New Delhi: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is all set to negotiate all the candidates who have applied for the position of the head coach in Indian men's national football team.

            The football governing body of India received around 250 applications in response of the official advertisement put up by the Federation to hire a new coach after Englishman Stephen Constantine resigned in January after the Asian Cup till the 29th of March, the deadline set by the body to apply for the job.

            Amongst the candidates who applied for the job there were some highly-renowned names from Europe, which included former England national team and Everton boss Sam Allardyce.

            There were also names like Albert Zaccheroni and Sven Goran Eriksson who were managing teams in Asian Cup. Also there were names familiar to Indian football- former Bengaluru FC boss Albert Roca and former Mumbai City FC coach Alexandre Guimaraes.

            The Federation shortened down the list to 38 names and now the Technical Committee will narrow down on seven or eight names come 15th of April, the day when the officials will hold a meet.

            The Federation will hold talks with all the candidates for the position so that they could find out their plans for the team if they take over and also discuss out the salaries they can be offered.

            Amongst the list of candidates, Albert Roca and Sven Goran Eriksson's names have been doing the rounds for quite some time now. Both the coaches have vast experience in the field of managing. Spaniard Roca has formerly worked as assistant coach under Frank Rikjaard at FC Barcelona, and has also worked at Galatsaray and Saudi Arabia national team. He also has experience of Indian football, having coached Bengaluru FC for two seasons.

            Meanwhile, Swedish 72-year old Sven Goran Eriksson has a lot of experience in managing at top levels, having coached England national team and clubs like Fiorentina, Manchester City and Leicester City. He was last in charge of Phillipines at the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

            The final decision for the head coach will be taken by the Federation by May 7.