Finally,
it will kick start today, the 6th of Oct 2017 ! Neil Amstrong after
landing on the Moon and on his return said 'It’s a small step for a man but a giant leap for
mankind'. Yes something similar is about to happen with the first kick of the
ball in the U 17 FIFA World Cup, 2017 being hosted in India. I would say 'It's 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 future stars are here! The World Cup, no
matter it being the U 17 World Cup, has its own charm and aura. 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 this 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 and fans too, get better facilities at the stadiums which will enable them
to watch football games in a very affable ambience with friends and families,
including women and children.
Social media is agog these days about watching the future
stars in the U 17 World Cup and we have mixed reactions from Goans, some are very
excited, others lamenting about having no Goan player in the U17 India squad
blaming the selectors and major stakeholders in Goan football. But what exactly
is the reason for having no Goan in the U17 world cup team? A proper
introspection and analysis should be done so that corrective measures are taken
for the development of Goan football.
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. Yes,
this desire and hunger for success is sadly missing among the Goan players,
probably our players get what they want on a platter. The Manipuri players, most
of them coming from very humble background, are more serious, disciplined, determined
and hungrier than the others to make it big.
It’s time to look 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 selections 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 in 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 the 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.