[saurabh244471]

Like playing in world cup, Indian players playing in Big football clubs,Winning in olympics etc.etc.. (In 1952 olympics,India played very well)
I think after 20-25 years from now on...(May be many many more)... Whole football structure here needs to be revised..Friends..what do u say? Any optimism about it?

[MvB ACM No9]

Originally Posted by saurabh244471

Like playing in world cup, Indian players playing in Big football clubs,Winning in olympics etc.etc.. (In 1952 olympics,India played very well)
I think after 20-25 years from now on...(May be many many more)... Whole football structure here needs to be revised..Friends..what do u say? Any optimism about it?

Simply put, NO! India as a country and as an economy is too obsessed with cricket. There is absolutely no infrastructure, nor are there any financial incentives (sponsors, salaries etc etc) to encourage youngsters to take up the sport.

In addition, there is no semblance of a quality league system or grooming system in place. Add to that the typical mentality that Indians have and you have a complete vicious circle :

Child is good at football, but parents know it won't pay, so they ask him to concentrate on studies or to take up cricket instead, otherwise just play football as a hobby and secondary interest. Even if the child keeps his interest, he has neither the facilities nor the time to become a really classy player. So the system never gets a class footballer. hence it remains the same or deteriorates further (if that is possible ). Cycle repeats with the next generation.....

The current state (and future also) of Indian football can be gauged by the fact that India's "best" footballer (Bhutia) was considered "unfit" for English and Spanish Premiership clubs and even the club that took him (second-division Bury FC) only found him fit for the bench and for the occasional 10 minute sub-stint......

Mike

PS: I hope time will prove me wrong, but frankly....I see no glimmer of a chance....

[jsukumar]

Well an optimistic view :

The middle class in India is becoming more and more ambitious they want better cars bigger homes more cash to splurge. The population on the other hand is increasing rapidly therby leading to greater competition in every aspect of life.So people look for new avenues to earn their living. All of them cannot make it big in already established fields . So like a lion looking out for a new territory of its own people look for other fields where there is less competition and they have chance to do something path breaking. In sports games like football , hockey , Athletics would attract attention of these people. We can already see this happening in other walks of life. For ex : Fifteen years back if you told someone you were gonna do a course in interior designing people would laugh at you ! . Now it is catching on people with B. Arch degrees go on to do a cours in interior designing . So very soon we would see some of this replicated in sports. With Globalisation we it wouldnt be much of an issue of whether India has a good league and a good rewards system in place because you could find umpteen jobs in Secondd division European leagues as well. Then this generation of footballers would benifit by starting coaching institutes ( I ll call them F- Schools )promising the people who enrol one Job( Club contract) on copletion. Then we could have instis a la TIME/IMS ( no offence ) which would do coaching to help students get into one of the F- Schools. Then it would be a matter of time before the big clubs ( Real Madrid etc) and all the others come to India for Recruitment . They would also be outsourcing functions like coaching/Training to India therby creating a huge demand for retired footballers . Well finally after all this we would have a forum like Pagalguy for all F-School aspirants.

Well this would happen and by then India would make it to the big leagues of Football. Then Basketball and other sports would follow.

[saurabh244471]

100% true picture presented...

[lucky_lokesh]

frankly i dont think india have a chace in soccer for at lest next 10 to 15 years......... we seriously lack quality players and coach........ there is a lng long way to go.......... right now even our best player would not be able to play for a first divison club team.

lokesh

[saurabh244471]

ya lokesh..
also MvB ACM No9 gave a classic example of Bhutia in this case..

[Spiderman]

its not a question of only football .many other sports in india face a similar problem . even then some exceptional talent makes it big at the international scene like paes in tennis , bhagwat and rana in shooting etc . only exception is foootball i guess

[Jackal]

in football i guess no chance..... never...
but the authorities say they are havin camps 4 young children (under 10) .. i remember havin heard one of'em say on a news channel tht 20-25 yrs frm now india will have a world class team..
personally i think not possible..

[psmith]

it is not a question of soccer alone.. you look at any game and it is the same sad story... as mike was pointing out we are a country too too obsessed with cricket and this really affects the working of the other sports.
look at any game and we see that the indians are the first in the junior level.. look at paes in wimbledon juniors.. but when it comes to make that crucial transition from the junior to the senior level we are losing out because we just dont have the facilities in a era when sporting facilities and proper training can make all the difference between an excellent player and a champion.... this unfortunately happens in the case of cricket also..

and the sight of so many past players (hockey, olympians etc.) living in such a dire state of poverty doesnt exactly encourage the younger generation to pick up anything but a cricket bat..

anyway coming back to soccer .. it will take a long time before we can make rapid strides in this area and for that the most crucial thing is to change our mindset..

anyway ...
hoping to see india in the world cup soccer before i die...

adios
sushanth

[prashoo]

yes if the team which scores the least no of goals is declared the winner