get anyway near the 2026 world cup qualifiers. #IndianFootball
— Vineeth Venugopal🇮🇳🇾🇪 (@vineeth4tweet) January 14, 2019
Heartbreak? 💔
Disappointment?😞
Used to it,been an @Arsenal fan for long enough!#IndianFootball #AFCAsianCup2019 #FootballUnited https://t.co/9x4BMjmUQa— Monark Brahmbhatt (@monark_23) January 14, 2019
#constantine sir abi to unblock kardo 😔
Ek goodbye 😘 😘to lete jao for all of your contribution to #IndianFootball in last four years. https://t.co/sRvyqjZjju
— Gurwinder Kahlon (@GurwinderKahlo6) January 14, 2019
My only hope is we still get to see Sunil Chhetri continue to play for India. He deserves so much more! #AsianCup2019 #IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/h2KLyXR978
— Rohith Nair (@RohithNair) January 14, 2019
looking at the bigger picture, it's good what happened today. else we would've lived in the la la land that all's good in #IndianFootball when nothing really is. hopefully, this setback can be turned into a springboard to do the right things now, at least.
— Mihir Vasavda (@mihirsv) January 14, 2019
Jobby Justin must be watching this and thinking that they took the wrong JJ to UAE. #INDBAH
— Arka Bhattacharya (@ArkaTweets10) January 14, 2019
😐 Horrible result! This is the India we thought we were going to see before the tournament started but somehow did not… until the crunch time. On the balance of the three performances, we deserved to go through. But you can't begrudge Bahrain a place there either. #INDBAH
— Akarsh Sharma (@Akarsh_Official) January 14, 2019
FT: IND🇮🇳0-1🇧🇭BAH
Late Penalty shatters India's #AsianCup2019 dreams. Head Coach Stephen Constantine resigns after the group stage exit. No need to be sad, we'll come back stronger next time. 👏🙏#INDBAH #INDBHR pic.twitter.com/ILlMgZo4Qy
— Sir Jadeja (@SirJadeja) January 14, 2019
Am I the only one who thinks that the Indian Football Team's captain is decided following an intense game of 'passing the parcel' with the armband on match-day minus one? #INDBAH
— Aakash Vinay (@aakashvinay17) January 14, 2019
Goodbye Constantine.
Now we really need someone like Guys Hiddink to take India 🇮🇳 to the next level just like he did with South Korea🇰🇷, Australia 🇦🇺and Russia🇷🇺.#INDBAH #Constantine @IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/BWr74CIngv
— DarkerKnight (@vinaykrish7) January 14, 2019
Rightly said. And Ashique in front does not look like a prospect to score our goals. Is this as a nation our best hitmen for this coveted tournament? #IndBah #footballunited
— Ugly Joe (@UglyJoe7) January 14, 2019
#INDBAH zero shots on target and almost no chance created to score, poor paasing, no counter attack build up and against a team who is 16 places behind us in ranking. Honestly this type of performance doesn't deserves to go through next stage pic.twitter.com/cwgY1JUhuq
— Rohit goyal (@_bunny_19_) January 14, 2019
India were unlucky to walk off without any points against UAE but not tonight. When the mentality is to play for a draw, you're surrending to a huge part of the battle. #AsianCup2019 #INDBAH
— Manasi Pathak (@ThatUnitedLady) January 14, 2019
When you play for a draw you get a L. Too much defensive play cost us the match and hopes for the playoffs. Well, great match against Thailand at least. Come Back Stronger Team India. #BlueTigers #INDBAH pic.twitter.com/0HUfaKzOV6
— Sarang (@sarangcasm) January 14, 2019
Despite putting up daring fight, India finish bottom of Group A standings.#IndianFootball #BluePilgrimsUAETakeOver #AFCAsianCup #INDBAH #InquilabEIndianFootball pic.twitter.com/i9eIuPEA2l
— Blue Pilgrims (@BluePilgrims) January 14, 2019
Beautiful scenes at the Sharjah stadium #INDBAH #AsianCup2019 @FirstpostSports pic.twitter.com/HwJhfPweDv
— Kaushal Shukla (@KasualShukla) January 14, 2019
Lots to learn – I look forward to watching an Indian team that is not defensive – I look forward to an India that doesn’t play route one football – I look forward to an India that plays tiki take – brave Indian team – well played @IndianFootball but we could have and should have
— Parth Jindal (@ParthJindal11) January 14, 2019
For the first time in my life I cried after a football match. Fuck off Constantine even your resignation can't fill this wound.
— #ConstantineOut (@GanjaOut) January 14, 2019
I have been saying #ConstantineOut for months .. now please Retweet if u agree .
— Indian Football Fan (@Last_Laugh11) January 14, 2019