(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Football's 'sleeping giant' India can bounce back to the top only if they concentrate on the grassroots programmes in a more aggressive and professional way, former captain I M Vijayan said yesterday.
The 45-year-old, who rose from humble backgrounds and formed one of the deadliest forward lines the Indian football team had ever seen with Baichung Bhutia, said the recently concluded Indian Super League (ISI) is the best thing to have happened for the game in a cricket-crazy country of 1.2 billion.
"ISI (Indian Super League) has given a new dimension to football in the country. We have not seen so many people come for matches and all the venues across India. We need to build the momentum. The ISI itself cannot take us to the World Cup. We need to have youth programmes. All the teams have promised to launch the grassroots programmes but I have been impressed by what the Mumbai team is doing for the youngsters," said Vijayan, who scored 40 goals for the national team in 79 appearances.
Vijayan was one of the thousands of Indians who were bowled over by the ISI show, which saw the involvement of cricketers and Indian movie actors as owners and co-owners of franchise teams.
"It was great opportunity to watch some of the world greatest players in action. David Trezeguet, Robert Pires, Alessandro Del Piero, David James, Luis Garcia, and Nicolas Anelka, were some of the players whom we had watched only on TV, but it was a great feeling to see them action on Indian football pitches," the striker, who retired from international football in 2003 said.
ISL, organised by IMG-Reliance and backed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), was played among eight clubs - Atletico de Kolkata, Kerala Blasters FC, Delhi Dynamos FC, North East United FC, Team Pune, Team Mumbai, Team Goa and Team Bengaluru on a home away basis, which was won by Atletico de Kolkata.
Vijayan, who was one of the most sought after striker on the Indian circuit in a career which began with Kerala Police in 1987 and ended with West Bengal's East Bengal in 2005, said an aggressive marketing campaign by ISI made the league a huge success in terms of record crowds.
"People came to see the top foreign stars play but also we have also to give credit to the marketing people. Not many foreign stars of repute have played together in one league in India, which made it a success compared to the existing Indian I-League" he said. The striker rued the fact that he did not get a chance to play in a foreign league.
"During my time there were no good player agents in India. Compatriot Baichung Bhutia, is my good friend, he had people around him who promoted him," said Vijayan, who played for clubs in Indian states of West Bengal, Goa and Punjab besides Kerala.
In 1999, Bhutia became only the second Indian footballer to play professional football in Europe after Mohammed Salim. Bhutia turned out for English club Bury.
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