New Zealand football coach Fritz Schmid today dubbed India lying somewhere between "a sleeping giant and a rising competitor".
Schmid is here with his team to take part in the Hero Intercontinental Cup, starting June 2.
"I appreciate the opportunity to play in the hero Intercontinental Cup as for countries like us it provides an excellent option to play against three potential strong opponents and have a look at players who will take us forward for the future," he said.
Asked what impression he has about football in India, he sounded optimistic.
"India is somewhere between a sleeping giant and a rising competitor. It's a big country and from my activity back in the Asian Football Confederation I realised there was a lot of activity at the top level with their professional league.
"At the same time, they were trying to put things together for grassroots and development aspects. I followed very closely their activities around the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
"There are a lot of efforts going on and it's very important for them to put the pieces together to find their position in terms of popularity of the sport in direct comparison to cricket."