Gloryhunters

“Dude, you support Man Utd, you’re just a glory hunter.” “You just started supporting Chelsea after they won their first title in 2004-05.” These are the most commonly heard statements on the streets of Mumbai. European football, for all its obvious quality and glamour, is like a virus spreading on the streets of India, and the fact that football is getting so popular in the country makes me happy.

I don’t have a problem with people watching the top teams battle it out for glory on the immaculate pitches in Europe. I’ve been a Chelsea supporter for the past 9 years, and yes, I did go crazy when Drogba slotted home that penalty in Munich. Everybody goes crazy when their team wins something. What I find disturbing is how there is a complete lack of interest when the Indian national football team takes centre stage. We’ve had two huge games in the last year and a half or so – the first being against Australia in the 4-1 loss in the AFC Asian Cup in 2011, and the second being the recent victory against Cameroon in the Nehru Cup final. Unfortunately, the latter clashed with Robin Van Persie‘s brilliant hat trick at St. Mary’s against the Saints. While the nation was celebrating (or cursing) Van Persie’s brilliance, precious few saw the drama unfold at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Delhi.

Our very own Indian team had taken a much fancied team, ranked 109 places above us at that time, Cameroon team to a penalty shootout. What followed was a display of class and calm. Robin Singh, who missed a sitter in the second half of ET, stepped up for the first penalty, and side footed the ball home with composure that is hard to find in any league in the world. Sunil Chhetri, Denzil Franco, Mehtab Hossein, Clifford Miranda and the woodwork kept the Nehru Cup in India for the third year running. And how many Indians jumped with joy after the win? Updates on social networking sites were all talking about the Premier League, with statuses like ‘Oh, India won the Nehru Cup yesterday’ coming up the next day. Now that is what made my blood boil. We talk about supporting our teams through thick and thin, and this prompts me to ask, ‘Hey, aren’t you Indian?’ No sir, we are all so full of footballing blood in our genes that watching our own country play is like a step down for the expert footballing mind that we think we have.

Granted, Cameroon fielded a second string team in the tournament, but that doesn’t make the achievement any less impressive. When we think about the beautiful game, we think about teams like Barcelona. For people who haven’t watched, I’d strongly recommend watching the two goals India scored against Syria in the opening game, the first being a text book header by Chhetri after a perfectly weighted cross by Miranda, and the second being a stunning curler from outside the box by Dempo winger Anthony Pereira. Yes, our team is ranked very low by any standards, but our players are passionate. The reason I say this is because for a professional footballer in our country, there’s no glitz or glamour, no exposure, no money. Therefore, the only thing that drives them forward is passion.

It’d be hypocritical of me to brand people who support foreign teams as ‘Gloryhunters’, as I support one myself. What needs to be tossed into the bin is our attitude, where we’d pick watching a Chelsea, Arsenal, United, etc. match over a match where the Indian team is playing. If we say we want to watch India play in the World Cup one day, we should be with the team, supporting them in whatever little steps they take.

The Wim Kovermans era promises to be exciting, with young blood and quick football as his priorities. I know it isn’t as exciting as the international leagues, but its high time the patriotism in us comes through. I do not want people to stop watching their favourite leagues, I just want them to support the Blue Tigers when they come out and play their hearts out on muddy, not-fit-for-football pitches. The infrastructure needs to improve, but that isn’t in our hands. We just need to get behind the Indian team, no matter what.

Let’s go India!