The fact that India has a national football team is also a news for many people in our nation. Today, while most people are still getting hurt with every loss that India suffers in cricket, there is an increasing population of young-blooded Indians supporting football clubs from all over the Europe. Hence to say that football is less popular than cricket amongst the Indian youngsters would be an over-statement. But you go and ask these kids to play a game of football and they will instinctively ask you back to wait till it rains.

The popularity of football game in India is not in question here, the question is how can India come up in the world football. Many self-acclaimed football gurus will kill this question saying that Indians lack the talent and strength needed for the game, but what they forget is that we, as a second largest populated country has never failed to produce talent in any field. The one thing that India lacks is the dedication to bring the change.

The Indian national team is not only as talented as other teams but also dedicated. What it lacks is the exposure. Football is the most popular game around the globe, hence the competition that comes with it is equally high. Most countries who play at the ultimate football event, strive it for years to reach that level.

When you play at a national level no one doubts your skills, but in a team game like football individual skills are of no use. The players should practice and play together and develop an understanding between themselves. The critical part is to develop a similar style of play in all the players. The Indian domestic football league (ongc i-league) also is not doing any good to the national team. The national players, all of them, play for different clubs in the domestic league in India itself. These clubs are coached by managers from different countries and hence do not inculcate a similar style of play.

The players slog it out for the domestic glory all year and then we expect these tired limbs to win us an international match against a well formed and well rested teams. Football players are paid well enough in our country, but not if you compare it with our batsmen and bowlers. Hence they cannot pull out of domestic leagues either.

Indian players who play and practice hard at our domestic grounds, often fail to impress on the green and beautiful foreign fields. Few well equipped stadiums are a prime need to push the nation up in the world football league. The field or a football pitch is a very critical part of the game. Players practice day in and day out on our uneven and patchy and muddy fields and then suddenly, one day you take them to South Korea for a match played on a hard, green, thick-grassed and well sprinkled ground. The players take time to adjust to these conditions and come home with a narrow defeat. The coaching staff also plays a vital role in any teams performance and while no one doubts the potential of our national coaching staff, no one trusts it either.

The problem is India as a team is a bit late in the scene and trying to catch up with other teams. The boom of football hit other nations way too early than it hit us.

The major reason for India’s failure at world level football, is that the whole Indian football situation is handled with the same approach as by well established European countries. But what we lost in the process is that these countries came up with their domestic leagues after the success of their national teams. The whole system followed up there is standing on a very strong foundation of national glory.

The Indian approach towards world football is to survive and not win. It seems we, as always, are just playing it safe.

Author Bio: The author loves to write and what better way to write online. These days, he writes text for internet content like personality quizzes. He also works on photo effects and free wallpapers in his free time.

Category: Sports
Keywords: Sport, Football, India, Recreation