A new chapter in Indian football by Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, India August 29, 2003

Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club of India has created history by winning the inaugural LG Cup ASEAN club championship held at Jakarta in July 2003. It is for the first time a club side from India won a club level football championship outside of India. It was the same venue where India won its second gold medal in the Asian Games in football in 1962. Thus Jakarta has proved again a good hunting ground for Indian football. In the final East Bengal club met one of the strongest clubs side of the continent BEC Tero Sasana of Thailand. The 3-1 margin of victory suggested that it was a comfortable win in the final against Thai team. BEC Tero Sasana has the distinction of playing in the final of AFC clubs championship only very recently. Therefore, victory against a quality opponent in the final is a big boost for Indian football and the club sides back in India. In the LG Cup ASEAN club championship club teams from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Brunei was supposed to participate but Indian teams got a special invitation from the organizers and East Bengal by virtue of being champion club of India participated in the event (winner of last National Football League).
Research into the East Bengal victory in LG Cup ASEAN club championship indicates that the victory was not by chance. The victory was due to many factors and most being the first for Indian clubs. It was due to careful preparation, dedication from coaches, players and club officials and above all providing the best of facilities to players to train under controlled conditions. It was the first time that an entire squad of a club side stayed in a five-star hotel for more than a month. It was the fist time club players were under curfew in the hotel itself during their off time. But above all the major first that happened to Indian club football was the addition of Kevin Jackson, a South African physical trainer, to the East Bengal team. He not only worked hard with the players to gain physical fitness but also stressed a sound nutrition program as per international standards. He must be credited for changing the eating habits of many of East Bengal players. His strength training regime was a very fruitful one and it was for the first time that any Indian club players had gone through such strength exercises in an ultra-modern gym. The plan which was conceived, formulated and implemented by none other than the coach of East Bengal, Subhas Bhowmick its aim take the East Bengal club to a new level. He started preparations for winning the ASEAN club cup from the very first day of the new season and he was lucky that no club officials interfered in his decisions and always sanctioned whatever he asked from the club management. This too happened for the first time in India, that a coach of club side was given a free hand in buying the players of his choice and all his demands were fulfilled without much hindrance. Therefore, credit should go to the coach Subhas Bhowmick for his ambitious planning and calculated execution. He has proved himself to be a first football coach from India to be called a modern day football manager. Synergy and hard work from every quarter helped East Bengal to win the championship and thus East Bengal have set a new standard for Indian clubs and other clubs need to follow the winner to move forward.
East Bengal's success at Jakarta is also the direct result of superb performance from ace Indian striker Baichung Bhutia, who had a three year stint with FC Bury, a second division club in England, from 1999 to 2002. At Jakarta he scored 9 goals and won the golden boot and thus he attracted a second foreign assignment with Perak FC, Malaysian club, where he and his club East Bengal have signed a two month loan agreement with Perak FC. As per the All India Football Federation's request FIFA have made an exception to rule for Bhutia's short duration loan (under FIFA loan rules no player is allowed less than a 6 months loan). Many other players of East Bengal were also approached by other South East Asian clubs but other than the Baichung deal nothing went through. But Baichung has opened the door for Indian players and in the future many Indian players will make it in this part of Asia by their performance alone.
Indian football's successful run did not end with East Bengal's victory at Jakarta, the junior side of India (under-18) won the Ian Rush Trophy at Wales by beating Botafogo of Brazil in the final. The Indian side beat the fancied Brazilians 3-0. Before the Ian Rush Trophy at Wales the Indian junior side participated at the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland where India performed exceptionally well but narrowly missed a quarter finals birth. In the league game at Milk Cup India beat the Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kiev. It was the first time that an Indian side participated in the above tournaments. It was good that the Indian football administration cleared the tour for the junior side and it will do a world of good for Indian players in the long run. Quality exposure at the right time is the key to success in any team's future.
The question is how it that suddenly Indian football has started enjoying success at the international level? The recent results are due to hard work of the National coach, Englishman Stephen Constantine. After joining he has constantly worked hard to change the set-up of Indian football and has been quite successful in that regard. He follows a professional and scientific approach with lots of planning and deliberation, and it is going well with the Indians. Hardly anyone is complaining about his coaching philosophy which was not the case with other foreign coaches who have worked with Indian set-ups. Now it is compulsory for the premier club sides in India to go for fitness and medical tests periodically and this change has been brought by Constantine only. One should not forget that 9 players of East Bengal side, which won ASEAN LG Cup are members of Indian senior side and constantly work under Constantine. Many of the Indian think tanks involved with Indian football believe that the East Bengal coach, Subhas Bhowmick got of lot of inspiration from Constantine's style of working and thus brought most of the changes to the East Bengal side. Constantine needs to press hard for lots of changes in the Indian football set-up to achieve success at international level with senior teams.
The Indian junior side and East Bengal made India proud by their respective wins and results indicat that careful planning, scientific approach and working with dedication will bring results. Therefore it is a lesson for all other Indian clubs and organisations involve with football to work with a similar approach as East Bengal to achieve success and move Indian football forward. Moreover, Indian players should now start believing in themselves and need to be more ambitious and start thinking of playing in foreign lands as Biachung Bhutia. For Indian players the results and performances are there to believe in their abilities and nothing should stop them from moving ahead and enjoying football with foreign clubs. It is very much necessary to bring about change in the psyche of Indian players so that they become more motivated and ambitious enough to fit into the high-tech football world.
Recent results are encouraging for Indian football but there is a need to keep the momentum going forward by brining other required changes in administration and grass-roots level. It is a definite sign of progress but not a sign of catching the elites. So far Indian teams have not qualified for any age group world cups and that will be the first sign of progress in catching the elites of world football.