Technical director Doru Isac set to be part of commitee to select next India coach

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The Romanian was appointed to his new position only a few days ago by the AIFF.

The Indian national football team's recently appointed technical director, Doru Isac is set to be part of the proceedings to appoint a new head coach alongside the AIFF Technical Committee. The assigned personnel will meet at Delhi on Thursday and the four aspirants left in contention for the job will be interviewed for the spot.

"Doru arrived on Wednesday evening. He has been especially asked to come before the meeting so that he can participate in the selection process of the coach," a senior official of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) told IANS.

The four candidates who are still in contention for the head coach's spot which is lying vacant since former coach Stephen Constantine left the position after the AFC Asian Cup, are Igor Stimac, Albert Roca, Lee Min-sung and Sweden's Hakan Ericson.

Croatian Stimac is rumoured to lead the race for the job, due to his international exposure as a player for Croatia and also as a head coach. He was part of the 1998 World Cup, where the Croatians finished fourth. He was also in-charge of the Croatian side which qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The former Hajduk Split head coach clearly has the best credentials among the four candidates and his all-round experience has intrigued most of the members of the technical committee headed by Shyam Thapa. However, Roca is favoured by some of the other AIFF officials.

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Both Stimac and Roca are currently ahead in the race to land the job, while Korean World Cupper, Lee and Sweden's Ericson are lower down the pecking order at least as of now. Roca who had an impressive stint with Bengaluru FC is more of a club coach with his only international experience coming from a short stint with El Salvador. But, some of the AIFF officials along with the Indian national team skipper, Sunil Chhetri  heaped praise on the Spanish tactician, after his tenure with Bengaluru FC came to an end last year.

With the King's Cup right around the corner, the Blue Tigers are in desperate need of a man at their helm to steer their way in Thailand. India has been drawn against Curacao, while hosts Thailand play Vietnam on the opening day of the tournament on 5th June.