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FIFA suspends All India Football Federation due to ‘third party influence’
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salahuddin10
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Because there are 100+ sports in the world it isnt compulsory for all countries to be good in football.Aisay to european countries ko cricket nahi ati��
PetroDollars
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There are 100s of sports but football is the number 1 sport!
Europeans are not interested in cricket as its slow and boring and has poor commercial aspects to it.
on the other hand - football is quite popular among pakistanis and indians
salahuddin10
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Cant say about India but football definitely isnt as popular in Pak as some are assuming.And secondly you cant say that cricket is a boring sport since it depends on your taste.Football to me looks boring but it doesnt mean that its boring .And if cricket is slow and boring it would nt have been followed by billions
salahuddin10
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Today PFF will get banned but still no hashtag has been trending regarding it
A football version of the IPL perhaps is needed.
Investment in the right areas and not just easy paydays for overseas players.
Donal Cozzie
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Take it from someone who's country's footballing infrastructure has completely collapsed (not that it was ever developed) and is facing a solid decade of utter mediocrity compared to the past.
You need root and branch reform to develop a footballing pipeline. The ISL is a good initiative and I'm sure long run will lead to improvements but, I mean, when random Irish league footballers, semi retired pros and random players like Darren O'Dea are performing well there by all accounts, it does indicate the quality is severely lacking.
Slapping a league at the very surface won't solve your problem, though it helps if ran correctly. You need the entire system pulling in one direction, from under 13 football all the way to the senior team you need pipelines, plans, organisation. Look at what Holland, Belgium and Iceland have done. Young kids playing 7 a side games on smaller pitches, banning headers to develop technique as an example. All standardised across the system so everyone's on a level playing field, then when the players get older they've the basics needed to perform, then they move on to the standard football pitches and rules etc, into a pro or semi pro domestic system that allows them to learn, train and , most importantly for the talented young plays, actually get minutes under the belt at a decent level.
It's no good having a league if the support structures i.e local district football is rubbish or badly managed or incentivises crap results football over development. It'd be a hell of a task in a country like India to pull off but it's whats needed unless you wanna hope some freak golden generation happens to emerge.
In short, you're only as good as the underlying footballing systems. If those are underdeveloped, chaotic, corrupt, ran like personal kingdoms rather than football focused with petty politics involved etc, trust me from experience, you're gonna suck and suck bad, no matter how many fans flock to buy tickets or random washed up european players you attract for a payday.
You need root and branch reform to develop a footballing pipeline. The ISL is a good initiative and I'm sure long run will lead to improvements but, I mean, when random Irish league footballers, semi retired pros and random players like Darren O'Dea are performing well there by all accounts, it does indicate the quality is severely lacking.
Slapping a league at the very surface won't solve your problem, though it helps if ran correctly. You need the entire system pulling in one direction, from under 13 football all the way to the senior team you need pipelines, plans, organisation. Look at what Holland, Belgium and Iceland have done. Young kids playing 7 a side games on smaller pitches, banning headers to develop technique as an example. All standardised across the system so everyone's on a level playing field, then when the players get older they've the basics needed to perform, then they move on to the standard football pitches and rules etc, into a pro or semi pro domestic system that allows them to learn, train and , most importantly for the talented young plays, actually get minutes under the belt at a decent level.
It's no good having a league if the support structures i.e local district football is rubbish or badly managed or incentivises crap results football over development. It'd be a hell of a task in a country like India to pull off but it's whats needed unless you wanna hope some freak golden generation happens to emerge.
In short, you're only as good as the underlying footballing systems. If those are underdeveloped, chaotic, corrupt, ran like personal kingdoms rather than football focused with petty politics involved etc, trust me from experience, you're gonna suck and suck bad, no matter how many fans flock to buy tickets or random washed up european players you attract for a payday.
Donal Cozzie
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That said with a 48 team format now probably going to ruin whats one of footballs last truly great spectacles, I'd not be surprised to see India make it eventually if they get a kind draw, since most of the additional 16 spots will probably go to Africa/Asia.
OMB
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Explained: Indian football’s desperation for ‘overseas citizens’ and how it points at a systemic failure
Dozens of nationality switches take place each year in football. The AIFF has been pushing for this because many of their opponents in the Asian and World Cup qualifiers have been doing it, thus having an impact on the results as Stimac pointed out.
Since the start of 2015, almost 90 footballers have played for India. From Mizoram to Mumbai, Kerala to Kolkata, scouts have recognised talent from almost every part of the country. Yet, going by the statements made by current and former coaches, these players do not seem good enough to raise the standard of the national team.
Little else explains the desperate and repeated pleas by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to the Indian government to allow Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) to play for the national team. The most recent, albeit indirect, request was made on Friday by chief coach Igor Stimac in an interview with the AIFF.
Talking about the underwhelming results against Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup joint qualifiers, Stimac said: “Sometimes I get the impression that we have too much opinion of ourselves when it comes to opponents like Afghanistan or Bangladesh. Let me remind you that Afghanistan has allowed Overseas Citizen players to play for the national team.
“They now have 13 players coming from European leagues. They are competing in Germany, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. They also have two players playing in Australian clubs, and one player in the USA top division.”
The Croat was speaking after India’s 6-0 loss to the United Arab Emirates in a friendly match on March 29. A day later, Yan Dhanda, an Indian-origin attacking midfielder who played youth football at English champions Liverpool and now plays for Swansea, tweeted his ‘disappointment’ over the defeat and complimented Stimac for ‘giving new players opportunities.’
It did not take long for some to put two and two together, and there is now a renewed push to include OCI players in the Indian team.
Past attempts
Stimac isn’t the first football coach to make this request, and neither is this his first attempt. One of the first Indian coaches to broach this topic was Englishman Stephen Constantine during his first stint from 2002 to 2005. His compatriot Bob Houghton tried later that decade. Dutchman Wim Koevermans also pushed for this during his brief spell and Constantine lobbied ferociously in his second stint that began in 2015.
Days before the lockdown was imposed in March 2020, top AIFF officials held a meeting with the sports ministry to discuss this topic following a nudge by Stimac. In that meeting, the AIFF submitted a list of around 30 Indian-origin players who can be considered for the national team – an exercise they had done in 2015 as well but was rejected.
Government policy
The issue of OCI players has been one of the most contentious points in Indian sport in the last decade. In December 2008, the Sports Ministry, under MS Gill, formed a policy in which it was decided that only Indian citizens would be eligible to represent the country in international events.
This made the PIO and OCI card holders ineligible to represent India unless they gave up their foreign citizenship and applied for an Indian passport – Indian law does not allow dual citizenship. The government has so far maintained that allowing Indian-origin foreign athletes to play for India would hamper the prospects of home-grown sportspersons.
