Impact of FIFA World Cup on Indian Football

Organizing the U-17 FIFA football world cup was definitely an exclusive opportunity for India. For the first time in the Indian sports history we got the pleasure to organize such a famous sports event in our country. The memories of U-17 world cup will always be glorious and intact in our mind.

The hard work and dedication that have been put into to make the dream come true should be appreciated above all criticism. All the six venues were just fabulous and won millions of football lovers’ heart throughout the world. We were also appreciated by the FIFA which is definitely very meaningful and special to us.

Undoubtedly the level of performance we witnessed throughout tournament was just mind-blowing. To some extent it was quite unpredictable and also over exaggerating to expect such level of performance from the U-17 boys. But seeing their performance no way it ever looked like they were 17 in terms of their skills, they were as matured as the senior team players of their respective countries.

I am pretty much astonished to watch their game. Truly it was so well-organised and compact that I never felt bored watching their game. Especially the English boys were so technically sound that I literally became their fan and started following their game and match reports in daily basis. Given proper guidance I believe all the member of the England U-17 team can be a star in near future.

The progress of our U-17 boys and their effort was something to be appreciated in every possible manner. They just made a history by scoring against Colombia in their second game, which we could have easily won hadn't we wasted the chances. Although it is sometime acceptable to be defeated by the superior side and heading towards a better future. Honestly said I think given little bit of proper guidance and well scouting could have been a big  factor for our U-17 side.

I am very much optimistic about the fact that we learnt many vital lessons about world football from the U-17 FIFA world cup, which were quite unknown to us for a long period of time. Mainly now we have had a clear idea about the class of world football and their tactics t which in turn will definitely help us to make a stronger team in the coming years.

The proposal of conducting the U-20 world is also a fantastic decision that All India Football Federation has taken, because organizing such enormous sports event will help us to have a stronger national team. And it is always preferable to go ahead with a specific target , so the U-20 FIFA world cup can be a perfect target at this moment for us and it may create a huge opportunity for Indian football to flourish beyond anyone’s imagination in near future.