Indian Football

[celestis]

Yeah sorry, ment straight outta' Kolkata.

Not a knock on the countries by the way, just wondering if they produce top level athletes, I dont particularly want to go into genetics etc but they seem light on sports which require pure athletic attributes.

India finished well ahead of Canada in the Commonwealth games gold tally , third behind Aus and England . Think you'll find the next 20 years this will change dramatically .

 

[GDeep™]

I don’t think any Indian has ever won an individual gold medal at the Olympics in an athletic sport.

Yes cricketers are athletes in the strict meaning of the word but compared to Cristiano, Phelps and Lebron, the likes of Tendulkar, Inzamam, Sehwag, Ponting could hardly be considered “athletes.”

IPL has changed everything though, it’s forced the Indian cricketer to become fitter. Guys like Tendulkar and Sehwag are from an era where they concentrated on just their batting.

Look at Kohli, he’s an elite athlete, on and off the field.

 

[GDeep™]

There was a time when the Japanese and Koreans were doubted in their potential for football, but we’ve seen in the last 15 years that these teams can hold their own in big competitions. One of their main strengths is their high energy style of play.

Rather than genetics, it’s exposure I feel.

 

[JENSON_GUNNER]

There was a time when the Japanese and Koreans were doubted in their potential for football, but we’ve seen in the last 15 years that these teams can hold their own in big competitions. One of their main strengths is their high energy style of play.

Rather than genetics, it’s exposure I feel.

I've played alongside kids who are talented but end up being forced into Medical or Engineering schools. No wonder they are no trying to find the poorest kids and trying to turn them into top class talent. They have more hunger and determination to succeed, imho.

 

[jeeves]

On my recent visit to india i noticed that football has grown in popularity and cricket may actually have declined. In that region, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar are quite football mad, and its their main game. In India the south and eastern parts also were less into cricket than football. What was surprising was in Delhi, I even saw kids wearing Sp**s and city tops while earlier you only saw Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal.

I think there is definitely a growing football culture in the area.

 

[Brown Gooner]

On my recent visit to india i noticed that football has grown in popularity and cricket may actually have declined. In that region, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar are quite football mad, and its their main game. In India the south and eastern parts also were less into cricket than football. What was surprising was in Delhi, I even saw kids wearing Sp**s and city tops while earlier you only saw Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal.

I think there is definitely a growing football culture in the area.

From my personal knowledge, Football is big in Bengal, Kerala, the Northeast and some urban cities.

Cricket is still the biggest sport and that’s not changing anytime soon.

 

[krackpot]

Sport is a means for livelihood for Asians, as they are for many Africans/South Americans.

You just need to read about people like Dembele to know how hard it is, to break out of the Doctor/Engineer trap, as @JENSON_GUNNER pointed out.

Once people realise that they can make a living while playing football, they will start coming through.

You need support at the school/district/county level. Cricket, Hockey, Badminton, Wrestling, Boxing are more widely supported and recognized.

It is changing though, and India/Asia is large enough to support multiple sports.

Not gonna be as good as, say, Australia any time soon.

 

[jeeves]

Found this interesting. China has 5X the per capita income of India, so we are seeing its league start to impact the world, and China being perceived as a footballing nation. However in terms of interest and participation, India is similar to China.