The AIFF, however, believes their inclusion will improve the national team, currently ranked 104 in the world, considerably.
Global trend
Dozens of nationality switches take place each year in football. The AIFF has been pushing for this because many of their opponents in the Asian and World Cup qualifiers have been doing it, thus having an impact on the results as Stimac pointed out.
Last year, Brazil-born Elkeson became the first player to be called up for China’s national team despite not having Chinese ancestry. The forward, whose Chinese name is Ai Kesen, gained the country’s citizenship via naturalization. Countries like Qatar too have adopted this policy.
Systemic failure
But these countries also have a robust system at home, which India still lacks.
While sourcing players from abroad can be a short-term fix, the constant and repeated push for this is also a reminder of the country’s systemic failure in developing youth players.
Sixteen years – the time period since the proposal was first made – is a long enough time to work on grassroots and churn out players. But the AIFF and clubs, jointly responsible for this, have fallen short on this front. Today, there are a handful of clubs and academies that invest in youth development, a non-glamorous task that requires heavy funding, takes several years for results, and requires patience.
At the moment, only a handful of clubs from the North East states, the Minerva Academy in Chandigarh and the AIFF’s academies are routinely producing players.
Edu Bedia, a midfielder who is the captain of Indian Super League side FC Goa, wrote on social media: “There is talk that it would be good to nationalise a foreign player to raise the level of the national team, but we must look more towards the long term. It would be more efficient and wise to invest in coaches and infrastructure in the lower levels. And in a few years, the growth and improvement in Indian football will be there for all to see.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-indian-footballs-desperation-for-overseas-citizens-and-how-it-points-at-a-systemic-failure-7257949/
Dozens of nationality switches take place each year in football. The AIFF has been pushing for this because many of their opponents in the Asian and World Cup qualifiers have been doing it, thus having an impact on the results as Stimac pointed out.
Since the start of 2015, almost 90 footballers have played for India. From Mizoram to Mumbai, Kerala to Kolkata, scouts have recognised talent from almost every part of the country. Yet, going by the statements made by current and former coaches, these players do not seem good enough to raise the standard of the national team.
Little else explains the desperate and repeated pleas by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to the Indian government to allow Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) to play for the national team. The most recent, albeit indirect, request was made on Friday by chief coach Igor Stimac in an interview with the AIFF.
Talking about the underwhelming results against Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup joint qualifiers, Stimac said: “Sometimes I get the impression that we have too much opinion of ourselves when it comes to opponents like Afghanistan or Bangladesh. Let me remind you that Afghanistan has allowed Overseas Citizen players to play for the national team.
“They now have 13 players coming from European leagues. They are competing in Germany, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. They also have two players playing in Australian clubs, and one player in the USA top division.”
The Croat was speaking after India’s 6-0 loss to the United Arab Emirates in a friendly match on March 29. A day later, Yan Dhanda, an Indian-origin attacking midfielder who played youth football at English champions Liverpool and now plays for Swansea, tweeted his ‘disappointment’ over the defeat and complimented Stimac for ‘giving new players opportunities.’
It did not take long for some to put two and two together, and there is now a renewed push to include OCI players in the Indian team.
Past attempts
Stimac isn’t the first football coach to make this request, and neither is this his first attempt. One of the first Indian coaches to broach this topic was Englishman Stephen Constantine during his first stint from 2002 to 2005. His compatriot Bob Houghton tried later that decade. Dutchman Wim Koevermans also pushed for this during his brief spell and Constantine lobbied ferociously in his second stint that began in 2015.
Days before the lockdown was imposed in March 2020, top AIFF officials held a meeting with the sports ministry to discuss this topic following a nudge by Stimac. In that meeting, the AIFF submitted a list of around 30 Indian-origin players who can be considered for the national team – an exercise they had done in 2015 as well but was rejected.
Government policy
The issue of OCI players has been one of the most contentious points in Indian sport in the last decade. In December 2008, the Sports Ministry, under MS Gill, formed a policy in which it was decided that only Indian citizens would be eligible to represent the country in international events.
This made the PIO and OCI card holders ineligible to represent India unless they gave up their foreign citizenship and applied for an Indian passport – Indian law does not allow dual citizenship. The government has so far maintained that allowing Indian-origin foreign athletes to play for India would hamper the prospects of home-grown sportspersons.
The AIFF, however, believes their inclusion will improve the national team, currently ranked 104 in the world, considerably.
Global trend
Dozens of nationality switches take place each year in football. The AIFF has been pushing for this because many of their opponents in the Asian and World Cup qualifiers have been doing it, thus having an impact on the results as Stimac pointed out.
Last year, Brazil-born Elkeson became the first player to be called up for China’s national team despite not having Chinese ancestry. The forward, whose Chinese name is Ai Kesen, gained the country’s citizenship via naturalization. Countries like Qatar too have adopted this policy.
Systemic failure
But these countries also have a robust system at home, which India still lacks.
While sourcing players from abroad can be a short-term fix, the constant and repeated push for this is also a reminder of the country’s systemic failure in developing youth players.
Sixteen years – the time period since the proposal was first made – is a long enough time to work on grassroots and churn out players. But the AIFF and clubs, jointly responsible for this, have fallen short on this front. Today, there are a handful of clubs and academies that invest in youth development, a non-glamorous task that requires heavy funding, takes several years for results, and requires patience.
At the moment, only a handful of clubs from the North East states, the Minerva Academy in Chandigarh and the AIFF’s academies are routinely producing players.
Edu Bedia, a midfielder who is the captain of Indian Super League side FC Goa, wrote on social media: “There is talk that it would be good to nationalise a foreign player to raise the level of the national team, but we must look more towards the long term. It would be more efficient and wise to invest in coaches and infrastructure in the lower levels. And in a few years, the growth and improvement in Indian football will be there for all to see.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-indian-footballs-desperation-for-overseas-citizens-and-how-it-points-at-a-systemic-failure-7257949/
OldWarHorse
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Well its true India does fall behind these other teams at their level cause we dont allow dual citizenship or even allow OCI holders to represent the nation in sports. Qatar, Bahrain, Thailand even have naturalized players. Its almost impossible to do that for India
But the clamour has been for ages, it starts off every time we get a bad result but it never goes ahead..I remember likes of Michael Chopra potentially turning up for us but it never materialized.
But the clamour has been for ages, it starts off every time we get a bad result but it never goes ahead..I remember likes of Michael Chopra potentially turning up for us but it never materialized.
OMB
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Yes, even naturalisation were to happen, is it a sound move?
