Eriksson has shown interest in taking over from Constantine. (Getty Images)

MUMBAI: Former England and Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is interested in becoming the next India football coach.

TOI can reveal that the 71-year-old Swede, through his agents, has let the All India Football Federation (AIFF) know of his availability for the post left vacant since Englishman Stephen Constantine quit after the AFC Asian Cup campaign.

Eriksson recently ended his short tenure as Philippines manager after his team finished winless in the continental showpiece that took place in the United Arab Emirates.

"While Eriksson has not contacted the AIFF directly, he has let the AIFF know, through his agents, that he's quite interested in the job especially as India is an emerging footballing nation," an AIFF source said.

Sources say that the AIFF have been getting a lot of CVs from a number of coaches world over. They however, are in no hurry to appoint one immediately. They want to take their time and should make a final decision by mid-April.

"India's impressive performances of late have grabbed quite a few eyeballs. Their encouraging performance in the Asian Cup, especially their 4-1 victory over Thailand has shown that they can perform well at the world stage. With quality foreigners coming to play in the Indian Super League (ISL), people now know that India is serious about their football. As soon as Constantine stepped down, the number of CVs have come flooding in," the source added.

Eriksson, who began his managerial career back in 1977, has coached the Mexico national team as well the Ivory Coast team. He has worked with clubs in ten countries. His most famous stint however was with the England national team from 2001-2006 where he guided them to the quarterfinal of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups in which they lost to Brazil and Portugal respectively. Under him, England also lost in the 2004 Euro quarters to Portugal.

Eriksson was all praise for India's performance at the Asian Cup, saying football needs countries like India. Speaking after India's win over Thailand, he told reporters, "India dominated the game and scored four goals. Wow! The whole world who saw that match (felt) they were physically good, technically good players."

While Eriksson sure is a big name, his record of late hasn't been particularly impressive. He did have a good run of form early in the Portuguese and Italian leagues which saw him get the England job in 2001. Post that, he hasn't done anything noteworthy even during his time at Manchester City and Leicester City.

He moved to Asia in 2013 when he became coach of Guangzhou R & F in China. After a decent time in the south, he got the Shanghai SIPG job in 2014 but couldn't deliver the title. In 2016, he moved into the second tier with Shenzhen but was fired in 2017 with just five wins in 13 games.

