The All India Football Federation commemorated Golden Jubilee of the Indian team’s triumph in the AFC Youth Championship in 1974 by felicitating the team members at a function here on Tuesday.
The well-attended ceremony remembered the exploits of the Indian team which was declared the joint winner with Iran in Bangkok after the teams were tied 2-2 in the final even after extra-time. This was the last notable triumph for Indian in the international arena after the seniors had settled for a bronze in the 1970 Asian Games (also in Bangkok).
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey presented mementos to six members of the squad, including captain Shabbir Ali, C.C. Jacob, Dilip Palit, Shishir Guha Dastidar, Ranjit (Gobinda Das) and S.P. Kumar, who could make themselves available.
The coach of the winning squad, Arun Ghosh, could not attend the function owing to health reasons. His son-in-law, former National table tennis champion Nupur Santra, received the memento on his behalf.
“For almost five decades after India’s independence, we never focused on utilising the international friendly windows, the FIFA World Cup or even to collaborate with the world of football. We chose not to look beyond the Olympics and the Asian Games at that time. That seems to have cost us important international exposure,” said the AIFF president.
“We have already lost those five decades, which is a long bridge to build when we know that others are way ahead,” he said.
