Dronacharya awardee coach Bimal Ghosh advises for a ‘better scouting’ of footballers for the senior national team.

Ghosh, speaking to Parallel Sports on Wednesday after the senior national team’s exit from the Asian Cup qualifiers with a 2-1 defeat against Singapore at home on Tuesday, explained, “Despite having delivered an inspiring performance for the first 30 minutes, India could not increase the scoreline due to poor conversion. India could have taken the lead by at least 2-0 during the phase.”

He continued, “So, I feel that before the selection of the national team, the selectors have to spot those footballers who are proficient scoring goals. Not only ISL, the selectors have to scout footballers from the I-League, the Senior National championship, even from the Second Division I-League. There can be a pool of 50 footballers, and then you put them into rigorous training. Looking forward to the future, you do not have any other option.”

He added, “Today, teams should not depend only on the strikers. You can have a wing-half who is flawless in converting chances. You can have a midfielder whose shooting ability is accurate. So, the selectors have to scout those footballers across different competitions whose striking ability is precise. Then only national team can get rid of poor conversion in their crucial international engagement and it will need time.”

The 69-year old coach admitted India’s defensive organization was not up to the mark, especially the defenders faltered in positioning at the time of Singapore’s second goal. “In the case of Singapore’s equalizer also, I would blame the lack of defensive organization.”

When asked whether the team could benefit by playing Sunil Chhetri in the match, Ghosh opined, “I feel Sunil should have been fielded in the latter half of the match.