For those who are not up to date with the rather shocking developments in Indian football off late, Nicolai Adam, appointed the coach of the India U-17 side in 2015, was sacked by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), just seven odd months ahead of the huge FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.
Senior team coach Stephen Constantine then filled in for the vacant post, assisting the Indian colts temporarily. But now the AIFF have ultimately zeroed in on the new coach after several rounds of interviews.
Portugal's Luís Norton de Matos, 63, is the new coach of the India U-17 football team and will be seen shouting at the lads from the sidelines during the World Cup in India, scheduled for an October start.
The big question now is if the AIFF can rely on De Matos in the months to come or could the experienced coach be another victim of internal politics?
"My role will be to orchestrate everything wherein the players will be playing their part," De Matos has been quoted as saying by the AIFF website. "I admire AIFF's vision and the U-17 World Cup will act as a base for development of football in India. The players need to believe in themselves to do something special for the Country," he added.
So, who is Luís Norton de Matos?
- Former youth player at Benfica.
- Played very few games for Portugal in 1982.
- He was a forward.
- In the late 1990s, he was the director of football at Portuguese heavyweights Sporting Lisbon.
- In 2010, he became the manager of the Guinea-Bissau national football team.