On the other hand, ISL is too short a time for local players to absorb anything from interacting with the better players from the more advanced football playing nations.
Only way out is for ISL franchises to start kids camps.
On the other hand, ISL is too short a time for local players to absorb anything from interacting with the better players from the more advanced football playing nations.
Only way out is for ISL franchises to start kids camps.
Like the rest of South Asia, India lacks a football-crazed population. I can’t see football replacing India, Pakistan as the most followed sport in the near future either.
Also, the Indian diaspora doesn’t participate that much in football either. A lot of teams from Africa and the Middle East have built their national teams around diaspora players. Indians and Pakistanis, even in Europe generally prefer cricket over football.
Also, the Indian diaspora doesn’t participate that much in football either. A lot of teams from Africa and the Middle East have built their national teams around diaspora players. Indians and Pakistanis, even in Europe generally prefer cricket over football.
Slog
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Football doesn’t need to be the most followed sport in India for India to be successful.
It’s major sport in several states and that alone gives it a talent pool greater than almost every other footballing country
KingKhanWC
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Having looked into ISL and Indian football, one of their best players is Sunil Chhetri.
He must be decent as Celtic, Leeds Utd were interested and also QPR.
But he was denied a work permit to sign for QPR because India are outside the top 70 ranking world teams.
The only way India can really improve is if their national players play in higher quality leagues. Looks tough for them atm.
He must be decent as Celtic, Leeds Utd were interested and also QPR.
But he was denied a work permit to sign for QPR because India are outside the top 70 ranking world teams.
The only way India can really improve is if their national players play in higher quality leagues. Looks tough for them atm.
OldWarHorse
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Getting in OCI cardholders to play should be welcome. Not so sure about Naturalization, anyway thats a long drawn out process for India.
Yeah, ideally investment needs to be made at grassroots to have any long term effect. But that would require some vision on the part of these clubs
Slog
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Even desis in UK aren’t up to much. Several years ago Pakistan had this policy where they started selecting bunch of British born Pakistanis playing in English leagues and the results weren’t any different than selecting the local Pakistani lads.
ISL alone won't do much. A huge following and a footballing culture is vital. That's the reason why countries like Brazil are able to compete with countries like England, Belgium etc. South Asian countries simply lack that and you can't build up something like that in 5-10 years.
OMB
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So clearly just hiring imports (even if they they be British born Pakistani or Indian) didn't work. India tried with hiring foreign coaches but one coach cannot do wonders especially if his immediate concern is the National team.
Perhaps pray for some miracle that wins India a football trophy just like Kapil dev's side got in 1983. That would be the trigger for change.
cricketjoshila
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What is a major sport? Even in bengal football is far far far behind cricket. Century old clubs like east bengal and mohan bagan had to wind up and become part of corporate houses to survive.
Most people are simply not interested in Football. They are interested in cricket or go into individual sports like Badminton. Or some olympic sport which India regularly qualifies for.
cricketjoshila
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Blame the short sighted congis and the tin pot M S Gill who banned OCIs from representing India.
I am all for hiring letting OCIs play and approve it on a case by case basis.
Slog
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It’s easily second most followed sport in bengal. And then the most followed sport in the northeastern states as well as states like Kerala, goa etc. that is a huge talent pool to tap into.
In a country like India even being the second most followed sport overall is more than enough. Do you know and agree that overall in the country, football is way more popular than field hockey?
Cricket, football, hockey, badminton. Apparently that's the order of popularity of sports in India. Yes, India has enough people to follow multiple sports. But excelling in multiple sports is a different beast. Apparently one academy in South India was the primary reason for India's rise in Badminton. So, with right investments, soccer players can be groomed too. Cherry pick 500 kids across India and send them to soccer schools across Europe and South America. Maybe that's a start. Can't be worse than what it is now.
https://sportsshow.net/most-popular-sports-in-india/
cricketjoshila
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It was. Now its not. People realise there is no future in it unless you get into a ISL club. The other domestic leagues hardly pay much. In last few years many clubs have shutdown.
North East is perhaps the only place where football is still followed, but the population is sparse and infrastructure non existent.
With all N E states becoming BCCI members, expect cricket to eat into football's popularity.
Actually field hockey gets more professionals as its a olympic sports India qualifies. It gets govt support and since India is among top 5 teams, one can get a chance to play in european leagues.
There is interest in watching football in India, big interest, but not playing.
Donal Cozzie
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Does India not allow dual citizenship? If so, why not?
cricketjoshila
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No dual citizenship. No dual loyalities.
hoshiarpurexpress
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It does not. It gives an Overseas Citizen of India card with you can pretty much move freely, work and invest. Restrictions are only that you cannot vote and buy certain types of rural lands and properties.
Why, I am not completely sure. It is an old archaic law and don’t think any government which comes into power has overseas people in their consideration.
Plenty of people to worry about in India itself.
hoshiarpurexpress
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I think it should be allowed. But that’s a topic for another discussion.
Anyways I can enjoy everything and do everything in India more or less with OCI card as well. Plenty of my managers in Microsoft were USA citizens returning homeland to enjoy their hard earned money in luxury.
jusarrived
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I think we have improved quite a bit in last decade . The 0-6 loss is basically cos of fielding a team filled with youngsters most of them debuted in previous match against Oman which they drew .
we do decently well in age group tournaments, have beaten UAE and Drew with Iran and Uzbekistan in recent years . They always beat the second tier ME teams with ease, but the senior teams have been a let down . its been difficult for us to break into Top10 in Asia, hopefully can happen in next 5-6 years .
we do decently well in age group tournaments, have beaten UAE and Drew with Iran and Uzbekistan in recent years . They always beat the second tier ME teams with ease, but the senior teams have been a let down . its been difficult for us to break into Top10 in Asia, hopefully can happen in next 5-6 years .
OldWarHorse
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Dont you feel we still have enough players to compete better? No matter even if its the second or third sport but we produce more professional players than say an avg ME nation. We should be atleast doing better than drawing against Bangladesh and Afghanistan for that matter.
The money is there from Reliance Foundation as well, but its being used up in not so productive areas.
OMB
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NRI n OCI cannot buy agricultural land. Presumably to protect Agricultural land from becoming used for commercial purpose. Don't know how this law helps as local residents can anyway do the same. Perhaps as NRI/OCI are outside the country and outside the reach of law?
hoshiarpurexpress
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Yes that presumption is true. So that overseas citizen with the dollars cannot convert those lands into commercial one. Ancestral properties are excluded.
Non Citizen is definitely outside the reach of law.
OMB
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2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier: India Suffer 0-1 Defeat To Asian Champions Qatar
2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier: Abdel Aziz scored the solitary goal for Qatar, in their win vs India.
