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India has long been known for hockey and cricket. It has given birth to legends, but in the arena of football it is still lagging behind. But not to forget that India has had a rich legacy in field of soccer. Truly speaking the history of soccer in India is quite old and the Kolkata Soccer League is the second oldest championship in the world. India had once been a tough competitor. In the Melbourne Olympic of 1956 India came fourth in soccer, and also won Asiad in 1951 and 1962.But in recent years the performance of Indian football team degraded rapidly and went from bad to worse. In present scenario India has regularly failed to qualify for World Cup and final round of Olympics. Still the team is developing and with some good players the team has vast scope to improve its quality and regain its lost glory.
Two most famous Players:-
Baichung Bhutia:
Born: December 15, 1976, Tinkitam, SikkimMajor Teams: East Bengal Club, JCT Mills, Mohun Bagan AC, Bury FC, IndiaPlaying Position: Striker
The present Indian Captain is probably the most famous footballer India has ever produced. Bhutia caught the attention of everybody for the first time at the Subroto Cup 1992 held at Delhi, wherein he was bestowed upon the Best Player award .At the early age of 16 he joined the East Bengal Club, and further went ahead to join a yet another well known Football club, JCT Mills, Phagwara in the year 1995. Baichung was bestowed upon the “Indian Player of the Year 1996” award.Bhutia has been the only Football player ever to score a hatrick in a Football match between the most famous arch rivals of the Indian Football – East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. The same year, he earned the recognition of being the Highest Scorer ever in any match of the National Football League.
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Achievements:-
- First Indian to play professional football in England
- Led the national football team to title triumph at the LG Cup in Vietnam in 2002
- Has been honored with Indian Player of the Year award twice in the years 1995 and 2008.
- In the year 1999 he was bestowed upon the Sikkim State Award, and Arjuna Award.
- In the year 2008, he has been conferred upon the Padmashree Award.
Sunil Chettri:-
Born-3rd August 1984 at Darjeeling
Playing Position-Forward
Brightest Indian Footballer at the moment. This Indian forward is well known for his control over the ball. At the age of 17 years he began his Club Football career with the Delhi based City Club in the year 2001. Chetri played for the club for one year, and moved to Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, Kolkata in June 2002. For almost 3 years he played for Mohun Bagan, and left the club in June 2005 to join JCT Mills Phagwara Sunil left JCT Mills in August 2008, and joined East Bengal Club, Kolkata and has still been playing for them.
He has been an integral part of National team at both Senior and Junior levels. . In the year 2007, Sunil was named the Best Player of the 11th National Football League. He managed to score a total number of 12 goals in the League. He has delivered promising performances at international levels too. He scored 2 goals in a match against Cambodia in the year 2007, and scored a hat trick in a match against Tajikistan in the AFC Challenge Cup 2008 which is said to be one of his best performances. He has been a part of the Indian Football team that won the ONGC Nehru Gold Cup tournament in the year 2007, and the AFC Challenge Cup tournament in the year 2008.
Tournaments in India:-
- Durand Cup- Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in India, is also third oldest football tournament in the world, after the English FA-Cup and the Scottish FA-Cup. The Durand Cup football tournament was started in Shimla in 1888 by the, then, India’s Foreign Secretary, Sir Mortimer Durand. In the present times, the tournament is hosted by the army and is held at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi.
- Federation Cup- It is one of the most prestigious club tournaments in India. It was started by the All India Football Federation in 1977 and involves all the major National Football League(NFL) teams. A national sports club based in Kolkata, the Mohun Bagan club has been the best team in the tournament uptill now.
- IFA Shield-Named after the Indian Football Association, , the IFA Shield Tournament was started in 1983. . It is India’s one of the oldest football tournament and the fourth oldest Cup in the world. During the initial years after its inception, the IFA Shield was dominated by British army teams. However, their dominance over the Shield was broken in 1911, when Mohun Bagan became the first Indian team to win the IFA Shield by beating East Yorkshire 2-1.
