Glorious week for sport worldwide, gloomy one for Indian football
It was a week that set the world of sports agog with the kind of high-degree delights that were offered. First, the two top guns of new generation tennis Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz set up a scintillating final in the French Open, then there was the never-say-die football veteran and legend Cristiano Ronaldo doing what he always does best to help Portugal to the UEFA nations league title and then came South Africa’s grand moment, winning the World Test Championship for its maiden Test champion title. So unexpected that in this midst of such positivity, there had to be one tale of woe and that was Indian football! After the national team fell to lower-ranked Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup qualifier, India is all but out of the race for the premier event. That is one aspect of the sad phase but the key factor and of bigger concern is the continuing desperation among all those involved in the sport to pull the country out of the rut, so to say.
Where have all the feel and attitude of the fifties gone away, could be the refrain among the football lovers of earlier times. India was the superstar of Asia then and other nations were yet to catch or were unable to match Indian skills. The names of all those Indian stalwarts still come easily to mind but ask anyone of any player of the present Indian football squad and a blank face would invariably be the reflection. That is the tragedy of the sport in India now. Countries like Japan and Korea on the other hand have not only risen in power but went on to show traces of dominance on the world stage. Japan’s grand show in the Qatar World Cup is a classic example. Reaching the pre-quarterfinal was one thing but Japan did even better, becoming the first Asian nation to beat a team from South America when it won 2-1 against Columbia in the group stage.
It is the national league, as recommended by FIFA that set the tone for a country like Japan to rise. The J League not only attracted overseas players but also helped the country’s leading players to find exposure in Europe and other places. Where India lacked is the immediate question. India too went in for the national league involving the country’s leading clubs and in addition, there is the Indian Super League (ISL) now to add to the glamour but how much has all this helped Indian football stocks to grow is the pertinent question. If the results of India’s international engagements are anything to go by then precious little. The latest downfall to Hong Kong, a nation several rungs below India in the FIFA ranking is another stark reminder of the depth of desperation.
Once again then it could be time for a change, a change of the Coach to be precise. Already there are talks of the Spanish Coach Manolo Marquez quitting or likely to be eased out from national duty. Here is a man who already has the task of coaching a Goan club and doing the additional task of managing the national team! With just one win to show from eight games, Marquez knows he is not on happy ground but what would he do if the team does not strike goals? He had inspired the retired veteran Sunil Chhetri to come back to the national side. The Spaniard would wonder what more he could do other than set the plans and seek the abilities of his players to execute. As the AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey admitted, “It was unrealistic to expect wins without scoring goals”. How would that happen when players used to one role most times when playing for the Clubs switch to other positions for the national team? This is the crux of the problem some say. Indian players hardly get opportunities to play in key positions when appearing for clubs because the management prefers foreigners there.
Desperate times and as always, such occasions call for desperate measures. The AIFF is now toying with the idea of getting the services of players who are overseas citizens of India. But will that change the scenario? According to a former player and current Technical Delegate of Gokulam Kerala FC, an I-League team, C M. Ranjith, such a move many years back had not enthused the OCI players and he wondered if there could be a change now. Maybe there is a change in thinking now. He also wondered why the national team should not be under the reigns of an Indian coach. Indeed, can anybody forget it was Syed Abdul Rahim who coached the Indian teams in those glorious fifties and early sixties when India had won the gold medals in the 1951 and 62 Asian Games and had also finished fourth in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics?
Perseverance is the need of the hour, and players require greater visibility. Tournaments in the earlier days helped in building the stature of players creating heroes in the eyes of football fans. They make a huge difference in the building up of confidence. Today’s environment hardly has space for such a possibility. As Ranjit said, players need to be recognised and given space to develop into top-flight players. The former player also emphasised the need for zonal-level national academies to help mould talents and surely, he has a point there. For, early development is the key to the future.