My Indian football Highlights in 2011

2011 ends later today and I wanted to take a look back at the year gone by in Indian football. It was another year which promised a lot, but did it keep up to its promise or let us down? A difficult question, which does not have a definite answer. Read and make your own opinion...


2011 AFC Asian Cup

The year started with India playing at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, 27 years after its last appearance at the continental champions. India coached by Bob Houghton were drawn in the Group of Death along with Australia, South Korea and Bahrain. We lost 0-4 against Australia, 2-5 against Bahrain and 1-4 against South Korea. 3-13 goals speak a clear language, but if one knows the gulf in standard between the best in Asia and a developing football nation like ours then it was an overall a good show by Team India.

The tournament also marked the career highlight for a generation of Indian footballers led by striker Baichung Bhutia, who was mostly injured and so could only play the final 15 minutes against South Korea. The others were Mahesh Gawli, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Samir Naik, Climax Lawrence, Renedy Singh and Abhishek Yadav; who all have done their bit for Indian football.

But one should not forget the fans. India had the best crowd support in Doha! It was like a home tournament for us...


The Sacking of Bob Houghton

Englishman Bob Houghton did a credible job to qualify India to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and thereafter at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in March 2011 in Kuala Lumpur he started to rebuild his team for the years ahead. But that was cut short by the All India Football Federation as the national body was not happy with the fact that Bob openly criticised the infrastructure and administration as the reason of India's non-development in football. Especially at the Asian Cup in Doha Bob was vocal about the problems that Indian football faces.

The end of the story is a complete disgrace. The AIFF labelled false charges of racism against Bob Houghton for statements he is said to have made against Indian fourth official Dinesh Nair in a international friendly match last year in Pune.

In the end Bob looked fed-up and left the country in haste after the AIFF dropped the charges in April 2011. After nearly five years of being India coach Bob certainly didn't deserve a send-off like this.


I-League: Salgaocar SC champions

The surprise champions of the 2010/11 I-League with 56 points were Salgaocar SC under the able guidance of Moroccan coach Karim Bencharifa. The Goans surprised everyone with their football and after snatching the lead from early leaders East Bengal Club, they never really looked back as they won the championship in style. Their foreigners in Luciano Sabrosa, Ryuji Suoeka and Yakubu Yusif were top besides young Indian talent in Gilbert Oliveira, Francis Fernandes and Anthony Barbosa emerging plus seasoned Karanjit Singh, Jaspal Singh Parmar, Khelemba Singh and Rocus Lamare playing their part.


I-League: JCT relegated, close down

Punjabi side JCT, who have been fighting relegation for the last few seasons, finally went down at the end of last season as they finished 13th amongst 14 teams. It not only ended their stay in the NFL/I-League since the launch of the league, but their management decided to close down the football club overall to concentrate on the Academy and youth development.

It marks the end of an era, leaving Punjab and North India without I-League representation. JCT not only were the flagbearers of the North but also a club to develop talent through the JCT Academy. The players often moved from the Academy to the senior team and there made a name for themselves.

The closure of JCT follows a season after Mahindra United had decided to take the same drastic measure as the clubs say that they cannot sustain themselves without earning revenues. Still things don't seem to change with the clubs unable to generate revenues and other clubs could go this way.


2014 FIFA World Cup: India out at first hurdle

The qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil were over before they had really started for India. This time around seeded into the second Round of Asian qualifiers India had to face the mighty United Arab Emirates and progress would have meant a real upset.

But only 23 minutes into the match in Al Ain it looked all over for India after having goalkeeper Subrata Pal and defender Debabrata Roy send-off for two separate incidents with the team down to nine men and 0-2 behind. It ended 0-3 for the UAE, a credible result for India under the given circumstances, and India earned a hard-fought 2-2 comeback draw at a monsoon flooded Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi, but the overall aggregate of 5-2 speaks a clear language.


Indian Arrows become Pailan Arrows

Over the summer it looked like the Indian Arrows could be shutting shop due to the high costs involved in running the India developmental side in the I-League. But then Kolkata-based Pailan Group came forward and adopted the Arrows, the AIFF rebranded the team as Pailan Arrows and as such they will now play in the I-League in the coming seasons.

The good thing about the Arrows is the fact that their future for the next few years is secure and the youngsters will get a continued chance to play in the I-League with the team not to be relegated. This exposure is necessary and will do Indian football a great service in the future.


Baichung Bhutia retirement

Striker Baichung Bhutia was an upset man that he couldn't help his beloved Team India more at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in January in Qatar due to an injury. He tried a comeback ahead of the India vs Pakistan Series in the UK, but he had to pull out due to a never-ending injury and then Baichung decided and announced his retirement from international football in August 2011 in New Delhi.

Later on in October 2011 the India vs FC Bayern Munich match came around and it will give Indian fotoball the chance to give Baichung a fitting farewell on January 10, 2012 in New Delhi at the Audi Football Summit.


SAFF Cup: India triumph!

The year ended as it started with an international assignment for Team India. But this time around India wasn't the underdog, but rather the overwhelming favourite besides defending champions. And though the team had their problems in the tournament and faced some tough competition India did trash Afghanistan 4-0 in the SAFF Cup final though the result does not really reflect the match with the Afghans the positive surprise of the tournament.


International interest in Indian football

FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation continue to say that Indian football has huge potential and international interest in the Indian market continues to grow, but the necessary development isn't seen as in my opinion a lot of effort goes in vain or is commercially driven rather then by the game.

Surely we have now tons of camps from European top clubs for big city children, but development needs to be taken to the smaller cities and the rural areas where talent lies uptapped.


These are my Indian football highlights from 2011...