A 10-man India defended creditably well as they suffered a 0-1 defeat to Asian champions Qatar in their World Cup qualifying round match, on Thursday. Abdel Aziz scored in the 33rd minute in a match completely dominated by the Qataris. The two sides played out a goalless draw in their first leg match, in September 2019. Group toppers Qatar, who are yet to lose a match, had waves of attacks with their eight to nine players in the Indian half for most of the time.
Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had to pull off a series of saves to keep the margin of loss small. India, however, played with 10 men from the 17th minute onwards after defender Rahul Bheke was red-carded after a second booking. He had earlier received a yellow card in the ninth minute.
India did have two good moves in the match from counterattacks with Manvir Singh in the thick of things on both occasions.
India captain Sunil Chhetri, who returned to the team after recovering from COVID-19 infection, was replaced by Udanta Singh at the resumption of the second half.
A winless India remained in fourth spot in Group E with three points from six matches.
Igor Stimac's men are two points behind Afghanistan (third with five points) who played out a 1-1 draw against Bangladesh earlier in the day. India play Bangladesh on June 7 in their next match.
https://sports.ndtv.com/football/2022-fifa-world-cup-qualifier-india-suffer-0-1-defeat-to-asian-champions-qatar-2455922
2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier: Abdel Aziz scored the solitary goal for Qatar, in their win vs India.
A 10-man India defended creditably well as they suffered a 0-1 defeat to Asian champions Qatar in their World Cup qualifying round match, on Thursday. Abdel Aziz scored in the 33rd minute in a match completely dominated by the Qataris. The two sides played out a goalless draw in their first leg match, in September 2019. Group toppers Qatar, who are yet to lose a match, had waves of attacks with their eight to nine players in the Indian half for most of the time.
Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had to pull off a series of saves to keep the margin of loss small. India, however, played with 10 men from the 17th minute onwards after defender Rahul Bheke was red-carded after a second booking. He had earlier received a yellow card in the ninth minute.
India did have two good moves in the match from counterattacks with Manvir Singh in the thick of things on both occasions.
India captain Sunil Chhetri, who returned to the team after recovering from COVID-19 infection, was replaced by Udanta Singh at the resumption of the second half.
A winless India remained in fourth spot in Group E with three points from six matches.
Igor Stimac's men are two points behind Afghanistan (third with five points) who played out a 1-1 draw against Bangladesh earlier in the day. India play Bangladesh on June 7 in their next match.
https://sports.ndtv.com/football/2022-fifa-world-cup-qualifier-india-suffer-0-1-defeat-to-asian-champions-qatar-2455922
OMB
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FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: India Gears Up For Bangladesh Game After Qatar Loss
After losing 1-0 to Qatar, the Indian football team will take on Bangladesh in the FIFA WC Qualifiers match on June 7.
India will take on Bangladesh on June 7India lost to Qatar 1-0 after playing with 10 men for most of the match
India are already out of contention for place in the 2022 FIFA WC Finals
The focal point of Indian Football players have shifted, it's no more about the fight put up against Qatar. That's the past. Rather, it's now about the forthcoming match against Bangladesh in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 preliminary joint round qualification round. Both India and Bangladesh had mixed results. While Bangladesh came back from behind to hold Afghanistan 1-1 and earn a point, India, despite fighting it out with 10-men against Asian champions Qatar did manage to win hearts but returned empty handed.
Brandon Fernandes states, "We are moving as a team and we need to back each other. We are aware that we have specific roles in the team."
"The next match is extremely crucial as we need to sustain the momentum gained in the first match. The first match is history," Fernandes said.
"I am very pleased with the performance against Afghanistan. The players did very well on the field, and worked extremely hard. It reflects the attitude which this team possesses, to come back from behind and get back into the game," Bangladesh coach Jamie Day mentioned.
Captain Jamal Bhuyan, also the poster boy of Bangladesh football, who had played for Mohammedan Sporting in the I-League, feels it's "going to be an intense match" when the two teams take the field on June 7.
"It will be intense with a lot of battles. It's a beautiful match to be a part of. Last time in Kolkata we were disappointed not to get the 3 points as India scored very late in the game. We have that hunger in us, and we know we can do some damage," he avers.
"The confidence in our team is good at the moment. We had our chances to win against Afghanistan. We take that confidence with us into the India game," Jamal adds.
Day, nevertheless, mentions the difference in the ranking between the two teams.
"India are a very good team. They are a much higher-ranked team than us who should be beating the likes of Bangladesh. The difference in ranking and quality is huge. In Kolkata, we did play very well. I look back and feel that India had an off-day on that night at the majestic YBK," he expresses.
"You look at India's last match against Qatar, with 10-men they fought like warriors and lost 0-1. It only depicts the quality in their side. We are looking forward to the game. We are aware that we need to play to our maximum, and hope India have another off-day," he added.
Defender Subhashish Bose, however, is quick to point out that the rankings don't matter once you take the field.
"We are aware of the quality of the Bangladesh team. They are a side that plays a lot of counter-attack football, and that is very dangerous. India versus Bangladesh have always been exciting and close matches. We have huge respect for Bangladesh," Bose maintained.
https://sports.ndtv.com/football/fifa-world-cup-qualifiers-india-gears-up-for-bangladesh-game-after-qatar-loss-2457028
After losing 1-0 to Qatar, the Indian football team will take on Bangladesh in the FIFA WC Qualifiers match on June 7.
India will take on Bangladesh on June 7India lost to Qatar 1-0 after playing with 10 men for most of the match
India are already out of contention for place in the 2022 FIFA WC Finals
The focal point of Indian Football players have shifted, it's no more about the fight put up against Qatar. That's the past. Rather, it's now about the forthcoming match against Bangladesh in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 preliminary joint round qualification round. Both India and Bangladesh had mixed results. While Bangladesh came back from behind to hold Afghanistan 1-1 and earn a point, India, despite fighting it out with 10-men against Asian champions Qatar did manage to win hearts but returned empty handed.
Brandon Fernandes states, "We are moving as a team and we need to back each other. We are aware that we have specific roles in the team."
"The next match is extremely crucial as we need to sustain the momentum gained in the first match. The first match is history," Fernandes said.
"I am very pleased with the performance against Afghanistan. The players did very well on the field, and worked extremely hard. It reflects the attitude which this team possesses, to come back from behind and get back into the game," Bangladesh coach Jamie Day mentioned.
Captain Jamal Bhuyan, also the poster boy of Bangladesh football, who had played for Mohammedan Sporting in the I-League, feels it's "going to be an intense match" when the two teams take the field on June 7.
