10 best Indian football players of all time

#3 IM Vijayan

IM Vijayan is another name that needs no description, for the ‘Kalo Harin’ (Black Buck) was widely considered one of the best ever strikers to turn out for India. Vijayan’s story has a typical rags-to-riches narrative – he used to sell soda bottles in stadiums before his footballing talent was noticed by the Kerala Police football team.

From then on, his rise in Indian football was meteoric. He played for a variety of clubs including Mohun Bagan, FC Kochin, East Bengal etc and was at one point the highest paid footballer in India.

He has scored around 40 goals in 79 appearances for India, a record any striker would be proud of. He made his international debut in 1992 and was a regular fixture in the Indian team until he retired after the 2003 Afro-Asian games.

But his most famous moment came in 1999 when he scored after just 12 seconds against Bhutan in the SAF Games. It is still the 3^rd fastest goal in International football. Vijayan’s talents on the football pitch had many admirers in Thai and Malaysian football clubs but a move just did not materialise.

IM Vijayan also holds the distinction of being the first player to win the AIFF Indian Player of the Year award multiple times. He won it in 1993, 1997 and 1999. It does justice to his footballing skills that Vijayan was often termed the Pele of Indian football.