Six-time champions India were staring at a hat-trick of SAFF Cup titles but were completely outplayed by Afghanistan in the final on Wednesday. Former India coaches Nayeemuddin and Sukhwinder Singh were left shocked at India&#39;s dismal performance in the tournament. <img alt="Wim Koevermans and Baichung Bhutia" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/sep/Wim.jpg" style="width: 400px; height: 341px;" /> Wim Koevermans with Baichung Bhutia in a file pic &quot;When I was the coach, the team had beaten Maldives 5-1 in SAFF Cup final at the same venue in 1997. I cannot imagine that we had to see this day. In the last seven years, the federation has spent Rs.7 crores on foreign coaches. I wish they had similar faith on Indian coaches as well,&quot; he said. Nayeemuddin said Koevermans should be sacked immediately and should be replaced with an Indian coach. &quot;I feel Wim should resign immediately. The need of the hour is an Indian coach and he should get all the facilities given to a foreign coach,&quot; he said. Sukhwinder lamented that SAFF Cup was the only tournament that India dominated, but that too is not the case now. &quot;I am shocked with the result. The SAFF Cup was the only tournament where India were the dominating force. But I don&#39;t think it will be the same anymore,&quot; he said. Asked whether the coach should be sacked, Sukhwinder said: &quot;It will be tough to say if Koevermans should be sacked because I don&#39;t even know when he was appointed as the India coach. I don&#39;t even know about his CV.&quot; India&#39;s most successful club coach Bhowmick, who guided Churchill Brothers to I-League triumph last season, wondered how can a coach leave out the skipper and prolific striker Sunil Chettri from the starting eleven in a final. &quot;India were poor throughout the tournament except for a couple of matches. In the final they looked pathetic. I was shocked to see the coach leaving out Chettri from the starting line-up. I won&#39;t comment much on the coach because the federation only thinks that they cannot do without foreign coaches,&quot; he said. Olympian and former India captain Chuni Goswami said the loss was a disgrace for the national team. &quot;For long, India were the dominating team in South Asia. And now we are losing to Afghanistan, where the footballers don&#39;t even have proper infrastructure for the game. The final was like Indian goalkeeper against the whole Afghan team. I just want to know what the remaining 10 Indian players were doing,&quot; Goswami said. Goswami, however, doesn&#39;t feel that sacking Koevermans is the right way to go forward. &quot;I don&#39;t think sacking the coach will be the solution. What will the coach do when you don&#39;t have quality players,&quot; said Goswami. Former Mohun Bagan and East Bengal coach Subrata Bhattacharya was critical of the poor quality of Indian players. &quot;Why blame Koevermans. If you have poor quality players even the top foreign coaches can&#39;t do anything. I feel only an Indian coach can make a difference,&quot; he said.u00a0

Former India football greats including Syed Nayeemuddin and Subhash Bhowmick slammed national team's head coach Wim Koevermans after the humiliating 0-2 loss to Afghanistan in the final of the SAFF Cup

Former India football greats slam coach Koevermans

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