"It will be intense with a lot of battles. It's a beautiful match to be a part of. Last time in Kolkata we were disappointed not to get the 3 points as India scored very late in the game. We have that hunger in us, and we know we can do some damage," he avers.
"The confidence in our team is good at the moment. We had our chances to win against Afghanistan. We take that confidence with us into the India game," Jamal adds.
Day, nevertheless, mentions the difference in the ranking between the two teams.
"India are a very good team. They are a much higher-ranked team than us who should be beating the likes of Bangladesh. The difference in ranking and quality is huge. In Kolkata, we did play very well. I look back and feel that India had an off-day on that night at the majestic YBK," he expresses.
"You look at India's last match against Qatar, with 10-men they fought like warriors and lost 0-1. It only depicts the quality in their side. We are looking forward to the game. We are aware that we need to play to our maximum, and hope India have another off-day," he added.
Defender Subhashish Bose, however, is quick to point out that the rankings don't matter once you take the field.
"We are aware of the quality of the Bangladesh team. They are a side that plays a lot of counter-attack football, and that is very dangerous. India versus Bangladesh have always been exciting and close matches. We have huge respect for Bangladesh," Bose maintained.
https://sports.ndtv.com/football/fifa-world-cup-qualifiers-india-gears-up-for-bangladesh-game-after-qatar-loss-2457028
OldWarHorse
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Very lucky not to lose by 6 or 7 against Qatar. Poor finishing/ Inspired goalkeeping saved us from another embarassment.
We should be beating likes of Bangladesh but dont expect anything from this team.
We should be beating likes of Bangladesh but dont expect anything from this team.
street cricketer
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Yesterday tuned in around 75 minutes in the India Bangladesh world cup asian group qualifiers game and the scoreline was 0-0. I was thinking if we can't beat Bangladesh after a few years of the Indian Super League, then not sure if it's of any benefit at all. Thankfully Chettri did his magic in the final few minutes scoring a brace and we won 2-0.
The game play seems to have developed from what it was in the past when they could barely string a few passes together, but they tend to give mispasses under pressure from pressing by an opposition player. Still a long way to go though. The Afghans are a decent side too, who we face next.
The game play seems to have developed from what it was in the past when they could barely string a few passes together, but they tend to give mispasses under pressure from pressing by an opposition player. Still a long way to go though. The Afghans are a decent side too, who we face next.
Bhaijaan
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India isn't really a sporting nation.
We are merely glory hunters. Hockey was big in India once and we couldn't even bother about it when it was in its declining phase, forget about Football.
Despite the fact that India has one of the largest viewership of European football, no one cares about Indian football. What to say about these timid people.
We are merely glory hunters. Hockey was big in India once and we couldn't even bother about it when it was in its declining phase, forget about Football.
Despite the fact that India has one of the largest viewership of European football, no one cares about Indian football. What to say about these timid people.
Major
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I doubt it. Canada is sporting nation and they have very good football clubs around. Yet you dont see canada playing in a fifa world xup. They have probably played more cricket world cups than football world cups.
Its just not an indian sport. Posters here are using it to bash india but every country has its sport.
OMB
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I don't count goals, we'll talk about it 10 years later: Sunil Chhetri after surpassing Lionel Messi
The seasoned striker, who helped India register their first win in six years in World Cup qualifiers, now stands only behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (103) in the active international goal-scorers' list.
Sunil Chhetri has never liked counting his goals and he prefers to keep it that way even after surpassing the great Lionel Messi as the second-highest scorer in international football.
The 36-year-old Chhetri achieved his 74th strike with his brace against Bangladesh in the joint preliminary qualifying round match for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup here on Monday night. Messi has 73 so far.
The skipper said he will get down to counting his goals probably 10 years down the line. "I do not count the number of goals. 10 years later, we will sit together, have a chat and then count," the 36-year-old said.
The seasoned striker, who helped India register their first win in six years in World Cup qualifiers, now stands only behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (103) in the active international goal-scorers' list.
Instead of his goals, Chhetri focussed on the many lessons his team will take home from Monday's game. "We were guilty of missing a lot of chances. We could have done better. It has been a topsy-turvy qualifying campaign. Looking back, we understand that we could have done a lot better.
"We will talk about it but I am happy that we got three points," Chhetri said.
On Monday, Chhetri broke the deadlock in the 79th minute when he headed in Ashique Kuruniyan's cross from the left, and then sealed the victory by curling in a shot from long range in added time.
When queries veered towards his goals again, Chhetri brushed them aside as a thing of past for him now. "You know what. All of this is past. We play Afghanistan, and we have to be at our best. It will be a new day, a new canvas. And it is up to us to paint it the manner we want to," he asserted.
The India captain is just a goal away from entering world football's all-time top-10. He is behind Hungary's Sandor Kocsis, Japan's Kunishige Kamamoto, and Kuwait's Bashar Abdullah, who all have 75 goals.
"Congratulations to @chetrisunil11 for overtaking Messi to become 2nd highest active international Goal-scorer! I enjoyed his brilliant 2 goals against Bangladesh which secured a win for India and put him on to 74 international goals," tweeted sports minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday.
https://www.indiatvnews.com/sports/football/sunil-chhetri-reacts-after-surpassing-lionel-messi-in-list-of-international-goal-scorers-710166
The seasoned striker, who helped India register their first win in six years in World Cup qualifiers, now stands only behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (103) in the active international goal-scorers' list.
Sunil Chhetri has never liked counting his goals and he prefers to keep it that way even after surpassing the great Lionel Messi as the second-highest scorer in international football.
The 36-year-old Chhetri achieved his 74th strike with his brace against Bangladesh in the joint preliminary qualifying round match for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup here on Monday night. Messi has 73 so far.
The skipper said he will get down to counting his goals probably 10 years down the line. "I do not count the number of goals. 10 years later, we will sit together, have a chat and then count," the 36-year-old said.
The seasoned striker, who helped India register their first win in six years in World Cup qualifiers, now stands only behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (103) in the active international goal-scorers' list.
Instead of his goals, Chhetri focussed on the many lessons his team will take home from Monday's game. "We were guilty of missing a lot of chances. We could have done better. It has been a topsy-turvy qualifying campaign. Looking back, we understand that we could have done a lot better.
"We will talk about it but I am happy that we got three points," Chhetri said.
On Monday, Chhetri broke the deadlock in the 79th minute when he headed in Ashique Kuruniyan's cross from the left, and then sealed the victory by curling in a shot from long range in added time.
When queries veered towards his goals again, Chhetri brushed them aside as a thing of past for him now. "You know what. All of this is past. We play Afghanistan, and we have to be at our best. It will be a new day, a new canvas. And it is up to us to paint it the manner we want to," he asserted.
