25 years before S. Venkatraghavan captained India in a major non-olympics tournament at the world stage, India made it to the finals of the Football World Cup, almost. The golden era of Indian football had began with a qualification to the finals of the greatest show on earth. FIFA had introduced a new rule that made it mandatory for players to wear shoes while playing. The men from the mystic land of the east were denied entry because they played barefoot!
Indian football never recovered from that unfortunate event. 57 years from now, crowds of thousands line up on the streets to celebrate a cricketing victory that hogs 4 pages of newspaper space for a whole month. India's Nehru Cup win in football gets a small mention in some grave location. I told a friend of mine that 30 years from now, we can make football more popular than cricket. He told me I was dreaming. Why don't we all dream the same dream.
The faceless footballer in this great country has endured playing barefoot, through pain, through broken feet, torn ligaments, bleeding toes and wobbly ankles and still put in that extra dyne of energy into his kick so that his country can win and earn some respect among the football superpowers.
We, at TouchLine India, hope to bring visibility to the beautiful game in India. Let us dream that some day, aspiring to become a footballer will not draw scornful stares from parents and it will not mean that an 8 year old has to practice with a makeshift ball made of stones wrapped in newspapers. Let us dream that the largest derby in the world will not be Real Madrid versus Barcelona or Man United versus Liverpool but East Bengal versus MohunBagan.
We cannot turn these dreams into reality alone. We need your support. Indian football needs your support because together we can make a difference.
On behalf of TouchLine India,
Manu Akula
