India Begin Search For New Football Coach After Wim Koevermans Quits
Wim Koevermans' contract as the national coach of India ends on October 31.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: October 08, 2014 12:43 PM IST
India will begin the search for a new coach after Wim Koevermans' tenure came to an end with the team's 3-2 home defeat by Palestine in a friendly on Monday.
Former Dutch defender Koevermans, who took over in 2012, has declined an offer to take up a technical director's role after his contract expired at the end of this month, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said.
"When I took charge I was told to change the style of play and there has been a huge improvement on that front," Koevermans said. "We created chances in every match that we played and played some good football. But that hasn't been enough."
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my stint and stay in India. It was a nice gesture by the players," said Koevermans, referring to the guard of honour which the Players gave at the end of the Palestine match.
Koevermans' contract as the national coach with AIFF ends on October 31, 2014.
"I never like losing. The boys stayed so much committed on the ground today," he said in reference to India's match against Palestine. "But it was visible that they had better players in almost every position. We gave them a very tough game and could have avoided conceding the first and the third goals. But that's football."
(with inputs from Reuters)