the great indian world-cup dream...

warning: this post goes nowhere. it is simply an emotional outburst because of our 'obvious' failure to reach south africa. there is no research involved. only my little and concerned experiences.

football is played almost in each and every school in india. from kashmir to kanyakumri, this is one sport clearly visible on roadsides, roads, vacant plots, streets, tennis courts, dining halls, bathrooms, farms, mud, even cricket pitches and on so-called football grounds. people foot ball here. i remember, even the lamest of guys who was good at nothing but chasing his sexual counterparts in school would creep in for a moment or two to kick the ball. it's a fact: we, indians, love to kick. and most of us even recognize that football is our best chance to do so. men of strangest of sizes and women of questionable & pleasing ones can be found kicking something at least, once a day. and for youngsters it is mostly a football.

also, there are large numbers of people who follow european clubs religiously.

so despite the fact that football is widely played, immensely loved, vastly followed and well watched - why is indian football not even looked at by the same people???

one of the reasons is: the 1983 cricket world cup. no, i am not putting all the blames on cricket. 1983 was a year that brought us not only happiness and joy but also pride. what happened is, it was this very time when the surge in new media began. people were becoming rich and aware. sports and indian performances on the international stage were a concern to people now. and it was the very time when football started to lose its shine.

the memories of 1951,62 asian golds or 1956 olympics or the 1950 world-cup qualification weared away.

it may be a flawed argument.

but maybe not.

as of now, indian football is stuck in a vicious-vicious cycle: no money -leads to- no infrastructure -leads to- bad coaching -leads to- unskilled players -leads to- no international wins -leads to- no international trophies -leads to- people don't care -leads to- no sponsors -leads to- no money; and the cycle continues.

so with deep analytical thought, and an awesome super-manly logical prowess i have reached a conclusion: we need money. money. someone needs to come in and invest heavily for the love of sport, if nothing else. sunil bharti mittal did 'donate' 100 crores. but considering the fact that we are still playing football of 1960s standards, bharti-donation is peanuts.

we need more lovers. and like any other woman, football too needs rich lovers. because profits here are a distant (very far, i tell you) dream.

the football federation has signed numerous pacts with innumerable federations. including brazil, if it excites you. but it has hardly helped. and the way it seems, in distant future also: it won't.

to conclude, where are we moving?

. optimisto says: houghton, by far, has been the best indian coach in three decades. we have talented youngsters coming in. they are vastly exposed to european style of football. we now have the money to buy football-boots. and many other things of technological importance. industrialists are providing with funds. now that we have qualified for asian cup after 27 years. we will be playing world cup by 2018.

. pessimisto says: ha, what a joke.

. realistico says: true optimisto, but make it 2030.

p.s. some facts:

. we qualified for the 1950 world cup in brazil. but had to back out because we were not allowed to play with bare feet. our players were not used to play with studs. so our entry was rejected by fifa.

. we came 4th in 1956 melbourne olympics.

. and were the winners in 1951,62 asian games.

. current fifa ranking: 132