*[A Brife Histor of INDIAN Football Team]*

Jack007

¤¤[INDIAN FOOTBALL TEAM  A BRIFE HISTORY]¤¤
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...The Nickname ofINDIAN Team is Blue Tigers...
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~Team INDIAS played there First international in
Pre-independence time against
Australia and lost 5-3..on 3 September 1938,Sydney.
==The national team played their first match as an Independent Nation in 1948 in the 1st round of the 31July1948 Summer  Olympics against France.Using mainly barefooted players, India were defeated 2–1 in London..

*Biggest win
Australia1–7India
( Sydney, Australia; 12 December 1956)
India6–0 Cambodia
( New Delhi, India;  

Golden years (1950s–1960s)[
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..In 1950, India managed to qualify 4r the 1950 FIFA World  Cup which was scheduled 2 take place in Brazil.
~This was due to all their opponents during qualifying withdrawing from the pre-tournament qualifiers. ..

--However, India themselves withdrew from the World Cup before the tournament was to begin. --The All India Football  Federation gave various reasons 4r the team's withdrawal, including travel costs, lack of practice time,& valuing the Olympics more than the World Cup..

=Despite the reason given out from the AIFF, many historians and pundits believe
+India withdrew from the World Cup due to FIFAimposing a rule banning players from playing barefoot.
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...However, according to the then captain of India, Sailen Manna, the story of the team not being allowed to play due to wanting to play barefoot was not true and was just an excuse to cover up the real reasons the AIFF decided not to travel to Brazil. Since then, India has not come close to qualifying for another World Cup...

.....Despite not participating in the World Cup in 1950, the following years after, from 1951 to 1964, are usually considered to be the "golden era" of Indian football....

...India, coached by Hyderabad City Police head coach Syed Abdul Rahim, became one of the best teams in Asia..----
.In March 1951, Rahim lead India to their first ever triumph during the 1951  Asian Games. Hosted in India, the team defeated Iran1–0 in the GoldMedal match to gain their first trophy.  --Sahu  Mewalalscored the winning goal 4r India in that match...

The next year India went back to the Olympics but were once again defeated in the first round, this time by Yugoslaviaand by a score of 10–1. Upon returning to India, the AIFF made it mandatory for footballers to wear boots.
==After taking the defeat in Finland, India participated in various minor tournaments, such as the ColomboCup, which they won 3 times 4m 1953 to 1955. ..
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..In 1954, India returned to the Asian Gamesas defending champions in Manila. Despite their achievement 3 years prior, India were unable to go past the group stage as the team finished second in Group C during the tournament, two points behind Indonesia. .
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..Two years later, during the 1956  Summer Olympics, India went on to achieve the team's Greatest result in a competitive tournament. The team finished in 4th place during the SummerOlympics football Tournament, losing the bronze-medal match to Bulgaria3–0.

The tournament is also known for Neville  D'Souza's HatTrick against Australiain the quarterfinals. D'Souza's HatTrick was the 1st Hat-Trick scored by an Asian in Olympic history..

After their good performance during the Summer Olympics, India participated in the 1958 Asian Gamesin Tokyo. The team once again finished 4th, losing the bronze-medal match to Indonesia 4–1.
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..The next year the team traveled to Malaysiawhere they took part in the Merdeka Cup and finished as the tournament Runners-up. ..

since the beginning of the 21st century. Besides the SAFF Championship triumphs, under the guidance of Bob Houghton, India won the restarted Nehru  Cupin 2007and 2009while also managing to emerge victorious during the 2008  AFC Challenge Cup. The Challenge Cup victory allowed India to once again qualify for the Asian Cup for the first time in 27 years..
.Despite India not achieving the same results as their golden era, the team has seen a steady resurgence..Lastly IN Jun 2018 INDIA WIN Inter Continental Cup title  with a 2-0 win over Kenya...*
(sourse:Wikipedia)

metac

Superb background research! Really impressed. It would be great if you could add the references you used to compile this history. Thanks for sharing.

narasik56

Thanks for this detailed and interesting piece. Perfect timing !

Chang Tikhak

That is a fantastic share on India soccer.....

bsk

good info ..