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In recent years, India has quietly made its name as a nation with enthusiastic football fans. Fans in India come out in numbers to watch a football superstar, in awe of the superstar from a foreign country despite the fact that they very rarely see their own team and players perform at the highest level of sport.
As the 2018 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner, Indian fans are all gearing up to watch the matches with their friends and family.
With less than ten days to go for the world cup, let us revisit five instances when football superstars played on Indian soil and the country welcomed them with open arms. Most of them left their mark in the FIFA World Cup.
#6 Lev Yashin
The Soviet football star visited India in the months of February-March in the year 1955 with his national teammates. Soviet had come down to India to play a friendly football game with the host country.
Known as the “Black Spider”, it was almost impossible to score against Yashin. A year later, the same Soviet team went on to win a gold at the Melbourne Olympics.
In the three games played on Indian soil in Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta, not a single goal was scored against Yashin. He remains the only goalkeeper in the history of the game to have received a Ballon d’Or, while coming close to winning it on three different instances, a testament to his unbelievable skills on the football pitch.
More than 30,000 people watched Yashin play at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay - a popular cricket bastion, a statement of Yashin's popularity in a distant land.
Yashin also featured against Mohun Bagan in another encounter and yet again no one was able to get the ball past him. Yashin’s visit to Calcutta remains a massive moment for the football fanatics of the city. The legendary goalie came back to Calcutta around two decades later as a chief guest for an event.
#5 Carlos Alberto Torres
The Brazilian footballer is arguably one of the best defenders of all time. Torres was the captain of the Brazil side which went on to lift the World Cup in 1970. He scored the fourth goal of the 1970 World Cup final (one of the iconic goals in the history of FIFA World Cup and perhaps one of the defining moments of the sport itself).
Carlos Alberto visited India in 1977 as part of his team Santos FC. Along side Carlos Alberto, Santos FC also had the likes of another legendary Brazilian, Pele.
In 2013, Carlos had gone on record saying that India can be a part of the FIFA World Cup one day, a great compliment coming from a man of his stature.
#4 Majid Bishkar
Majid Bishkar was a popular name in the Indian football circuit during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Often regarded as the darling of Kolkata, the Iranian player was blessed with amazing passing skills.
Bishkar played with two of the biggest clubs in Indian Football - East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. He was also the part of the Iran squad which took part in the 1978 World Cup.
Bishkar, after his football career, disappeared from the public domain up until 2017 when he was contacted for an event in Kolkata.
#3 Philipp Lahm
The German football hero came to India when Bayern Munich was scheduled to play a game against the Indian National Side. Lahm, regarded as one of the best full-backs of his time, led his national team and club to various titles including the UEFA Champions League and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
His game against India is also remembered as the farewell match of Former Indian captain Baichung Bhutia. Although India lost the match 4-0, fans were more than happy to cheer for both Bhutia as well as the right-footed Lahm.
Lahm featured in the World Cup Team of the tournament thrice, a commendable achievement.
#2 Lionel Messi
Arguably one of the greatest players in the world at this moment, Lionel Messi visited India on August 2011.
The entire country went crazy as Messi landed in Kolkata. Although the Barcelona star did not score in this particular match, a friendly match between Argentina and Venezuela, which his team won 1-0, the fans had a gala time watching the star player play right in front of their eyes at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Later, Messi admitted that India had a lasting impression upon him and that he looked forward to be in association with the country in some way or the other.
#1 Pele
Perhaps football’s greatest, Pele, played for the New York Cosmos against Mohun Bagan at Calcutta in 1977. The match is famous for an unbelievable free kick by Pele that almost got him a goal.
Winner of three World Cups for Brazil, Pele received a grand reception in India on his arrival. The legendary footballer fondly remembers the love bestowed upon him on his visit to India.
Although Pele came to India again, by that time he was a little too old to display his skills on the football pitch. Fans who attended Pele’s game in India, rate it as the finest experience of their lives.
