Will playing European football remain a Pipe Dream?

European interest in Indian football, just a brand building excercise?

After Sunil Chhetri’s move to Sporting Lisbon’s ‘B’ team,  now East Bengal goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has been called up for trials by Premier League outfit Wigan Athletic. Wigan’s sudden interest in Sandhu, who also plays for the India U-22 squad, brings to light the growing European interest in Indian footballing talent. A nation, which is just a mere blip on the world footballing radar (163rd in FIFA rankings), is suddenly seeing a spurt of European academies and clubs keen to sign up budding talent.

Major European clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United have setup academies in the country in recent years, as these clubs have a really good fan base in India. It is said that the football jerseys are more popular than the Indian cricket team jersey. But is the ‘European Dream’ really feasible for an ‘aspiring’ Indian Footballer?

Realistically speaking, for a country ranked so low in the FIFA rankings, forget United and Barcelona, even getting into the lower division European clubs is really a big ask, considering the fact that the country does not have a good sporting culture (the writer himself is a part of a grieving bunch of Liverpool fanatics, burdened by academics!), plus the necessary infrastructure.

Also, though Cricket may be the saving grace for India in world sport (at least we are World Cup champs, twice!), the same cannot be said for Football. Forget playing in the World Cup, even competing against superior Asian countries like Japan and Oman is a mammoth task. Even, countries like Oman (they have keeper Al-Habsi playing for Wigan!), have a professional sports setup in place as compared to India, which helps their players play top level European football. Forget a ‘professional’ setup, Indian schools do not even have proper playgrounds and the less said, the better.

And yet, India still has players like Chettri and Sandhu being called up to try their luck in Europe. However, Chhetri’s failure during a trial at Coventry, brings to light our lack of physique and fitness for the physically demanding English and European leagues. Sandhu is an exception though, who at 6’5 tall,  does have a chance to shine at Wigan. Plus, the ‘Academies’ being set up by clubs like United, doesn’t necessarily guarantee aspiring trainees a chance to play first team football in Europe.

The motive behind the ‘sudden Indian’ interest from European clubs may be the booming Indian market, which would help clubs build up their brands and increase shirt sales. So, now only time will tell whether players like Chhetri and Sandhu do make it big in the European football scene, and whether the rising European interest in the country does help in getting more of players play for a top European clubs. Or else, Indian’s may just have to be content with Cricket, Cricket and more Cricket!