Sports Minister M S Gill cannot believe that more than one lakh people turned out in Kolkata for legendary German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn's Bayern Munich swansong, a phenomenon which convinces him that football is the game of the country.Gill said he was amazed to see the massive turnout as Kahn dropped curtains on his illustrious career in front of a frenzied soccer-crazy crowd in the choc-a-bloc Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday."It was amazing to see such a huge turnout, that too at a time when the Indian Premier League is inching close to its business end. It's great to know that Bayern Munich chose India for Kahn's farewell game and I thank the people in Kolkata for making it memorable for the German legend," Gill said.According to him, football's popularity once again highlighted the fact that it has the potential to become India's national game."Football is the game of the masses, and not confined to any particular class. Its charm lies in the fact that it's rather simple and inexpensive too."A football, two sticks and some players these are all you need to start playing. You don't need costly equipment or gears, you need not be fussy about the field or the surface. You can play on sand, semi-sandy surface and even in Ladakh," he said."Even maintenance is not a hazard. Like some other sports, you don't need to water the field regularly. In a country where water does not reach everyone, that's definitely a headache. But fortunately, football doesn't need any of this and remains a popular game. Anyone can play it anywhere," Gill said.He said though Kolkata has been the spiritual home of the game in India, football has spread to other parts as well with Punjab, Mumbai, Goa and the southern part of the country lapping it up."I thank the Kolkata people for extending the honour to Kahn on behalf of the entire country but now I would like to see our teams go to Munich and beat them there," Gill said.And he believes the task maybe difficult but not impossible. "If we could produce players like Chuni Goswami and Jarnail Singh, we cannot we do it again? After all we have a rich past. We reached the semifinals of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, qualified for the 1960 World Cup. There is no reason why we cannot bring back the old glory," Gill said.The Sports Minister said he is hoping to be in Srinagar for the final of the Santosh Trophy on June 15.
