Get grassroots ball rolling
When India’s cricket team was handing down a beating to Bangladesh over two Tests, another national team was putting in the kind of predictably excruciating performance it is reputed for. Our football team counts among the minnows of the global game and its performance over the last two matches justified that tag. India drew with Afghanistan 1-1 and lost to Oman 0-1 to ensure it failed to qualify for yet another World Cup, making it 22 World Cups in a row the country has missed out on.
Predictably, there was a short-lived outcry on social media and a lot of the blame was put on the shoulders of the team’s Croatian coach Igor Stimac. Unfairly so, for he has been at the helm for just six months. Ever since he took over in May, there has been a marked improvement in the way the team plays, if not the results. That is not to say that the results have been bad—they have been more or less in line with India’s standing in the football world. He even managed a draw against Asian champions Qatar on their turf, an unprecedented achievement for an Indian team.
Responding to criticism, Stimac pointed out he can only play with the players he has, and the harsh fact is the current team is not good enough to even be competent at the Asian level. Indian football has made a lot of strides over the last few years—more than 20 teams playing this season from 19 cities is proof of that. But the one thing missing is a proper grassroots system that ensures youngsters get coaching and match experience at the right age. Every now and then, the AIFF makes the right noises about implementing a system, but their approach so far has been scattergun at best.
The clubs too—pivotal parts of this process in other countries—contribute little, with most of them still bringing in players when they’re 13 or 14. Elsewhere, this age is 6 or 7. If Indian football starts with a proper grassroots system now, then maybe two decades later, we will have the players to mount a challenge on the world stage. And then, if we fail to do so, maybe we can pin it all on the coach.