India and the FIFA World Cup: 8 Unknown Facts

Even though India has never been there on the world’s biggest stage to showcase their foot skills, the craze for the sport over the years has reached an all time high. There are a few World Cup facts related to India which you might not be knowing. Let us have a look at these facts.

#1 World Cup Dreams 1950

The Indian Football Team qualified for the World Cup in 1950 as all the scheduled opponents withdrew from the qualifiers. But, AIFF withdrew from the tournament citing the travelexpenses. Although FIFA agreed to bear the major part of the expenses India could not go because of some internal issue regarding selctions, lack ofpractice etc. Another unofficial theory is that Indian players refused to play after FIFAs ban on playing barefoot post 1948 Olympics where the Indian players played without boots. But this theory is generally discarded as an orchascrated one.

#2 Officiating in the Big Stage

Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi officiated in the 2006 World Cup between Spain and Tunisia as the match commissioner.He as a commissioner was solely responsible for the smooth organization of the match and later submitted a detailed report of the matchtoFIFA.

#3 Whistling Blows

Komaleeswaran Sankar was chosen as the assistant referee for group stage matches of the 2002 World Cup. He was selected after he officiated more than eight international tournaments to be elegible for selection.

#4 Indian in a World Cup Final

Yes, India never played a World Cup game, but an Indian reached the final of the World Cup. Vikash Dhorasoo, an Indian by origin played for the French team which lost the Final of the 2006 World Cup to Italy. Even though he didnthave agood time with the then manager and reacted angrily duringhis one month duration in Germany, he later retired from International footbal. He was also sacked by PSG for commenting against the PSGs manager.

#5 Sending The Ball In to the Net

India must not have played at the World Cup but Jabulani, the official ball for 2010 FIFA event in South Africa had the inner rubber bladders made in India. New Delhi based company made these rubber bladders.

#6 Technically Football

We may be lagging behind when it comes to the playing technique, but we surely lead the wayin the Information Technology sector.Mahindra Satyam was the official IT service provider for the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

#7 World Cup Stars Playing for Indian Teams

We now know that we had anIndian player at the World event, but Vikash never played for any of the Indian clubteams. The first World Cup star to play for an Indian team was Majid Baskar, who represented Iran back in the 1978 World Cup. He played for East Bengal from 1980 to 1981. He is still considered as one of the greatest to play in the Indian domestic set up. The South African McDonal Mukansi also played in India after his stint at the 2002 World Cup, and the latest name to this list is Anthony Wolfe who was part of the Trinidad and Tobago team in the 2006 World Cup.

#8 Indian Experience did Count

Emeka Ezueugo became the first and only footballer who raised the pride of his nation after playing in India. He played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting and later represented Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup.