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Will India play in 2014 World Cup? No way, never

Shobhan Saxena, 23 February 2010, 08:17 PM IST

Rio de Janeiro: "When will India qualify for the world cup," asked Bruno. "Never, I guess," I said. "No, they can qualify some day," said Bruno. "Maybe, but certainly not for 2014, which will be played here," I replied. We were standing outside a boteco (local bar), just a few streets away from Maracana, the world's biggest football stadium which could host as many as 200,000 people at one point of time. The bar was packed with people in red and black T-shirts of Flamengo, which was going to take on the white and black shirts of Botafogo in the second semi-final of the Rio city championship last week. The fans were getting ready for the match, guzzling down beer, painting their faces and beating their samba drums.

Bruno, a physics lecturer at Rio university and member of Flamengo's supporter group Flamanguaca, at the Maracana.

To say that the Maracana is magical is an understatement. As we entered the stadium with a huge wave of thousands of flag-waiving, drum-beating and singing fans of Flamengo, I realized why football is called a religion in this part of the world. For 90 minutes, as Flamengo and Botafogo played brilliant football, the stadium looked like a shrine as the fans of two clubs sang songs, raised slogans, exploded firecrackers, waived flags, hugged each other and shouted and kissed and cried. As Botafogo trounced Flamengo 2-1, the red and black shirts left the stadium quietly, walking in tandem, lost in thoughts and fighting tears, as if they had been spurned by the gods they prayed to with so much zeal.

As Flamengo and Botafogo played brilliant football at Maracana, the world's biggest football stadium looked like a shrine

All this while, even as I watched the fantastic display of football by two of the best teams of Rio, I kept turning the question – 'When will India qualify for the World Cup' – in my head? Looking around the stadium at the shouting, cheering fans and at the players locked in intense battle on the pitch, it was not difficult to understand why Brazil has won the world cup five times and we haven't qualified even once for the world's biggest sporting event (In 1950, India were invited by FIFA and the Brazilian Football Federation to participate in the fourth World Cup in Brazil after a number of countries pulled out of the tournament, but the team couldn't take part as most of Indian players played the game barefoot, and, as per the rules of the world body, wearing shoes was mandatory. Also, the Indian government didn't have enough foreign exchange to sponsor the team's travel to Brazil).

In many respects, India and Brazil are very similar and that's why comparing them is a good way of understanding ourselves. But when it comes to football, we belong to two different universes. This difference was visible at the Maracana. Football unites Brazil. In the stands I could see people of all colours – white, black and brown; and classes – rich, middle class and poor -- sharing space with each other. They sang songs together. They danced on samba beats together. It seemed everybody knew everybody else. Bruno, who is a complete football fanatic, has a Phd in physics. He is 29 and teaches quantum mechanics at Rio's federal university. Sitting next to him was a black man with large tattoos on his arms and back. Before the match both men were tense and quiet, but once the game began they showed the same passion for their team, often sharing their thoughts with each other. That was true for all the 40,000 people present in the stadium. While it's true that most of the players come from the favelas (slums), their fans come from all parts of the city. The Maracana becomes a melting pot when a game is on.

The second difference is the Brazilians' love for their body and respect for hard physical work. Football is called the beautiful game because you play it with your legs, head, chest, every part of your body except the hands. The Brazilians love their bodies. You beat a drum and they start to shake their body in a rhythm. The men here are not afraid of hard physical work. And the men who create magic with their bodies are heroes. That's what football stars do – creating magic with their bodies. So, with some fans beating drums and others singing samba numbers, the Brazilian footballers create sheer magic on the field – a celebration of hard physical work.

The third difference is cricket, which has become a substitute for all sporting activity in India. The Brazilians don't play or watch cricket. Nobody here has even heard of Sachin Tendulkar. The British introduced cricket and football in Brazil at the same time. They did the same thing in India. The Brazilians took to football and the caste-ridden Indian society, afraid of polluting their bodies by coming in contact with low castes, adopted cricket -- a complete non-contact sport. Over the years, cricket has changed, but it still remains a middle-class, upper caste game. First, it was the British acolytes – the Maharajas and Nawabs – who played the game and later it was soft, middle-class and upper middle-class men who represented India for years. The demands of one-day and T20 has changed the composition of the team but it still remains the domain of upper castes, including the Jats, and middle class men from big cities and small towns alike.

Cricket is not a real sport. Among the world's top five sporting nations (according to Beijing Olympics medal tally), there is not even one cricket-playing nation. Among the top 10, there is only one: Australia. It's the same story in Asia. Not one cricket-playing nation exists in top 5. And only one – India – in the top 10. The other cricket giants of Asia – Pakistan and Sri Lanka – rank in the last 8. Bangladesh was second last in the last Asian Games' medal tally. And the cricket hope of the future – Nepal and Afghanistan – held third and fourth last positions.

Class conscious and contempt for hard physical work has made us love cricket. Compared to games like football and hockey, which demand a lot of sweat and blood, cricket is a like a walk in the park. Probably, that's the reason we love it so much. It also helps us in hiding our complete lack of presence in any global sporting event.

We have produced some good footballers. We love to watch football. Names like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Robinho are well known in India. But we don't really know the story behind their success. Last weekend, I was at a ranch in the state of Minas Gerais. The farm is close to Lima Duarte, a town of 15,000 people. The town has two football clubs. Every farm and every ranch has a small fooball field. In the evening, boys – young and old, rich and poor – get together to play football. They love the game more than the colour of their skins or their class status.

Boys playing football at a farm in Lima Duarte, a small village of 15,000 people. The village has two football clubs and dozens of football fields. All photos: Shobhan Saxena

Unlike cricket, which divides India into castes and classes, football unites Brazil. And that's the secret of Brazil's success in football.

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Sharda Bhargav - The Confiscated Soul says: Bookmark this discussion

February 23,2010 at 09:05 PM IST

Sir, your apprehensions are right. India has no chance to World Cup in near future. Football requires stamina, speed and style and all these elements we lack.
In Bangla Desh, there is much more craze for football. Before the World Cup, one can find flgs of various countries fying on top of many houses indicating which football team the family supports. Bangla Desh is doing quite a bit for its own team. Hope India will take football seriouly to be able to play in the World Cup at the earliest.

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