Don't put pressure on football team: Constantine

Stephen Constantine, hailed as the new-found saviour of Indian football, says too much pressure should not be put on his young side ahead of the Busan Asian Games.

"Don't expect miracles. It [the Asiad] is an extremely tough assignment and my aim is to win the first match and let's see what will happen after that," Constantine, who took charge as India's coach two-and-a-half months back, said on Monday.

At the Asian Games, India, placed in Group C, will play its first match against Bangladesh in Ulsan on September 27 before taking on Turkmenistan on September 30 and China on October 3.

Surprised by the sky-high expectations from the Indian under-23 team following the title triumph in the LG Cup 2002 earlier this month, Constantine said, "I have already done around 40 interviews for television.

"Our team has nine to ten players who are playing international soccer for the first time. And it is wrong to put too much pressure on them and have extremely high hopes," said the 39-year-old, who spurned an offer to coach Sudan before taking charge of the team in June.

The Busan-bound squad will leave for England on Sunday night to play two matches against Jamaica, a team ranked 57 in the latest FIFA rankings, on August 29 and September 1.

The Englishman is well aware of the strength of other teams. "It has been announced that World Cup star Qu Bo will be playing for China [ranked 51], plus there will be two more Cup stars and this Chinese under-23 squad has been together for the last four years.