By R. Ravi Kumar
File picture of Indian football fans celebrating.
Posterity might well view 2008 as the breakthrough year for Indian football when the beautiful game stopped playing second fiddle to cricket.
Hot on the heels of India’s historic win in the AFC Challenge Cup in August which also booked their passage to the AFC Asian Cup 2011, Dempo Sports Club have become the first team from the sub-continent to enter the semi-finals of the AFC Cup, hitherto alien and intimidating territory.
India boasts of some of the world’s oldest football clubs and tournaments.
Mohun Bagan (established in 1889), Mohammedan Sporting (1892) and East Bengal Club (1920) figure prominently in the vintage list of clubs while the Durand Cup (since 1888) is the third oldest tournament in the world followed by the IFA Shield (since 1893).
But the appeal of football has plummeted over the years, leading to empty stadiums and an overall drop in the quality of the game.
This is where Dempo’s success could herald a new beginning by enticing fans back to the stadiums and restoring football to its once pre-eminent position in the second most populous country in the world.
“With the national team winning the AFC Challenge Cup, football in India is going up, and as an Indian coach, I am really happy about that,” said Dempo coach Armando Colaco after their win over Home United of Singapore.
Dempo might be arrivistes on the Indian football scene but have gained wide-spread popularity with their do-or-die attitude and devotion to total football.
Established only in the late 1960s, the club played a peripheral and regional role for decades before bursting into the limelight by clinching the countrywide league title thrice in the last four years.
But continental success proved elusive and the Panjim-based side’s two previous forays in the AFC Cup turned out to be chastening experiences by any standards.
In 2005, they were rewarded for their maiden league win with a berth in the AFC Cup but lost all their matches in a three-team group, shipping seven goals without scoring any.
There was a slight improvement in 2006 and though Dempo finished a distant second in a group of three, they seemed to have gotten a good measure of how the game is played by other Asian sides and returned this year to implement the hard-learned lessons.
“This is the result of keeping the team together for eight years and putting the focus on performance and not just results,” said Colaco.
“I am happy to have brought them so far.”
Having scraped past Home United, Dempo now have a chance to make real history and re-catapult the sport to its former highs.
Standing between them and a coveted berth in the final are Safa FC of Lebanon and Colaco would do well to remember that West Asian teams have run the rule in the AFC Cup since its inception in 2004.
And, with three teams from West Asia in the last four this time, Dempo will need every bit of their combative spirit to provide the moment football historians would be tempted to chronicle as the turning point for Indian football.
CLUB PROFILE
Name: Dempo Sports Club
Country: India
Founded: 1960s
Coach: Armando Colaco
Colours: Blue + Blue (home), White + White (away)
Achievements
Indian League - x 3 (2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08)
Durand Cup - x 1 (2006)
Federation Cup - x 1 (2004)
News Courtsey: AFC.com
File picture of Indian football fans celebrating.
Posterity might well view 2008 as the breakthrough year for Indian football when the beautiful game stopped playing second fiddle to cricket.
Hot on the heels of India’s historic win in the AFC Challenge Cup in August which also booked their passage to the AFC Asian Cup 2011, Dempo Sports Club have become the first team from the sub-continent to enter the semi-finals of the AFC Cup, hitherto alien and intimidating territory.
India boasts of some of the world’s oldest football clubs and tournaments.
Mohun Bagan (established in 1889), Mohammedan Sporting (1892) and East Bengal Club (1920) figure prominently in the vintage list of clubs while the Durand Cup (since 1888) is the third oldest tournament in the world followed by the IFA Shield (since 1893).
But the appeal of football has plummeted over the years, leading to empty stadiums and an overall drop in the quality of the game.
This is where Dempo’s success could herald a new beginning by enticing fans back to the stadiums and restoring football to its once pre-eminent position in the second most populous country in the world.
“With the national team winning the AFC Challenge Cup, football in India is going up, and as an Indian coach, I am really happy about that,” said Dempo coach Armando Colaco after their win over Home United of Singapore.
Dempo might be arrivistes on the Indian football scene but have gained wide-spread popularity with their do-or-die attitude and devotion to total football.
Established only in the late 1960s, the club played a peripheral and regional role for decades before bursting into the limelight by clinching the countrywide league title thrice in the last four years.
But continental success proved elusive and the Panjim-based side’s two previous forays in the AFC Cup turned out to be chastening experiences by any standards.
In 2005, they were rewarded for their maiden league win with a berth in the AFC Cup but lost all their matches in a three-team group, shipping seven goals without scoring any.
There was a slight improvement in 2006 and though Dempo finished a distant second in a group of three, they seemed to have gotten a good measure of how the game is played by other Asian sides and returned this year to implement the hard-learned lessons.
“This is the result of keeping the team together for eight years and putting the focus on performance and not just results,” said Colaco.
“I am happy to have brought them so far.”
Having scraped past Home United, Dempo now have a chance to make real history and re-catapult the sport to its former highs.
Standing between them and a coveted berth in the final are Safa FC of Lebanon and Colaco would do well to remember that West Asian teams have run the rule in the AFC Cup since its inception in 2004.
And, with three teams from West Asia in the last four this time, Dempo will need every bit of their combative spirit to provide the moment football historians would be tempted to chronicle as the turning point for Indian football.
CLUB PROFILE
Name: Dempo Sports Club
Country: India
Founded: 1960s
Coach: Armando Colaco
Colours: Blue + Blue (home), White + White (away)
Achievements
Indian League - x 3 (2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08)
Durand Cup - x 1 (2006)
Federation Cup - x 1 (2004)
News Courtsey: AFC.com
