10 best Indian football players of all time

#2 PK Banerjee

An elegant winger who also played as the striker during his playing days, Pradip Kumar Banerjee is undoubtedly one among the 'creme de la creme' of Indian football. He made his international debut in the 1955 Dhaka Quadrangular series, which also saw the debut of Peter Thangaraj.

He was an integral part of the 1962 Asian games winning Indian team and scored against the likes of Japan, South Korea (the final) and Thailand in the tournament.

Hailing from Jalpaiguri in the northern part of Bengal, PK Banerjee represented Aryan football club and then later played for Eastern Railways. He captained India at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where he scored an equaliser against France in a 1-1 draw.

He represented India thrice at the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur, where India won the silver medal in 1959 and 1964 and bronze in 1965. Though there are no official records, PK Banerjee is thought to have scored more than 60 goals in his 84 appearances for the country. There is no doubting the legacy of the legendary PK Banerjee.

It is no surprise that FIFA termed him the ‘Indian footballer of the 20^th century’. He is also the only Asian footballer to have received the ‘FIFA centennial order of merit’ in 2004 and to have been awarded the Fair Play Award by the International Olympic Committee.

PK Banerjee also had a successful career in coaching and has managed the likes of East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and also the Indian national team.