India rise to best ranking in six years

India, who defeated 114th ranked Puerto Rico in an International Friendly in Mumbai in September, garnered 230 points for the month.

In August 2010, India were ranked 137th which stayed India’s best ever FIFA Ranking since then. 

National Coach Stephen Constantine sounded delighted but wasn’t willing to read too much into it. “When I came over for my second stint, one of my tasks was to improve our FIFA Rankings. With the results which we have had so far, it is clear that we have succeeded,” he said. 

“It’s been a total team effort. Unless the AIFF President Praful Patel and the AIFF General Secretary allowed me to do the things and the manner I wanted it to be done, this won’t have been possible ever,” he stressed.