With tears in his eyes, Stephen Constantine stepped down as the Indian football team's coach, the group stage Asian Cup exit turning out to be one bitter pill that he found too hard to swallow.

India's promising start to the continental showpiece ended in a heartbreak when they conceded a 90th minute penalty for Bahrain to eke out a 1-0 win in their final group engagements here Monday night. And his "cycle" was finished.