Miles and miles to go, just for kicks

Sabi Hussain in New Delhi

So, the dream is dead. Reality bit India's young footballers hard in their final group match of the Under-17 World Cup. Ghana, also known as Black Starlets, crushed the Indian boys 4-0. As the Ghana coach Fabin Samuel later said, it could have been much worse: “We could have scored more. I am happy with it.”

The Indian players were left disconsolate, most of them in tears that just would not stop. India coach Luis Norton de Matos reminded them that they're better players than their performance showed, and that they had achieved much to be proud about in the tournament. 

The 4-0 scoreline against Ghana was hard reality - it reminded us that this young Indian team is a novice in world football, that it has much to learn before it starts scoring goals and becomes a threat at this level. Indeed, our lads qualified for the tournament only because India is hosting the tournament. This bunch is just starting out on a learning curve.

That, in fact, was the whole point in awarding India the tournament - FIFA, the world governing body of the sport, likes to describe India as a sleeping giant of world football. FIFA made India the host of the U-17 World Cup only in order to nudge this 'giant' wake up. Time will tell how long India takes to wake up to football, but there are signs that the giant is stirring a bit, at least.

Big cheer

One encouraging sign is the huge crowd present at each of India's three matches. In each India game, over 46,000 fans rocked the stands of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the count being a stupendous 52,614 in the match against Ghana. Many of the fans had come from across the country, many of them from Manipur, which contributed eight players in the Indian squad of 21 players. 

The Indian government and All India Football Federation (AIFF) had made a big effort to develop these players. The Sports Ministry invested Rs 18 crore in developing this bunch - the boys travelled across 18 countries in four continents in the last two years and played 109 matches. 

So, this is the best-ever batch of players we have had in this age-group. Yet, this three-year project made India, playing a FIFA tournament for the first time, competitive only in patches. This team was never in a position to actually win a game - it scored only one goal in three games, after all - and its main objective was to avoid humiliation. It had only two forwards in the squad of 21 - the rest were midfielders or defenders. The strategy was to defend in numbers, which gives a clue to the abilities and potential of this team. They lacked the creativity to make goals; they aimed to make sure they were not humiliated. They wanted to hold their head high - and that they did, especially with the brave show against USA and Colombia.

How world plays

It's almost incredible, but in Europe, little boys and girls are kicking the ball when they are barely able to walk or stagger along. Later we see them, at age 5, being taught by coaches how to run along the ball, pass it to others, flick it with the inside or outside of the shoe, et al. This inculcates in them foot-eye coordination and other skills by age 8; our own players in India learn all this in their teens.

So, while this Indian U-17 team was great, and we must love and honour them for their brave play, we should face one fact squarely — at 17 years, there is a limit to how much they can improve, especially in the mediocre Indian football environment. 

They're far behind the world. They won't take India into the world top-60 or even top-90 in the senior age-group. Those who can are probably 4-year-olds right now. AIFF must focus on that age-group. That leads us to the next point - introduction to sport.

Parental support

Why don't we do well in sport, people ask us all the time. Our counter-question: If there's a very faint hope your son/daughter could play for your state, and a microscopic hope that they could play for India, would you let them play professional sport? If your answer is no, you've got your answer. In this Indian U-17 team, most players were from underprivileged backgrounds. The level of skill they have acquired required several hours of training everyday - every week, for years. 

Let's have no illusions, and coach de Matos rightly insists that we must not have any illusions. “There is a gap between India and the other teams, say from Europe and South America,” he says. “I see this World Cup as a step forward for the future. India can build on this experience.”

Jeakson Singh, who scored India's lone goal in the tournament, against Colombia, says that the boys have learnt a lot. “This WC has given us the confidence that we belong to this stage,” says Singh. “There was no let-up in our fighting spirit. Disappointed that we couldn't win a single game but this competition exposure is invaluable to us. We need more some tournaments and the AIFF has done a great job by including us in the I-League fold.”

The lessons

But much, much more needs to be done, in a very focussed manner, if India are to ever qualify for the U-17 World Cup or — hold your heart — the senior World Cup. To be half/quarter as good as the Europeans or the Japanese or Koreans, we need to do what they do, like:

• Have kids learning to kick/pass the ball at age 4, and even earlier.
• Professional clubs need to have fun leagues for kids, from which to identify and nurture talent.
• Competitive match environment, top coaching, medical facilities, psychological boost from pre-teen days.
• Develop a competitive professional league which isn’t dominated by has-beens from abroad.
• A fan base that passionately supports players: This creates stars, boosts budgets of clubs, and makes the sport viable as a career choice.
• Have proper programmes to promote football.