Toal set to return to India as technical director of Minerva

Former technical director of All India Football Federation Colm Joseph Toal has been signed up for the same post by I-League outfit Minerva Punjab FC.

Colm has worked with the AIFF for seven years, played multiple roles with the national teams of India. He has played multi-faceted roles with the AIFF as the technical director, coach of the Olympic team, Indian U-19 and U-16 teams.

He was the architect of AIFF's Youth Development programme between the years 2007 and 2014 during which he identified and developed players like Jeje Lalpekhlua, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lalrindika Ralte, Milan Singh, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Narayan Das, Pronay Halder, etc.
 

Internationally, he has experience of managing teams over a period of 39 years. His CV is impressive with stints as the head coach of the Uzbekistan U-20 national team, assistant head coach of Calcio Udinese, FC Copenhagen, Chinese national team, FC Zurich and Al Ittihad Club.

Ranjit Bajaj, owner of Minerva Punjab FC was pleased to bring Toal to the club.

He said, "We are extremely pleased to announce that Mr. Toal will join us as the Technical Director. Minerva Punjab FC intends to rekindle Punjab Football and contribute Punjabi Footballers to the Indian National Team. Mr. Toal's experience and achievements in India is known to all. Most of the current top players in Indian Football have developed under him and it was no-brainer to bring him on board."

Toal said, "I am extremely pleased that I will join a club which belongs to Chandigarh and Punjab. During my stint in India, I was always amazed to see raw talent from Punjab and footballers from this region have done a great deal of service for the Indian National Team.

"Players like Gurpreet, Sumeet Passi, Sandesh Jhingan are from this region and we all know how important they are for the current Indian National Team. JCT Phagwara was the torch bearer of Punjab football and now I see Minerva Punjab FC re-kindling professional football in Punjab.