The Indian football team’s recent victory in the Nehru Cup is good news for the sport in the country. Nonetheless, this achievement needs to be viewed from another perspective, with an eye on the future. While the win is definitely a psychological boost, it should not lead us to believe that the team has improved significantly overnight or that India is anywhere near world-class in football. In the context of events such as the 2011 Asia Cup final rounds, for which India has qualified, very little has been achieved in real terms.
That the Indian team still has to fall back on a veteran like Baichung Bhutia, who made his debut in the 1995 Nehru Cup in Kolkata and is at the fag end of a successful career, should be the first point that needs to be addressed.
The current coach, Englishman Bob Houghton, took charge in 2006. India won the Nehru Cup under him in 2007 and, last year, managed to book a berth in the 2011 Asia Cup by defeating Tajikistan in the final of the qualifying event. A cursory glance at the Indian team since 2007 shows that, in the last two years, not a single youngster has come off the bench to stake his claim in the starting line-up on a regular basis.
Analyse this. The Indian team for the 2007 Nehru Cup final against Syria: Subrata Pal, Surkumar Singh, Gouramangi Singh, Mahesh Gawli, NS Manju, Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, NP Pradeep, Ajayan (Clifford Miranda), Sunil Chhetri (Tarif Ahmed), Baichung Bhutia (captain), (Abhishek Yadav).
The Indian team for the 2009 Nehru Cup final against Syria: Subrata Pal; Surkumar Singh, Gouramangi Singh, Anwar, Mahesh Gawli, Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, NP Pradeep, Anthony Pereira, Sunil Chhetri, Baichung Bhutia (captain). Substitutes: Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Sushil Kumar Singh, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Renedy Singh, Abhishek Yadav, Syed Rahim Nabi.
Over the past two years, the complexion and composition of the team hasn’t changed much. With India set to figure in the 2011 Asia Cup final rounds, this is indeed a cause for worry. Though there are a number of promising players in the India Under-23 and Under-19 squads who could be tried out in the national team, there is a reluctance to test their worth in match situations.
need for change
In the forward line, Sunil Chhetri is yet to prove that he is a striker who can deliver against quality opposition consistently. In the defence, Surkumar Singh and Mahesh Gawli are old war-horses whose bodies sometimes fail to support their plans. In the midfield, Apart from Climax Lawrence and to an extent Steven Dias, there is not a single playmaker to distribute the ball and set up moves with precision or a player who can control the pace of the game depending on the situation.
Subrata Pal and Subhashish Roy Chowdhury have done well under the goal post and can be considered safe against the likes of Lebanon, Sri Lanka or Maldives. But what when the Indian defence comes up against South Korea, Japan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Asia Cup final rounds in 2011?
Unless other options are tried out, the team’s weaknesses are likely to become even more pronounced over the next two years. Will Indian football rely on the same set of players in 2011 that did duty in 2007? India might have won the 2009 edition of the Nehru Cup but the lack of bench strength is there for all to see. It was old-timer Renedy Singh, and not a youngster, who came off the bench to put India in the lead in the final against Syria. Given the quality of opposition that India faced in this year’s Nehru Cup, it would have been prudent to field promising youngsters and use the tournament as a training ground for more important battles in 2011.
Eye on the future
The net must be cast wider. Baichung Bhutia, Mahesh Gawli, Surkumar Singh and Renedy Singh have served the team well for quite a few years but it would be highly optimistic on the part of Indian football to expect them to deliver two years from now.
India’s recent success at the international level, however limited, has drawn positive vibes from the game’s administrators at the Asian and world level. A good show in the 2011 Asia Cup final rounds would provide further reason to these administrators to support Indian football as it seeks to climb up the ladder.
It’s time Houghton and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) drew up a concrete plan for the 2011 Asia Cup final rounds. Fresh thinking and fresh legs are the need of the hour. One thing that those in charge of the future of Indian football can’t complain about is inadequate time to prepare. The AIFF is keen on putting up a good show in the final rounds of the Asia Cup in 2011. Everything from training camps at home and abroad to friendly matches has been planned for. There is little reason to find fault with the team’s calendar.
Given the creditable performance in the Nehru Cup, will the AIFF ride on the momentum to raise the standing of Indian football in the international arena? That is the question.
The FIFA hand
While FIFA, football’s global governing body, recognises that the game is popular in India and there is a market for future growth in the country, it also knows that lack of infrastructure is hindering progress.
* FIFA launched the ‘Win in India with India’ project when its president, Sepp Blatter, visited the country in 2006.
* The first ‘Goal Project’ covered Delhi, where a football secretariat and training centre were established and have started functioning. The second ‘Goal Project’ will involve creation of facilities for FIFA academies in Sikkim and Karnataka. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is also actively involved with these projects.
* FIFA will help India lay eight synthetic grass surfaces. Kolkata, Imphal, Shillong, Mumbai and Bangalore are among the football centres where these surfaces will be laid. The artificial surfaces are expected to involve less maintenance costs compared to natural grass.
Youngsters craving for opportunity & attention:
Strikers: Marlangki Suting, Praveen Rawat, Joaquim Abranches, Manjit Singh, Branco Vincent Cardozo.
Midfielders: Rocus Lamare, Chandam Chitrasen, Jerry Zirasanga, Robert Lalthlamyana.
Defenders: Sunil Kumar, Gurjinder Singh, Anupam Sarkar, Warun Deep and D Ravannan.
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