Are Indian footballers so bad that European clubs boot them out?

It took 63 years after Mohammed Salim played for Scottish club Celtic FC in two friendlies in 1936 that India’s iconic footballer Bhaichung Bhutia signed a contract with English club Bury FC in 1999.

Thereafter, a few more Indian players have played for foreign clubs. For instance, Sunil Chhetri joined the American Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City in 2010 and then went on to join Portuguese side Sporting Club de Portugal in 2012.

India goalkeeper Subrata Pal, on the other hand, was signed by the top Danish Club FC Vestsjaelland in 2014. Romeo Fernandes and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu followed, by signing with Brazilian club Atletico Paranaense and Norwegian club Stabaek respectively.

Sandhu become the first Indian to play a competitive match for a top division club in Europe. But then the number of Indian footballers playing in foreign leagues is not as high when compared with the Afghanistan side which recently came to India to participate in the SAFF Cup. Fifteen out of the 22 players of the Afghan team are currently playing in the European circuit. Afghanistan was the pre-match favourite in SAFF Cup final but India went on to win the title.

Also read: I-league or ISL, are clubs bigger than playing football for India?

The question remains, if footballers from a war-prone country like Afghanistan can play in such big numbers in Europe, why not Indian footballers?

Earlier, it was said that our footballers are physically weak and lack stamina though they can compete in skill, but now this cannot be said any more as in the Indian Super League (ISL), Indian footballers are playing neck and neck with foreigners. And even with those who have played in the big leagues of the world and in World Cups.

Not only that, our players are even being praised lavishly by the foreigners as well as reputed foreign coaches. In fact, Romeo Fernandes was recommended to the Brazilian club Atletico Paranaense by FC Goa coach and former World Cupper Zico.

“Guam has three tier divisions of league (sic). However, in order to compete in international football, we usually advise our players to move abroad to more competitive leagues, which in turn, benefits us. The Guam league acts more like a feeder system with many young players plying their trade,” said Gary White, the coach of Guam which beat India in the World Cup qualifiers.

Sandhu rightly put it: “I think the first and foremost thing is the basic infrastructure, the training pitches and the match grounds,” Sandhu told the All India Football Federation (AIFF) website on his experience in Norway. “They are top class and the amount of professionalism in every single department and the level of coaching, how to nurture a player, is also very good and positive."

If Guam can do it, Afghanistan can do it, why not India? The more our players play in the clubs of developed football nations the more they will learn and become more competitive. With ISL putting Indian football on the world map, it will be interesting to see how the world football fraternity looks at this issue.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)