The footballing fraternity in India is exuberant after Indiaannexed a hat-trick of Nehru Cup victories, incidentally also just its 3rdin 15 editions. It is a tribute to the change of outlook towards the sport inthe country. And to go on to win against 4 nations, whose squad are all rankedhigher than that of India on the FIFA rankings, is commendable. Players, fans,all stakeholders and the apex body of football in India, the All India FootballFederation (AIFF), have every reason to be overjoyed at this achievement.
But things were not all this rosy before the tournament had kickedoff. AIFF had appointed a new Dutch coach, Wim Kovermans, who wanted to changethe ideology of India’s approach to the game and the way it was played. Hewanted to instill a new method of playing and make the players forget theirearlier, very English ‘hoof-the-ball-up-to-the-striker’ style of playing. A newstyle required some adaptations and truckloads of effort and time, a luxurywhich the Gaffer couldn’t enjoy. To top it, the captain, Sunil Chhetri due toclub commitments in Portugal, joined the Camp late. Unplayable surfaces meant thatthe Camp had to be continually relocated around the Country. Another shocker,when the team was announced, was that India’s young talismanic striker, JejeLalpekhlua had been dropped from the squad. This, in essence, had beeninstrumental in building up against any hope of the hat-trick of victories.
The tournament kicked off with India raking up a thrillingwin against the mighty Syria, their nemesis of the finals from the past 2editions. And then a thrashing of Maldives and a draw with Nepal reinforced thebelief that Wim Kovermans had truly changed the way India played. Having made it to the finals, in thepenultimate group game, both India and Cameroon fielded 2nd stringsidesto give a run-out to all players. India went down in this game without asmuch as even a hint of a fight.
Cameroon, nicknamed LesLions Indomptables (The Indomitable Lions), had ranked in the FIFA ranking a hundred places aboveIndia and boasted of a pedigree of good players, the likes of Samuel Eto’o,Alex Song and Benoit Assou-Ekotto. The National Football Federation sent to Indiatheir 2nd string squad, which was still intimidating. Despite this,Wim Kovermans was confident of his squad notching up a victory in the finals.
The finals began with India taking the lead but soon buckledunder pressure and went a goal down. The squad showed character to draw leveland take the game to extra time where they held their nerve to beat theCameroonians in penalties.
This hat-trick of victories is testament to the change inthe mentality of the National Squad, to stand up and be counted when it is mostrequired. The country deserves this for the support that they constantly rendereven when the team goes through lean patches. The future is bright for thesport in the country. Or so it seems.
MarkRodricks is a Pune based Goan footballer and coach of the Pune FC U-13 team. Heis also the technical head of the Bayern Munich India selections
