By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Ludhiana : India must win its upcoming World Cup qualifier match against Lebanon to maintain the thrust and popularity gained by Indian football by winning the Nehru Cup recently, says national football captain Bhaichung Bhutia.
“The Lebanon match is very important for the future of football in the country,” Bhutia told IANS on the sidelines of the ongoing 29th Federation Cup football tournament here.
“We have to win it at any cost, otherwise it will be back to the clubs and the thrust from the Nehru Cup will be lost.”
India will play their away match with Lebanon Oct 8 and host the west Asian country in the return leg Oct 28.
Indian football got a major boost in popularity recently by beating far-higher-ranked Syria to lift the Nehru Cup in New Delhi. If the momentum generated by this triumph is to be maintained, efforts should also be made to create a large pool of good domestic players by tapping talent at the grass root levels, Bhutia said.
“We need to have a good supply line for the national team. And that is only possible when we have a large pool of good players at the domestic level.
“We don’t have good football academies in the country, but now it is high time that we have some. Lots of work should be done at the grass root levels because we have a lot of talent in the country,” the India skipper felt.
Bhutia went on to add that the football clubs should now try to get sponsors and build their own academies.
“If we look towards Europe we can see that all the clubs there have their own academies, and that is the reason England can afford to leave behind David Beckham and play any international match. A large talent pool also ensures a healthy growth of football at the domestic level,” said Bhutia, who is here as the captain of Mohun Bagan club.
He also said that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) should now take the initiative and arrange for more international matches for the national team.
“It is high time that we shift our focus from club to international football. Nothing can help Indian football if we concentrate only on club football.
“From now we should play more international matches to gain exposure – that is the only way we can improve our standards.”