Indian Football – Glimpses of a new dawn

From being a powerhouse in Asian football in the 50s, 60s and early 70s, Indian football slumped to newer lows towards the end of the millennium. Each time they ventured out to resurrect their tarnished image they had to bite the dust. But the recent success of Indian clubs and the national team have ushered new hope and reinvigorated thoughts of the revival of Indian football.

Indian Football

In 2003, East Bengal FC became the first and only Indian club to win a major tournament outside India by lifting the LG ASEAN Cup. Lead by Baichung Bhutia (arguably the greatest Indian footballer of his generation) who was the highest scorer in the tournament with eight goals, East Bengal beat BEC Tero Sasanna FC (Runners up of the AFC Champions League) of Thailand.

The national football team also has had its share of success with a victory in the 2007 Nehru Cup. India under Bob Houghton managed to beat Asian powerhouse Syria who were placed much higher in the FIFA rankings. In front of a capacity crowd at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi, India humbled their famous opponents with Pradeep scoring the all important goal. Sunil Chetri & Baichung emerged as India’s heroes in their moment of glory. India successfully defended the Nehru Cup in 2009 by defeating their fancied opponents Syria in a scintillating clash. India’s custodian Subrata Pal saved the day for India with a brilliant showing under the bar. Indian football’s day under the sun was when they lifted the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008. In a tournament that featured teams such as Korea DPR (who have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2010), Tajikistan and Myanmar; India put together a string of good performances to win the tournament in style and book a place in the AFC Asian Cup which is to be held in Qatar in Jan 2011. In between these triumphs India managed to hold on to its regional supremacy by winning the SAFF Cup (India has won it 5 times) in 2005 & 2009. The win in 2009 was even more special as India fielded a U-23 team which showed that it had the guts to humble the big boys from South Asia. This win augurs well for Indian football as it ensures that the future is in safe hands.

Indian footballers in recent years have looked up to Baichung for inspiration, and for his part he has never disappointed. Baichung or the Sikkimese Sniper as he popularly known was the first Indian player to play professional league in Europe. He joined Bury FC in 1999 and made 37 appearances in the next three seasons for the club. India seemed to have now found an able successor to Baichung in Sunil Chetri.  Having signed a three year contract with Queens Park Rangers, Chetri was unfortunate not to make the cut as he was denied a work permit to play for the English side. The resurgence of Indian football should also be credited to the fact that the I-League in its new avatar has consistently produced footballers who play a more attacking brand of football. The latest in this spell of positive developments is Panasonic tying up with AIFF to promote Indian football. All this augurs well for the sport, and it seems that the best days of Indian football are ahead of us.

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