Jamshedpur FC rope in Steven Dias as Assistant coach

by Chittu Shetty August 24, 2019

ISL side Jamshedpur FC have roped in former India international Steven Dias as the Indian Assistant Coach for the upcoming 2019-20 season.

Nicknamed ‘David Beckham of India’ during his India playing days for his long range shooting, crossing and passing, Steven will be the Indian understudy to the ‘red miners’ Spanish-Russian head coach Antonio Iriondo.

The club announced the signing on their Instagram post. Steven Dias, who last played for Karnatak Sporting Association in MDFA Elite Division until this season, has completed his AIFF ‘A’ Licence in Coaching. Having dedicated majority of his career for Mumbai Football playing for sides like Mahindra United, Mumbai Tigers and Mumbai FC, Steven entered coaching role couple of years ago, along with his Air India teammates Santosh Koli and Vijit Shetty being actively involved in Mumbai based club Ambitious FA.

View this post on Instagram

Bend it like B̶e̶c̶k̶h̶a̶m̶ Steven! 😁 We are proud to announce that Steven Dias, the David Beckham of India during his playing career, will come on board as the Indian Assistant Coach for #JamshedpurFC this season! 🔥 Read more 👉 https://bit.ly/2zkpMae #JamKeKhelo

A post shared by Jamshedpur FC (@jamshedpurfc) on Aug 24, 2019 at 4:35am PDT

On signing with the club, Steven said, “I’m so glad to be part of a big club like Jamshedpur FC. The club is doing so much good work, right from the grassroots level to the senior team, in a very planned and organized manner. It’s a massive opportunity for me and I’m so excited to work with a coach like Antonio Iriondo, who has vast experience having managed so many clubs in his career.”

From playing in the ISL few years ago to coaching an ISL team now, Steven believes it is going to be complete different thing. Speaking to footballcounter, Steven said, “Of course, As a player it was amazing experience. I enjoyed my season with Delhi Dynamos alongside players like Del Piero. But now as a coach, it’s gonna be complete different thing. I know it’s not gonna be so easy for me. We have very experienced coaches with me like Antonio Iriondo as head coach, he has got vast experience managing so many big clubs like Rayo Vallecano. Then we have Victor Pulga as assistant coach, Alfonso Taberne as GK coach and Luis as fitness coach. I’m sure, I’ll get to learn a lot from these coaches. And I’m very excited to work for Jamshedpur FC and I’m ready for it.”

Steven Dias made his debut for India in 2006, quickly becoming a mainstay in the Indian midfield. He has played 51 matches for the Indian national football team and has won Nehru Cup and AFC challenge Cup with the team. The latter helped India qualify for the big occasion – the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, where again, Steven was a key member of India squad.

The former Indian midfielder has played for clubs like Air India, Mahindra United, Churchill Brothers, Mumbai Tigers, Rangdajied United, Bharat FC and Mumbai FC winning the National Football League in 2006, I-League in 2013 and IFA Shield in 2011. Steven was the star Indian player of Delhi Dynamos FC in the inaugural edition of Indian Super League.

He will be closely working with Head Coach Antonio Iriondo and rest of the technical staff during the club’s Indian Super League 2019-20 campaigns.