Indian soccer to get foreign coach

New Delhi: India is all set to have its third national coach in less than a year as All India Football Federation (AIFF) has shortlisted 11 foreign coaches for the hot seat.

The names forwarded to the AIFF Technical Committee include Brian Kerr, who was in charge of Ireland till it failed to make it to the 2006 World Cup.

Former Chelsea manager Ian Porterfield and Dutch coach Clemence Westorhof, who has managed teams like PSV Eindhoven and Ajax apart from Netherlands' Under-21 side, are also in the running.

The 63-year-old Dutch tactician also guided Nigeria to the 1994 World Cup.

Porterfield has to his credit an FA Cup victory with Sheffield United. Other than coaching Chelsea from 1991 to 1993, he also coached Bolton Wanderers and the national teams of Zambia, Oman and Trinidad and Tobago.

Englishman Bob Houghton, who took Swedish side Malmo to the Champions Cup Final in 1978-79, also finds his name in the list.

The names suggested will be considered by the Technical Committee which will prune the list before calling them for discussions in Delhi before the end of this month, AIFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco said on Saturday.

Among other candidates is Croatian Milos Hrstic who represented Yugoslavia as a defender in the 1982 World Cup, while Brazilian Milton Queiroz da Paixao has coaching experience in Japan's J-League.

Argentine Jorge Mario Olguin, a defender at the 1978 World Cup winning side, comes with the recommendation of one of the FIFA vice-presidents.

England's Colwyn Rowe has been an instructor with the Football Association (FA) while Bosnian Amir Alagic comes armed with an UEFA 'A' coaching licence.

The other individuals in the fray are Brazilian Roy Maicol Barreto and Croatian Predarg Juka.

Former French coach Michael Hidalgo, who guided Le Bleus to European Championship glory and a World Cup semi-final, was tipped to be in the race but could not make it to the list.

The AIFF decided to appoint a foreign coach after India put up a shoddy display in the two Asian Cup qualifiers against Japan and Yemen under Syed Nayeemuddin.

Nayeemuddin had replaced Sukhwinder Singh, who was shown the door after disastrous tours to Pakistan and Fiji last year.