India coach Stephen Constantine stepped down Monday after an injury-time Bahrain penalty floored his side 1-0 and denied the cricket-mad nation a historic spot in the Asian Cup knockout stages.
India were moments away from reaching the knockout phase for the first time before Jamal Rashid converted a dramatic penalty in the 91st minute to shatter their dreams and sneak Bahrain through.
Constantine’s team were clinging on by the end, at one point packing all 11 players on their own goal line to defend an indirect free kick and then just as it looked like India would hold on for a famous point, Pronay Halder committed a rash foul and Rashed stepped up to smash the ball down the middle to knock India to the bottom of the Group A and out of the tournament.
It was heart-breaking but many on social media also thought that India brought this upon themselves.
Mr. @StephenConstan has announced his resignation as the Head Coach of the Indian National Team. We haven’t received any official communication from him yet but we accept his decision & thank him for his contribution to #Indianfootball: Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF pic.twitter.com/S792tJ6r1h
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) January 14, 2019
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the loss:
A disappointing night for us all, I would like to thank @StephenConstan for all he did for us and wish him all the luck,Thank you to all the fans who showed up at the stadiums and supported us and fans who did the same from back home. Fight is what we had and fight is what we did pic.twitter.com/SYpKyEeKea
— Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (@GurpreetGK) January 15, 2019
Bahrain at Asian Cup:
— Alisher Nikimbaev (@nikimbaev) January 15, 2019
5 Jan. Conceded last minute penalty vs UAE to drop deserved win
14 Jan. Scored last minute penalty vs India to get deserved win and qualify to knock-out stage
Justice came true?
#IndianFootball #AFCAsianCup2019 falling into the trap of playing for a draw and defending 'too much' cost India a place in the AFC Asian Cup knockout round
— ZISHAAN AHMAD NOORI (@ZISHAAN4U) January 15, 2019
india really can't complain. poets of their own fall. they had to play their worse to get knocked out of the tournament. miraculously managed to do that! unbelievable... #AsianCup
— Mihir Vasavda (@mihirsv) 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
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
India is ranked higher than fellow group members Thailand and Bahrain in the FIFA Rankings and yet failed to make it to the next stage of the Asian Cup. Yet tweets flow about how proud we are off the team. May be we should be a more demanding fan base
— Pranav Gandhi (@PranavRGandhi) January 15, 2019
Goodbye, Constantine. In his first year, he was obstructed by ISL; then one senior AIFF official spent 18 months of his life trying to leak stories against Constantine. The coach did well given the limitations, helped India game the rankings by producing results.
— Bhargab Sarmah (@BhargabSarmah) January 14, 2019
Constantine gets a lot of hate at times. Yes, some of the criticism about his team selections are justified but team selection in India is never free from controversy. Not even during the time of SA Rahim. All things considered, he delivered what was expected.
— Somnath Sengupta (@baggiholic) January 15, 2019
Why we failed #AsianCup2019 Let's be factual #IndianFootball
— Shaji Prabhakaran (@Shaji4Football) January 15, 2019
It is not players or coach/ long balls or short balls/ strategy or tactics
It is not confidence or choice of captain or team leadership
Etc. Etc.
But it is the gap, competitive structure, current level, etc.
Looking onto the brighter side of things, #IndianFootball surely has come a far way from the performances & character shown by the entire team. A lot to take & learn for the road ahead. We only get better. #Proud #BlueTigers #BackTheBlue
— Rahul Bheke (@RahulBheke) January 15, 2019
I am heartbroken because we couldn't manage to qualify to the next Round and even more upset as this was Sunil Chhetri's last major Tournament in India Jersey.
— Indian Football Team-For World Cup (@IFTWC) January 14, 2019
He ends with a total of 5 Goals for India in Asian Cup campaigns. pic.twitter.com/dhJTyYW9aW