Our soccer stardust

Euro 2004 has been keeping us awake for the past fortnight but it should be giving our football bosses sleepless nights for a different reas...

Euro 2004 has been keeping us awake for the past fortnight but it should be giving our football bosses sleepless nights for a different reason. The tournament has seen relative minnows Greece and Latvia 8212; all of 13 years old 8212; record their greatest moments on the pitch, holding their own against relative giants. Which brings us to the Greatest Moments in Indian Football 8212; and since they can8217;t fill a book, this8217;ll do nicely8230;

BOOT IN EMPIRE8217;S FACE

When Mohun Bagan beat East Yorkshire Regiment in the final of the IFA Shield in 1911, they did more than lift a trophy. It was a major blow for Indian nationalism, then in its first militant phase. Reports of the match speak of the crowds, of how the 8216;natives8217; payed barefoot against the booted sahibs. And of the celebrations that followed the 2-1 win. Sadly, Indian football today has almost forgotten Shibdas Bhaduri and his team.

THE NEARLY MEN

In 1950, India was invited by FIFA and the Brazilian Football Federation to take part in the World Cup in Brazil after a number of entrant countries pulled out. The team was all set to go till they read the fine print: no barefoot players allowed. Few Indian footballers of the day wore boots and there wasn8217;t enough time to start learning, so, with FIFA putting its foot down, the IFA pulled its team out.

OLYMPIC FLAMES

India8217;s best-ever showing at the Olympics was in Melbourne, 1956, when the team made it to the semis and eventually finished fourth. In effect, though, they won only one match against Australia but that was enough. More importantly, Bombay8217;s Neville D8217;Souza was the joint top goalscorer for the meet with four goals.

GOLDEN MOMENT

Indian football8217;s greatest moment was winning the gold at the Jakarta Asian Games in 1962. They had won the inaugural event, too, in 1951, but that was a small competition. This time, their medal followed wins against Japan, South Vietnam and South Korea. The stars of the team were Peter Thangaraj, Jarnail Singh, P K Banerjee, Chuni Goswami and Arumainayagam8230; They don8217;t make them like that anymore, do they?

CLUB CLASS

India8217;s first major success in the TV age came about last year when East Bengal won the ASEAN Club championship in Jakarta. Subhash Bhowmick8217;s revolutionary coaching concepts 8212; five-star hotels, imported backroom staff 8212; paid off as the team beat higher-ranked opposition from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. For a while, Bhaichung Bhutia walked on water.

Complied by jayaditya gupta