FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: A giant stride for India Sábado 21 de enero de 2006 noticias.info
Not a lot of people know that India's Durand Cup, which began in the year 1888, has the distinction of being one of the oldest footballing tournaments in the world. However, despite their long association with the game, India has maintained a rather low-key presence in the world of football. Victory in the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games are their only major honours to date, but they ended 2005 on a high by winning the South Asian Federation (SAFF) Championship in December. Their excellent performance in the SAFF Championship has given football in India a timely boost. It has helped India to welcome the New Year with a leap of nine places in the current FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking to 118th position. Indeed, in just two months the team has risen an impressive 17 places in total. Despite failing to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany(tm), the lessons learnt by playing some of Asia's best teams have stood India in good stead for the future. They opened their campaign with a win over Indonesia. Renedy Singh's 50th minute strike gave Stephen Constantine's side a 1-0 victory in front of 28,000 fans in Margao. However, four consecutive defeats against Oman, Japan (twice) and Singapore followed with India conceding 18 goals and scoring just one in reply. Pride was somewhat restored in their final match with Oman, which they drew 0-0. Their good form continued in the SAFF Championship which was staged in Pakistan between 7 and 17 December 2005. India began brightly with wins over Nepal (2-0) and Bhutan (3-0) before drawing against Bangladesh (1-1). In the semi-finals the team fought off the challenge of the Maldives (1-0) to set up a rematch with Bangladesh in the final. This time India emerged victorious. Bhutia leads the way Arguably the star of the current India side, Baichung Bhutia's presence in the team is seen as vitally important to the country's future hopes. Regarded one of the best players the nation has ever produced, the 29-year-old captain helped his side win the inaugural SAFF Championship in 1997. He was a member of the winning squad in 1999 and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and joint top scorer in the process. His absence in 2003 was seen as a factor in India's exit from the competition at the semi-final stage at the hands of Bangladesh. However, the 2005 edition of the championship provided Bhutia and his team-mates with a chance to regain dominance. The striker from East Bengal, who was the first Indian to play in the English professional league following a two and a half-year stint with Bury, helped to steer his team to their third title by scoring in the 2-0 win over Bangladesh in the final. "I am confident that India will not remain in the doldrums forever," commented Bhutia. "We are seeing a lot of positive development with our team and I believe it will work better." A chance to create history Many of India's football fans echo Bhutia's confidence and hope that the relatively new century will witness India becoming one of the world's leading football sides. Aside from the Durand Cup and their Asian Cup successes, India has a footballing tradition envied by many on the sub-continent. Mohun Bagan are the Asia's oldest club, formed in 1889 and they missed out on a bronze medal at the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 after losing to Bulgaria. While the national team's recent success suggests a brighter future, the 10-team Indian League has also brought new hopes as it is drawing more and more spectators. Although it is yet unknown whether footballing glory will arrive in the world's second most populated country, the desire to progress and succeed will never be called into question.
