Finally, it has kick started. This is a first step for the Under 17 Indian football team but a giant leap for Indian football. What a moment for all football aficionados in India and all over the world. The World Cup, no matter it being the U 17 World Cup, has its own charm and aura. I am all excited and set to watch it live as well as on TV. So what’s in store for us and what do we gain by hosting the world cup?
Well, first of all India gets the opportunity to compete with the best in the world, which would not have been possible otherwise. Secondly, the experience of playing in the world cup gives our players the right exposure which will enable them to face any opposition in the future with confidence, provided the young team is maintained with proper planning and execution. Thirdly, the infrastructure put in place for the World Cup will enable India to bid for other prestigious, Asian as well as FIFA events, in the future which will give more opportunities for our players to perform at a very high level. Fans too will get better facilities at stadiums which will enable them to watch football games in a very affable ambience with friends and families.
It is a fact that Goan football is not progressing. It is static! Both Goa and West Bengal are living on past laurels. Yes, we have maintained our top places at the Club level by investing heavily on hired outstation players. Not much was done at the grassroots by both the Clubs and the State Associations in these states. Yes, the clubs had their grassroots programmes but these activities are not good enough to produce players to compete at a high level, such as the world cup. To play at a high level, we must realise that we need ‘Residential Academies’ to produce quality footballers. A cursory look, at the present Indian team consisting of 21 players, will drive the point, I am trying to make. Here are the stats: out of the 21 players, 15 players are from the AIFF Academy, 4 from Minerva Academy, Punjab and just two players from the talent available overseas. State wise, you will notice that there are eight players from Manipur, Punjab-2, West Bengal-3,Karnataka-2, Maharashtra-1, Sikkim-1, Mizoram-1, Kerala-1, US(PIO)-1 and Canada(PIO)-1. Instead of asking why there are no Goan players in the world cup, we should have asked why there were no Goan players in the AIFF Academy when it was launched in 2013. The foundation of this U17 Indian team was laid then, in 2013 and since then it has been a long hard journey for all the boys in the AIFF Academy. And I don’t think that AFF has discriminated Goan players and preferred Manipuri players. I don’t see many complaining why there are no Goan players in the current U16 Indian team which has our very own, Bibiano Fernandes, as the Chief Coach. The U 16 Indian team has qualified for the AFC U 16 Championship. Surely, he has not discriminated our Goan players during the selection! There is no doubt Goan players are talented but talent itself is not enough to be successful. You need the right attitude, discipline and hunger within, to achieve success. Manipuri players, many from very humble background are more serious, disciplined, determined and hungrier than the others to make it big.
It’s time to look at ahead rather than just lamenting about the lost opportunities. The fact is that we were not ready and were caught napping. To make it big in football, residential academy training is the need of the hour. It’s the academies which are churning out quality footballers all over the world. In India, AIFF football academy did a wonderful job and most of the players got the right exposure by playing competitive football in Asia and all over the world in the past two years. The only other academy that did well is the Minerva Football Academy, Chandigarh established in 2005. But again, here out of the four selected from their academy, three are Manipuri players and only one player is from Punjab.
In Goa, if we consider 2013 as the relevant year for the selection of the present U 17 Indian team, we had just one residential academy ie Sesa Football Academy, founded in 1999. I had once attended the selection of U 14 boys at the Sesa Academy being invited by my friend, Shri Brahmanand Shankwalkar, who was their administrator. After the selection we did discuss about why talented Goan do not come for the sections in the Academy. It was found that some very talented U 14 players preferred to be with the non residential academies run by Dempo SC, Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa who were then playing the I League with the hope of getting into their senior teams someday not realising the importance of training in the residential academies. To play at the high level such as the U 17 World Cup, what is done in these non residential academies is not good enough. In the residential academies one tends to be more focused and discipline which is not the case outside when one is exposed to distractions training in the non residential academies. That’s the major difference! There is no substitute for a ‘Residential Academy’, if our Goan players are to get selected to represent the country. Several quality residential academies are coming up in India. The Reliance Foundation Young Champs is one such academy and again we find no Goans in there, too. We have to pull up our socks at the grassroots and not just blame selection process. Real talent cannot be hidden nor be discriminated for long. That’s the truth! All professional Clubs must have their own residential Football Academies. That’s the only way forward.