The India captain is just a goal away from entering world football's all-time top-10. He is behind Hungary's Sandor Kocsis, Japan's Kunishige Kamamoto, and Kuwait's Bashar Abdullah, who all have 75 goals.
"Congratulations to @chetrisunil11 for overtaking Messi to become 2nd highest active international Goal-scorer! I enjoyed his brilliant 2 goals against Bangladesh which secured a win for India and put him on to 74 international goals," tweeted sports minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday.
https://www.indiatvnews.com/sports/football/sunil-chhetri-reacts-after-surpassing-lionel-messi-in-list-of-international-goal-scorers-710166
OldWarHorse
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Good result, our superior physicality was the difference more than anything.
However without Chettri there is not one goalscorer, not one youth prospect who is either. He is still carrying this team on his own at this age.
However without Chettri there is not one goalscorer, not one youth prospect who is either. He is still carrying this team on his own at this age.
silentkiller187
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Ahmad-GERMANFC
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If physicality is the differentiating reason for India’s win then it doesn’t bode well for the future as there’s very few national teams which india would have a physical edge on
street cricketer
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People who think that south asians lag behind in football because of things like "genetics", "physicality", etc., have a rudimentary understanding of the game.
They lag because they lack the skill. As simple as that.
They lag because they lack the skill. As simple as that.
Ahmad-GERMANFC
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Why do they lack the skill? Isn’t that genetic to some extent?
India has millions of people who are mad about football and have it as their main sport. Are you saying an African kid in a dirt poor village has better facilities and opportunities than a kid in emerging power like India?
street cricketer
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How is skill genetic? Explain.
True, but coaching and investment also plays a big part in the lack of South Asian footballing talent coming through.
OldWarHorse
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Yeah which is why we fold against any West Asian team. Our skill levels and tactical nous are nowhere near enough to compensate for that deficit.
globalcitizen
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The Junior and school teams have exceptional talents but they don't pursue football as career when they grow up. India overall does not have great infrastructure and training coaches at grass root levels I believe.
The ones who do pursue football are good but not exactly the best of best.
The ones who do pursue football are good but not exactly the best of best.
OMB
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Exactly true.
We all know from our school days the passion for football used to be equal to cricket.
Where football lacks is the money, glitz and glamour that cricketers enjoy in our country. Lots of Indians look down upon Sunil Chettri's achievement because it pales before other nations leading footballers.
Not so with cricket where India holds some bragging rights and this makes cricketers more loved. Hence the media and corporates world prefers sponsoring cricket.
Football sponsors are there but money is far too less. You have to see the facilities and earnings these Indian footballers get. Sunil Chettri who is a star performer got a mere 3 crore+ for in ISL. No comparision to what his counterpart in cricket gets (Kohli).
Its not about money. India needs competitive player first, then good players. It still has lucrative contracts including Super League which is much more than medium Indian salary.
Its about upbringing, schools. There is no real passion about teachers for the sport as compared to cricket. Teachers are always role models. Similarly, the big names who coach the Super Leagues, are not wholely committed where they dont spend enough time in Indian football.
street cricketer
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This is the big issue. You need to have skilled coaches (coaches who understand different styles, strategies and tactics of the game, and not coaches who just know the rules and basics of the game) at grass root levels to develop the game from bottom upwards and that needs money and investment.
We often forget that India used to be bad to average at best in cricket in the past too. It only changed when money was invested and the game spread to the grassroots cutting across caste and class divide, while bringing in skilled coaches to coach youngsters from a very early age to build a strong foundation of the game.
street cricketer
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For a game to truly flourish in a country, the most fundamental thing you need is for the game to capture the imagination of its populace, particularly its youngest age group. If you have a 100 kids, at least 60-70 must be playing football as the first sport in their pastime. And by 100 kids, I mean 100 kids from all strata of the society and from all regions of the country and not just the elites from urban areas. In India, barring a few exceptions, football is largely an urban sport. Firstly, if you take a 100 kids in India, 70 must be playing cricket as their go-to sport in their pastime. Maybe 10 would play football. In India, a lot of people "watch" football passionately (the Premier League, La Liga, CL, etc.) but not many even play it in their pastime.
The first hurdle must be get football to capture the imagination of kids in all facets of the society (poor, rich, rural, urban, etc.), so that at least 60% of them play it from an early age as a pastime sport. Only if that happens, you would have say 2-3% taking football as a career choice. And for that to happen, you need football to be lucrative as a career option and not just be another game like volleyball, kabaddi or kho-kho that you play in school as a kid. In India, there's a boom in cricket because cricket is highly lucrative as a career option and even parents are willing to send their kids to professional training hoping he will at least make an IPL team in the future, if not the Indian team. Kids watch Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma growing up and see the fame and money that cricket brings which kindles the desire in them to take up the sport. If cricket existed only at Ranji level in India and not even IPL or international cricket, then nobody will take up the sport. Similar thing needs to happen in India for football to take off. How many national level kabaddi, volleyball players or those involved in athletics can get set for life with their career choice like with cricket players. Maybe a few but most of the rest get employed in Railways or police services to make their ends meet. When not even 10% plays the game as even a pastime sport, barely a fraction (<0.5%) would take up the sport as a career option at professional level and then you wonder why the game doesn't take off in the subcontinent.
The first hurdle must be get football to capture the imagination of kids in all facets of the society (poor, rich, rural, urban, etc.), so that at least 60% of them play it from an early age as a pastime sport. Only if that happens, you would have say 2-3% taking football as a career choice. And for that to happen, you need football to be lucrative as a career option and not just be another game like volleyball, kabaddi or kho-kho that you play in school as a kid. In India, there's a boom in cricket because cricket is highly lucrative as a career option and even parents are willing to send their kids to professional training hoping he will at least make an IPL team in the future, if not the Indian team. Kids watch Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma growing up and see the fame and money that cricket brings which kindles the desire in them to take up the sport. If cricket existed only at Ranji level in India and not even IPL or international cricket, then nobody will take up the sport. Similar thing needs to happen in India for football to take off. How many national level kabaddi, volleyball players or those involved in athletics can get set for life with their career choice like with cricket players. Maybe a few but most of the rest get employed in Railways or police services to make their ends meet. When not even 10% plays the game as even a pastime sport, barely a fraction (<0.5%) would take up the sport as a career option at professional level and then you wonder why the game doesn't take off in the subcontinent.
OMB
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Thats what I said. Football will get popular only if it had fan following as large as cricket was. and that will not happen unless everyone in playing 11 performs and India wins something substantial an kickstarts football frenzy like 1983 WC win did for India. To get 11 good players, India must have great fan following.
