Trevor Sinclair, the former England winger who played in the 2002 World Cup, will be part of the coaching staff for India in the Asian Cup next month. This was confirmed to HT by a member of the senior national team on Tuesday. Not authorised to speak to the media, the person did not want to be named.
Sinclair, 50, is expected to be reach Doha on Friday. India head coach Igor Stimac too is scheduled to reach on the same day. The India probables – Stimac has prepared a long list of 50 keeping in mind injuries and illness – will join on Saturday.
Sinclair is likely to work with India’s full backs and help with set-piece routines, attacking and defending, according to the person mentioned above. The person said Stimac had proposed Sinclair’s name a couple of months back. Confirmation from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) came this week.
India will have around eight days of full training before starting against Australia on January 13. They play Uzbekistan on January 18 and end group league engagements against Syria on January 23. Stimac, who won three tournaments with India in 2023 and notched up an away win in Kuwait in the World Cup qualifiers, has repeatedly said preparation time was too short for India to give of their best in Asia’s biggest competition.
This is the first time a footballer with World Cup experience is joining the India coaching staff exclusively for a tournament. Sinclair played as winger in the 2002 finals. He was on the bench in the 1-1 draw against Sweden in England’s opening game but came on as replacement for Owen Hargreaves in the 1-0 win against Argentina. Sinclair didn’t feature in the 0-0 draw against Nigeria but started in both knockout round games, the 3-0 win against Denmark in the round of 16 and the 1-2 loss to Brazil in the quarter-final.
Sinclair played 12 times for England and was Stimac’s teammate at West Ham from 1999-2001. At the time, West Ham manager Harry Redknapp would often play three centre-backs and that meant more defensive responsibility on Sinclair who usually played as right winger. He won the Intertoto Cup with West Ham in 1999 when they beat Metz 3-2 on aggregate. While at West Ham, Sinclair was charged with damaging a car following a Christmas party. He was also convicted on drunk driving in 2017.
West Ham sold Sinclair to Manchester City in 2003 for £3.3 million. Sinclair played for City till 2007 scoring five goals in 82 games. He also played for Queen’s Park Rangers from 1993-1998.
Also joining the staff for the Asian Cup is goalkeepers’ coach Tomislav Rogic. The former Shakhtar Donetsk, Hadjuk Split and Club Brugge coach returns to the India set-up after 2020. Regular goalkeeping coach Frano Srdarev, who has worked extensively in Iran, too will be part of the support staff.