The Irishman, if appointed, would be the first west European coach to train the Indian team in 35 years. Harry Wright, the Britisher who trained India during 1963-64, was the last West European coach to be associated with the national side. A majority of the coaches who had stints with the national team since then, belonged to the East European countries.

According to AIFF sources the Irish coach is ranked among Europe's top fifteen Fifa coaches. Fifa has also agreed to bear a part of the expenses involved in the appointment of the foreign coach. This will be as part of Fifa's soccer development programme for Asia.

Meanwhile, theunceremonious exit of the National coach Syed Nayeemuddin has come as a surprise for many. Nayeem who coached the national side in the Asian Games, was looking forward to an extension of his term, especially as the team's performance at Bangkok had been slightly better than what was expected. The Indian team for the pre-Olympic qualifying round would be a blend of the best talents drawn from the national under-16, under-21 and under-23 teams. The AIFF is also on the look out for two more foreign coaches who will be in charge of the junior teams.

India is drawn with Thailand, Singapore, Laos and Brunei in the group 9 of the Asia Zone pre-Olympics qualifiers, likely to be held in Sept 99. Altogether 34 teams are in the fray for the three spots allotted by Fifa for Asia. The winners of each of the nine groups will qualify for the final round.