It is a kind of chicken and egg situation.
I see only way out is either a gradual improvement in Indian football standards or a football superstar being born like in India like Mo Salah or Drogba or George Weah who inspired the kids to take up football
Mamoon
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Canada has played in a World Cup.
Whether India can consistently qualify for a World Cup or not is a different story, but there is no doubt that they will definitely qualify for a World Cup at some point. It is inevitable.
It is also in FIFA’s interests to see India qualify. It is a massive market and there is a lot potential money in Indian football.
Giving India hosting rights for the U-17 World Cup in 2017 was not a decision made without any long-term planning and thinking.
No. The aim is not to make football the most popular sport, rather make football sustainable in India. Just like tennis, wrestling, badminton. Football is yet not seen as a viable career option nor professionally. It's not about competing with cricket.
Yet, the difference is football is a team sport. And, to make decent team takes decades. India could fast track it by offering flexibility towards national team eligibility. Get those 3rd tier South Americans to play for India.
Technics 1210
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Cricket wasn't a popular sport in India until Kapil Dev won the WC. Your SRTs, Dravids, Kohlis are so because of 1983.
Though with cricket there were tops 8 teams including India so India had a chance.
Football will never take off in India. It's not about skill, its about interest in the game. If India do qualify for WC, it'll be most likely because FIFA expand the finals to 64 teams, or some geographical fudge.
Though with cricket there were tops 8 teams including India so India had a chance.
Football will never take off in India. It's not about skill, its about interest in the game. If India do qualify for WC, it'll be most likely because FIFA expand the finals to 64 teams, or some geographical fudge.
Gharib Aadmi
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By that logic its also inevitable that Pakistan will eventually qualify for a World Cup. Whether it takes 50, 100, or 200 years eventually they will get their.
Gharib Aadmi
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It is about both skill and interest. South Asian countries are only good in sports that very few countries play. Look at hockey, the day more countries, especially the European ones, started playing they got exposed and are now a joke.
If cricket ever became globally popular the same will happen there. And football is arguably the second most popular sport in India and Pakistan, so the interest is there. They are just not good enough.
Gharib Aadmi
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When you have such a large population like India and Pakistan you dont need that many to play the sport. Look at Belgium and Netherlands, and Uruguay. Such small populations, but they keep on producing great players and teams.
If anything having that many players is a waste of resources.
What you need to do is develop the creme de la creme from a early age. Create academies that provide high level coaching. while also giving them a good education, as most will never be good enough to play professionally, as well as giving parents an incentive to send their children their.
If trained properly from an early age, the best of these players might be able to get contracts to play for European clubs. Ultimately if you want to see a competitive Indian or Pakistani team, it will be when their best players are playing in Europe.
Gharib Aadmi
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Their is no exceptional talent in football in South Asia at any level.
street cricketer
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There's absolutely no factual evidence for this whatsoever. Comparing hockey and cricket is lazy analysis mate. You know that hockey doesn't hold a candle to cricket in terms of popularity and I'm not even going into how difficult it is to play at ground level, i.e., you can play cricket with just a bat, a ball and three sticks if it's available. Hockey isn't as easy a game to play, you don't have many hockey fields lying unused in every street do you..
street cricketer
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1. The countries you mentioned are European countries with massive differences in income per capita when compared to third world countries. Taking arts, music, sports, etc., as a career option is possible in those countries because of the level of development they have undergone in the 2-3 centuries, while taking sports as a career option is not an easy task even for an average family in city in the developing world and I'm not even going into towns and villages. The level of support and infrastructure for each game is leagues ahead of what's available in the third world, which is why you find most of these countries getting far more medals in the Olympics compared to the third world countries which are overpopulated but with not enough resources to sustain their people.
2. Even if you take the African nations which may not be as developed as European nations, they still have a long history and culture of playing football as their most popular game. So even if you take a nation like Bangladesh which doesn't beat many top teams in cricket, it still has a longer history of the game and a culture of playing the game in the streets than if you introduce cricket in a South American nation like Argentina or Brazil. You need well trained coaches to mould the basics in youngsters from a very young age and for that, the coaches should be knowledgeable. How many football coaches in the subcontinent have a history of playing the game at a high level, literally none.
I get your overall point that it's possible to mould youngsters from a very young age in well developed academies with trained and knowledgeable coaches, I've thought about it before too but it's not as easy to implement. There aren't many such football academies in India and such academies would spring up only when there's a demand for football coaching among the population, like cricket coaching has, and that requires the popularity of the game to take off in the country. Technically you can coach 20 Chinese kids from a young age in cricket and theoretically it's possible to form a very good cricket team among them. But unless you have a passion for the game in the local population, it's difficult to sustain it. It's why countries like Nepal and Afghanistan have a much brighter future in cricket than the UAE, Oman, USA, etc.
Gharib Aadmi
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The only way for their to be factual evidence would be if more countries started playing cricket. And then we would see how the South Asian countries fared. So of course its an opinion.
However since we are bad at all sports that have any decent level of popularity, in my opinion i think if cricket was ever globally popular, the South Asian countries would be exposed.
India has gotten more professional over the last 10/15 years, so actually i think they might be ok, but for Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh its game over.
Is Hockey really popular in Germany and Netherlands? I would say its more popular in the subcontinent than in Europe, yet the European countries have been dominating for the last 25 years.
I have heard all my life that because the Europeans changed the rules, and switched the game to AstroTurf that's the reason the South Asians cant win anymore. However the real reason might be we are just not good enough.
street cricketer
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It's not difficult for a country to be good in one particular game, all you need is a good level of passion for the said game in that population. But if a country needs to branch out and start becoming good in many more games and sports, that is for a country to truly become a sporting nation, you need a certain level of affluence in the country. Only with increasing levels of affluence, would families be open to "risk taking" and to the possibilities of choosing different career options for their children other than the bog standard engineering, law, medicine, etc.
It is how the medal count of China gradually increased as its economy underwent a boom in the 90s and can now compete with and dominate traditional powerhouses like the US, UK, Canada and Australia. As the Indian economy bulges, many more Indian families would be open to the possibilities of choosing sports other than cricket as a career option for their children, and other sports will increasingly start tapping into the Indian demographic dividend, in a manner cricket has done in the past decade or so and continuing to do so. Though football may not be able to displace the traditional love for cricket that Indians have in their hearts, even the minority following that football would have would become significant enough to develop a decent football team in the future, in say within the next 3 decades. And with advanced coaching and training that's possible with increasing affluence in the country, it's quite possible that India could develop a team that's similar to current day Australia or South Korea. But I don't see that happening until at least two and half decades time.
