Indian players capable of challenging peers on international stage: Des Buckingham

Buckingham said that he sees similarities between the football talent in India and that in New Zealand and Australia, the two nations where he has coached in the past.

Buckingham feels that Mumbai City’s qualification to the AFC Champions League will showcase what Indian football can do on an international stage. | Photo Credit: SAKEER HUSSAIN

Des Buckingham took a brave decision when he did not name a single foreign player in Mumbai City’s squad for the Super Cup.

It was the overseas players, such as Greg Stewart, Ahmed Jahouh and Alberto Noguera, who had played key roles in the team’s victory against Jamshedpur in the AFC Champions League qualifier, at Manjeri, just a few days before the Super Cup kicked off.

Mumbai may have failed to qualify for the semifinals, but it tied for the top spot with NorthEast United and went out only because of an inferior head-to-head record.

The 38-year-old coach does not believe that winning is everything. “At the club, we have got different targets, one of which is to develop Indian players,” Buckingham told  Sportstar. “I am happy with the last two years and the progress that has been made. We use this tournament to give players an opportunity to showcase what they can do. And this will help us both now and in the future.”

He is also delighted that Mumbai qualified for the continental competition for a second successive time. “It was a very special moment for all of us,” he said. “This will only be the third time that an Indian club is going to the AFC Champions League and we have been fortunate that we have taken up two of those opportunities.”

Mumbai had done well on its debut in the tournament. “We became the first Indian club to win a game at the Champion’s League level,” he said. “The tournament allowed us to showcase what Indian football can do and Indian players certainly can do at that level.”

Buckingham, who helped New Zealand qualify for the Olympics and also enjoyed success in Australia’s A-League, believes India has the potential to do well on the global stage. “I see a lot of similarities between India and New Zealand (and A-League and the ISL),” he said. “I have been here for two years, I have seen enough players and they are more than capable of competing and challenging their peers on the international stage.”