Dasher39
September 4th, 2008, 10:57 AM
Indian football establishing foothold (http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/blogs/scottmcintyre/indian-football-establishing-foothold-132902/)
By Scott McIntyre
3 September 2008 | 22:36
On the eve of the commencement of the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2010 World Cup, and with local audiences and pundits enthralled by the exploits of Song Jin-Hyung at Newcastle finally starting to issue a long-overdue call for an increase in Asian players at A-League clubs, one country continued their rapid rise up the continental pecking order with not a single mention in the Australian media - India.
Beaten by Lebanon in the first round of World Cup qualification in October last year, India immediately turned their focus to an unlikely, but ultimately successful, tilt at reaching the 2011 Asian Cup - becoming the fifth nation to confirm their place under the AFC's revised qualification format.
The top three finishers at the previous Asian Cup - Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic along with the host, Qatar, have already confirmed their place while, in a welcome move, the winners of both the 2008 and 2010 AFC Challenge Cup will also book a berth in the finals - and that's where India comes in.
Regarded as a 'second-tier' competition since its inception in 2006, the Challenge Cup was designed to promote emerging nations in a similar fashion to the second tier Champions League competition, the President's Cup - and in India's victory is already achieving those aims.
A sprawling nation of more than a billion inhabitants and myriad religious and social divides there's little doubt the grip that cricket has on Indian people but football is establishing a significant foothold in the sporting landscape and their 4-1 win over Tajikistan in the final of the recent Challenge Cup is one of the country's finest football achievements.
And it's a long, and often colourful history. The Durand Cup, first played in 1888, and dominated for many decades by British military sides is the oldest known domestic football competition, but it wasn't until 1937 that the first Indian graced the European club scene with Mohamad Abdul Salim playing a handful of friendly matches for Glasgow Celtic.
At national level, the 1950's were a time of great progress - the so-called 'golden era' of Indian football as the side won the 1951 Asian Games Gold Medal, finished fourth in the 1956 Olympic Games and reached the 1950 World Cup Finals only for FIFA to deny them a place due to the side's refusal to play in boots - a long-standing practice in Indian football - amongst other gripes.
A second place finish at the 1964 Asian Cup signalled a decline in fortunes that saw the nation qualify for only a single major tournament in almost 40 years - the 1984 Asian Cup.
Fast forward to the early part of this decade and Indian football was slowly progressing once more - thanks largely to the influence of Baichung Bhutia. The striker from Sikkim was the first Indian to play professionally in the United Kingdom in a two-year stint with Bury and has inspired a generation of young talent that is finally making their own mark on the regional stage.
While coach Bob Houghton (living proof that England does in fact produce coaches of high quality - especially after his work in Uzbekistan and now on the subcontinent) and Bhutia gained most of the plaudits for the Challenge Cup triumph, it was the younger brigade and particularly a player I've talked about several times before that once again really caught the eye - Sunil Chetri.
If A-League clubs and coaches are fair dinkum about attracting the best emerging Asian talent to these shores then there should be a queue rushing to Kolkata before a big Europe club (not to mention the AFC's more ambitious promoter of Asian talent - Japan) gets there first.
The 24 year old was voted the Indian Footballer of the Year for his work in helping his previous club JCT to a third placed finish in the I-League last season - not to mention his starring role in the Challenge Cup victory.
He grabbed a brace either side of a Bhutia strike inside of 22 minutes, and then added a third just for good measure as India dominated Tajikistan - that in addition to his match winner in the 1-0 semi-final win over Myanmar.
With India providing the third largest source of migration to this country, bringing a player of not just the footballing ilk, but also charisma of Chetri to the A-League would surely be both a sporting and cultural boon for a club with the vision and foresight to break with tradition and lead the way to embracing our Asian neighbours.
Indeed, the parallels between football in Australia and India are strong - both are down the pecking order of their respective nations sporting hierarchy (remembering that even though cricket is dominant, field hockey is the national sport in India), and both have only recently launched shiny new professional competitions - though India has the funding advantage of being backed by the AFC Vision Asia project.
The I-League was launched last season with 10 clubs after 11 years of the old National Football League, and already will expand to 12 for the coming season (which starts later this month) with a further 10 sides in the second division.
The AFC has recognised the professionalism of the I-League to such an extent that from next season Indian clubs will participate in the AFC Champions League for the first time. The I-League will be able to nominate just the one club, with Australia receiving two berths, but if the league keeps growing at the pace it is those placings could easily be reversed.