It is how the medal count of China gradually increased as its economy underwent a boom in the 90s and can now compete with and dominate traditional powerhouses like the US, UK, Canada and Australia. As the Indian economy bulges, many more Indian families would be open to the possibilities of choosing sports other than cricket as a career option for their children, and other sports will increasingly start tapping into the Indian demographic dividend, in a manner cricket has done in the past decade or so and continuing to do so. Though football may not be able to displace the traditional love for cricket that Indians have in their hearts, even the minority following that football would have would become significant enough to develop a decent football team in the future, in say within the next 3 decades. And with advanced coaching and training that's possible with increasing affluence in the country, it's quite possible that India could develop a team that's similar to current day Australia or South Korea. But I don't see that happening until at least two and half decades time.
street cricketer
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This is just typical subcontinent mentality though. Either we think we are god gifted in abilities and resources and whatever state that our country is in is due to conspiracies by outside powers who are jealous. Have read this from many Pakistanis here in my time here and to provide an Indian example, I've seen so many elders talk about how Indian medicine is the best medicine in the world and how allopathy is just a western conspiracy to undermine the Indian Ayurvedic medicine system. Still I've members in my own family who take only natural/country medicine than allopathic medicine as they have more trust in the former.
When something is intangible, it's typical south asian mentality to talk about how we are the most talented nation, blah blah, etc., and it's just due to our own laziness that we do not realise our "true potential" which is greater than all other nations out there. This is not much different to every typical south asian aunty who believes her child to be the most talented and god gifted one.
But in sports like football and other team sports when we suck and cannot excuse our incompetence through outside conspiracies, we jump to the other end of the spectrum and talk about how we just aren't good enough because we are "genetically" inferior when it comes to team sports. In summary, when there's a problem, we don't like problem solving and finding out the complex factors that cause us to lag behind and resolve that one by one. It's much easier to believe we aren't blessed by god to be good in certain aspects of life and be content with our incompetence as it's much easier to believe we can do nothing about it than think through solutions of problems that hold us back.
Gharib Aadmi
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I mentioned those countries because of the low population. Uruguay has a population of only 3.5 million. Just in the posh areas alone of Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore their will be a greater population.
The government can create and subsidize football academy, and hire foreign coaches to run them. China is doing something like this.
In Pakistan parents from middle class and above dont want their children to pursue sports as the chances of them making it are slim. Their is no realistic incentive. Even in the western countries you hardly see South Asians making it to sports teams.
So an incentive to parents for could be a free high quality education, as only a fringe of players will have a chance to play professionally. The passion is there as Football is the second most popular sport in South Asia. You need incentives, and a culture change.
street cricketer
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It doesn't matter how much more population that cities like Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore have than Uruguay, Pakistan doesn't have football culture in its history and is something that takes decades to develop. And when I mean football culture, I mean the culture of playing football and not watching the game. Fat posh kids gorging on pop corn and fries while watching Premier League on their couches isn't going to do much to the overall health of Pakistani football. Pakistan probably has even less of a football playing culture than Bangladesh.
Even in India, many do "watch" football but when I talk about the culture of playing the game on the streets and fields, it only happens in Kerala, North east India and maybe Goa. China has incomparable population when compared to Australia but cricket isn't going to take off there because there's no hunger for the game there, and even if CPC introduces the game in Chinese schools for medals when cricket gets included in the Olympics, it will take a long time to develop the game there as China simply doesn't have a cricket culture like in Pakistan or India.
OMB
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They (South Americans) are playing in lots of Arab nations but I know of certain fast track cases of nationalising them before WC. It hasn't done any great wonder except for qualifying for Asia cup or WC.
In India, we already have some good talent from Africa for almost a decade now and still the standards have not improved much.
Mamoon
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It is not inevitable. Not everyone can or will qualify for the World Cup.
It is not impossible for Pakistan but there is no point in making any predictions because Pakistan are clearly not on the right track to begin with. On the other hand, India is slowly but surely on the right path thanks to the investment that they have made in football over the last 2 decades.
When the likes of Atletico Madrid and City group invest in Pakistan league football and players like David Villa, Del Piero, Nesta, Pires, Ljungberg, Roberto Carlos etc. play in a Pakistani league, we could start talking about Pakistan’s future as a World Cup football nation.
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street cricketer
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Wow I never knew Villa is involved with the ISL. Just now googled after [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]'s post. He apparently has joined as head of operations for Odisha but I wouldn't mind if he joined as a player lol even if he's washed up.
Villa's one of my favourite players, particularly brings a lot of nostalgia in the triumvirate MVP partnership he had with Messi and Pedro for Barcelona post 2010 world cup.
Villa's one of my favourite players, particularly brings a lot of nostalgia in the triumvirate MVP partnership he had with Messi and Pedro for Barcelona post 2010 world cup.
Mamoon
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He was one of my favorites as well. One of the greatest strikers of all time. I wish he would have left Valencia sooner, somewhere around 2007-2008.
A move to Barcelona, Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool, United etc. at that point would have propelled his career to greater heights.
That injury in 2011 cost him 2-3 great years in Europe. Without that injury, he would played in Europe until 2017-18 instead of moving to MLS in 2014.
His international career was incredible, but he underachieved at club level due to different circumstances in spite of winning 3 La Ligas and a Champions League.
street cricketer
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I can't imagine him in Madrid jersey astaghfirullah!
gani999
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That's completely untrue. Cricket has been a very popular sport in India right since the 1940s. Cricket stadia have always been packed in India and radio commentaries used to be extremely popular. Since the 1980s there has been a dramatic increase in viewership but that's got more to do with the increasing popularity of TV and live telecasts than with the 1983 win.
OMB
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yes he was very prolific. could score with left foot as good as right foot.
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Technics 1210
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Yet Field Hockey remains the national sport of India and has been long before 1983.
OMB
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you are right about national sport as hockey but popular sport was always cricket right from 60s.
cricket had better privileges and glamour quotient (film actresses flocking to cricket matches)
globalcitizen
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If you take 10 year old footballers from country like India and Europe, their skills will not be mismatched at that age. It's training and individual interests that make the difference as they grow up. Or you really think 10 year old from Europe is already world class compared to others? don't make wild statements without thinking.
Giannis
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10 years old is already late. The top football academies start scouting kids at 6.
Giannis
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Idk man just cause a country invests more in football and attracts the biggest names doesn't mean they'll ever be a force in world football otherwise the US and China would be up there already
street cricketer
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The USA is currently ranked 20 in the FIFA rankings and has made plenty of world cup appearances. Their players like Pulisic and Dest play for the elite European clubs.
The south asian nations would give an arm and leg to have a similar record now.
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