Lost glory of my India.

Going by the current FIFA rankings, it will be hard to believe that India were a force to reckon with at the Asian Level just after its independence. It’s no less than a mystery how the nation did not do justice to its true potential as a latent football powerhouse. Especially the steep decline after the success in 1962 Jakarta Asian Games, when it seemed like the nation is ready to have a crack at the top international level, makes the world football fraternity bewildered. A number of football pundits often describe the country as a Sleeping Giant, which has fallen in deep slumber ever since the glorious Jakarta days.

Today’s youngistan is hardly bothered about its rich footballing heritage as cricket has taken over the driver’s seat. Today’s European-football-loving-Indian-junta may also question the mental condition of the person trying to showcase India’s glorious rendezvous with world football during the late 50s to early 60s.

It did not come as a surprise when a recent study by a Kolkata-based sports magazine revealed that around 77% of youngsters who follows the beautiful game in this country were unaware of the fact that it’s actually India which is the most successful Asian team in the history of Olympic Football. Their ignorance gave way to respect when they were told that it was an Indian who holds the Asian record of scoring the first ever hat-trick in the Olympic Games. Further, they were left flabbergasted to be acquainted with the fact that an Indian footballer had actually won the prestigious Golden Boot award in one of the Olympic Games.

India’s tryst with Olympic football began with the London Olympics of 1948 when India participated at the games for the first time as an independent nation. The Indian team could not adjust to the wet and cold artificial surface used at the games and went down 1-2 against a strong French team after failing to convert two penalties. However, their bare-footed skillful display on a freezing London turf caught the imagination of world football fraternity.

It had been a steady journey for Indian football in international arena in the following decade. They qualified for the next three Olympics in 1952, 1956 and 1960, which witnessed a varied range of outcomes including stunning performances and appalling defeats. After their spirited performance in the London Games, the expectations were more from the team in the next edition – the Helsinki Olympics. However it turned out to be a complete letdown as Team India were trounced 1-10 by 1948 Silver Medal winners Yugoslavia. The atrocious result propagated shockwaves across the country. In order to find out the exact cause of this disaster the All India Football Federation discussed the matter with every team member and officials who traveled to Helsinki. All the concerned people unanimously pointed out the freezing temperature to be one of the main causes and the Indian players’ preference to play barefooted made it even worse. One positive which came out of this calamity was AIFF’s change of stance on wearing proper football boots.

The Melbourne Games of 1956 witnessed one of the most glorious performances by team India in a top-tier football tournament. The fourth place finish was Team India’s best ever performance in Olympics, which eventually made them the only Asian nation to attain this peak in the history of Olympic Football till date. It was an important milestone not only in the history of Indian football, but also for Asian football in general, as no other Asian nation could ever reach the Semi Final stage before or after that. If we compare India’s performance in 1956 Olympics to that of the other two Asian nations in the same tournament, it would give us an insight of India’s powerhouse status in Asian Level. While India finished at a creditable 4th place, Japan lost in the first round 0-2 against Australia and Thailand were trounced 9-1 by the United Kingdom side.

Syed Abdul Rahim, fondly known as “Rahim Saab”, deserves accolades for India’s success in 1956 Games. Truly, he was a man ahead of his time. A shrewd tactician that he was, it didn’t take long for him to figure out that the 2-3-5 formation, largely followed in Indian domestic set-up during that period, was an outdated tactic and to be successful against the European countries, a complete alteration of playing style was the need of the hour. He was a keen learner and he devoted time to study various formations used by contemporary successful coaches. The “Magical Magyars” – Gustav Sebes’ Hungary outfit that had won the Gold medal in the previous edition of Olympic football influenced him the most. Thus came the concept of a withdrawn centre-forward, which revolutionized the way football had been played in the country in those days.


Vice captain and centre-forward Neville Stephen J. D’Souza scored a fabulous hat-trick – which was also the first instance of a hat-trick in the Olympics by an Asian player.

What a shame that we look up only to cricket and forget these wonders.. Don't they deserve some honor??

They do.. but will they get it.. NO one knows.. Spread this article so that everyone can know how much talent we have and had in our country..

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