Alberto Roca and Alexandre Guimaraes

PANAJI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is still rooting for a "known face" to fill the vacant national coaching vacancy, but the only Indian who had applied for the job has not found favour.

As the AIFF sifted through the 260-odd applications that they received before the March 29 deadline, V Soundararajan was the only domestic coach who was keen on succeeding Stephen Constantine and believed he had the credentials for the job. The AIFF, however, thought differently and set aside his application after realising that he does not have national team experience and has not coached any big team in India.

The 55-year-old Soundararajan last coached Chennai City FC in the I-League and has guided Southern Railways and the Tamil Nadu Santosh Trophy teams in the past. He obtained his Pro License - a must for all national coach applicants - from Germany in 2005, but that was not enough to convince the officials.

"Someone who knows Indian football will be at an advantage, but we are open to any name. We have trimmed the list to about 40 coaches," said a senior AIFF official.

Among the "known names", former Bengaluru FC coach Alberto Roca remains the favourite. The Spanish coach has many admirers in India after his stint with the Indian Super League (ISL) champions and is known to be the preferred choice of many players.

Another name that made the officials took notice and quite known in India is Alexandre Guimaraes . In his first season here, Guimaraes guided Mumbai City FC to the top of the table during the regular ISL season but failed to make it to the final. A former Costa Rica World Cupper (Italia 90), Guimaraes took Costa Rica to two World Cups (2002 and 2006) and is likely to at least make the final shortlist.

Kerala Blasters FC coach Nelo Vingada is also in the mix, thanks to his national team experience with Malaysia.

"We will have a meeting of the technical committee to come up with the shortlist. Some big names have been kept on the list, but unless we hear from them, it's difficult to say whether they will be keen to work here," said the official.

Former England coach Sam Allardyce , for example, is among the names that is doing the rounds, but having asked for an annual salary of approximately Rs 9 crore, according to sources, his name is in danger of being struck off the list. "Unless we talk to him, we wouldn't know," said the official.

Certainly, though, another England coach - Sven Goran Eriksson - is not being considered for being "too expensive and too old at 72."

Vladimir Petrovic (Serbia), Igor Stimac (Croatia) and Hakan Ericson (Sweden) are some of the other names who are being considered, although the final shortlist would be done only next week.