As to when we'll see the likes of Sunil Chetri grace the A-League stage only time will tell..
By Scott McIntyre
3 September 2008 | 22:36
On the eve of the commencement of the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2010 World Cup, and with local audiences and pundits enthralled by the exploits of Song Jin-Hyung at Newcastle finally starting to issue a long-overdue call for an increase in Asian players at A-League clubs, one country continued their rapid rise up the continental pecking order with not a single mention in the Australian media - India.
Beaten by Lebanon in the first round of World Cup qualification in October last year, India immediately turned their focus to an unlikely, but ultimately successful, tilt at reaching the 2011 Asian Cup - becoming the fifth nation to confirm their place under the AFC's revised qualification format.
The top three finishers at the previous Asian Cup - Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic along with the host, Qatar, have already confirmed their place while, in a welcome move, the winners of both the 2008 and 2010 AFC Challenge Cup will also book a berth in the finals - and that's where India comes in.
Regarded as a 'second-tier' competition since its inception in 2006, the Challenge Cup was designed to promote emerging nations in a similar fashion to the second tier Champions League competition, the President's Cup - and in India's victory is already achieving those aims.
A sprawling nation of more than a billion inhabitants and myriad religious and social divides there's little doubt the grip that cricket has on Indian people but football is establishing a significant foothold in the sporting landscape and their 4-1 win over Tajikistan in the final of the recent Challenge Cup is one of the country's finest football achievements.
And it's a long, and often colourful history. The Durand Cup, first played in 1888, and dominated for many decades by British military sides is the oldest known domestic football competition, but it wasn't until 1937 that the first Indian graced the European club scene with Mohamad Abdul Salim playing a handful of friendly matches for Glasgow Celtic.
At national level, the 1950's were a time of great progress - the so-called 'golden era' of Indian football as the side won the 1951 Asian Games Gold Medal, finished fourth in the 1956 Olympic Games and reached the 1950 World Cup Finals only for FIFA to deny them a place due to the side's refusal to play in boots - a long-standing practice in Indian football - amongst other gripes.
A second place finish at the 1964 Asian Cup signalled a decline in fortunes that saw the nation qualify for only a single major tournament in almost 40 years - the 1984 Asian Cup.
Fast forward to the early part of this decade and Indian football was slowly progressing once more - thanks largely to the influence of Baichung Bhutia. The striker from Sikkim was the first Indian to play professionally in the United Kingdom in a two-year stint with Bury and has inspired a generation of young talent that is finally making their own mark on the regional stage.
While coach Bob Houghton (living proof that England does in fact produce coaches of high quality - especially after his work in Uzbekistan and now on the subcontinent) and Bhutia gained most of the plaudits for the Challenge Cup triumph, it was the younger brigade and particularly a player I've talked about several times before that once again really caught the eye - Sunil Chetri.
If A-League clubs and coaches are fair dinkum about attracting the best emerging Asian talent to these shores then there should be a queue rushing to Kolkata before a big Europe club (not to mention the AFC's more ambitious promoter of Asian talent - Japan) gets there first.
The 24 year old was voted the Indian Footballer of the Year for his work in helping his previous club JCT to a third placed finish in the I-League last season - not to mention his starring role in the Challenge Cup victory.
He grabbed a brace either side of a Bhutia strike inside of 22 minutes, and then added a third just for good measure as India dominated Tajikistan - that in addition to his match winner in the 1-0 semi-final win over Myanmar.
With India providing the third largest source of migration to this country, bringing a player of not just the footballing ilk, but also charisma of Chetri to the A-League would surely be both a sporting and cultural boon for a club with the vision and foresight to break with tradition and lead the way to embracing our Asian neighbours.
Indeed, the parallels between football in Australia and India are strong - both are down the pecking order of their respective nations sporting hierarchy (remembering that even though cricket is dominant, field hockey is the national sport in India), and both have only recently launched shiny new professional competitions - though India has the funding advantage of being backed by the AFC Vision Asia project.
The I-League was launched last season with 10 clubs after 11 years of the old National Football League, and already will expand to 12 for the coming season (which starts later this month) with a further 10 sides in the second division.
The AFC has recognised the professionalism of the I-League to such an extent that from next season Indian clubs will participate in the AFC Champions League for the first time. The I-League will be able to nominate just the one club, with Australia receiving two berths, but if the league keeps growing at the pace it is those placings could easily be reversed.
As to when we'll see the likes of Sunil Chetri grace the A-League stage only time will tell..