Twenty-four years later, India defeated Tajikistan 4-1 in the final of the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008 to earn a place in the final rounds of the Asia Cup in 2011. With Indian football having made the grade after so many years, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has charted the national team’s campaign plans in the form of a programme called ‘Mission 2011’ that will prepare India to take on Asian heavyweights like South Korea, Japan, China and teams from the Middle East. Initially, the AIFF wanted to hold a two-year camp for the senior national team. This would have required clearance from various clubs plus a bill of Rs 40 crore to meet the salaries of the players. Reluctance of the clubs plus the cost factor forced the AIFF to revise its plans and come up with the version of Mission 2011 detailed under ‘action plan’.
Positive signs
How prepared Indian football is for the future can be gauged from the fact that the team’s goal-scorer in a recent 1-2 loss to Hong Kong was skipper Baichung Bhutia, who made his international debut in the 1995 Nehru Gold Cup. That Baichung continues to be the national team’s main striker is a tribute to his talent and fitness but also a cause for worry because, even after 14 long years, he still doesn’t have a worthy replacement in the line-up.
Till Uzbekistan’s Rustam Akramov assumed charge as India’s coach in 1995, the team’s approach in international matches was to first defend, prevent the opposition from scoring and then try to score if possible. Akramov, during his two stints with the team, ensured that India too played an attacking game by stressing that attack is the best form of defence. As a result, the national team has tasted success, albeit in a very limited sense, at the international level. India won the LG Cup, the Nehru Cup and more recently the AFC Cup to qualify for the final rounds of the Asia Cup in 2011, having last played at that level in the continent in 1984.
Given this recent run of creditable performances, will the All India Football Federation (AIFF) ride on the momentum to raise the standing of Indian football in the international arena? That is the question.
From the ill-advised, impractical idea of putting the senior national team in a two-year-long camp that would cost nearly Rs 40 crore, the AIFF has now drawn up a more sensible programme aimed at putting up a good show in the final rounds of the Asia Cup in 2011.
From training camps at home and abroad to friendly matches and the bigger tasks of qualifying for the Asian Games and Olympics, Mission 2011 includes all considerations. The current coach, Bob Houghton, has little reason to complain about the team’s calendar.
Shaping the future
In the 2000 World Cup qualifiers, India defeated a strong United Arab Emirates team 1-0 in Bangalore and lost 0-1 in the away game, drew with Vietnam and beat Brunei. The team missed making it to the second round of the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign by just one point. Subsequently, however, with AIFF politics taking precedence over the development of football in the country, the team returned to its losing ways.
From its highest-ever FIFA ranking of 99 in 1993-94, India has steadily declined and is now placed 147 out of 202 nations. Moreover, the current senior Indian team lacks the balance needed to make an impression at the Asian level. The defence wears an iffy look. Though the presence of Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh of Churchill Brothers, the best defender in this year’s I-League, and Rakesh Masih of Mohun Bagan is refreshing, the experienced Deepak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli might find the going tough when the Asia Cup comes up two years from now. Then, apart from Anthony Miranda of Dempo and Baljit Singh Jr of JCT, the midfield too doesn’t show signs of potency. Steven Dias, Renedy Singh and Mehraj Din Wadooo can be destructive, but where will the passes come from? Even if there is a consistent flow of passes, there isn’t exactly an overflow of strikers. Baichung is already 33 and two years older if he leads the attack in 2011. While Sunil Chhetri has potential, Abhishek Yadav has injury problems to contend with.
“In my time, national-team players were concentrated in one or two clubs; today, they are scattered all over the country. Sponsors are coming in; there is much more money for the players. The game has changed a lot now. The boys are doing their best and it is possibly a question of time before India makes its mark at the international level,” says Nigerian Chima Okerie who, in 1990, became the first foreigner to play for Mohun Bagan.
Houghton would do well to prepare players from the last under-23 team like Manjit Singh and Branco Vincent or Beevan D’Mello of the under-19 squad for bigger roles. Also, young defenders like Debabrata Roy, Ravana, Sunil Kumar and linkmen like Chitrasen Chandam Singh, Praveen Rawat Rocus Lamare or Zaidinmawia Hmar, Tshering Lepcha and Lalramluaha must be provided enough opportunities to hone their skills so that they are ready to deliver in 2011. One thing that Houghton can’t complain about is shortage of time to prepare for 2011.