When Makon Thierry came to take the fifth shot in the penalty shoot-out, everyone gathered in the stadium and millions watching it on television across the country was hoping Subrata Paul to pull something special and save the day for India. It was a reminiscent from 2009.
The kick was taken and Subrata could not reach the ball but then as luck would have it, the ball bumped off the post. Hardly did anyone expect Thierry to miss but then he did.
All hell broke loose as the 20000+ crowd who have come to cheer for India invaded the pitch to soak into the Euphoria. It is not a normal scene when Indian Football Team is in action.
It was indeed a moment for cherish for every football lover in the country. Even though the two time defending champions entered the tournament as the lowest ranked team, they defied all odds and pulled off a spectacular victory over the ‘African Giants’. The victory was sweet and what made it sweeter was the fact that India had beaten a team like Cameroon which is a global force to reckon to in the sport.
Before the Nehru Cup, Wim Koevermans and his boys did not look too much worried about the rankings as they felt that they had such a poor ranking due of lack of FIFA date matches. At that point of time it seemed like a frail defence but then now they have proved that rankings hardly matter and the team is much better that what the ratings tables say.
And the man behind the success is none other than the India’s new Dutch coach Koevermans. He just had over a month’s time to instil his style of football in Team India. The best part about his stint so far has been that within such a short time he has been able to bond with the players and has able to figure out every player’s positive and negative aspects.
Well the win over Cameroon gives a clear indication of good things to come in future and if the AIFF sticks to him, he can do wonders. It was speculated that within such a short time, will he be able to infuse the style of possession game and now he has proved he critics wrong.
Koevermans is one of the best things that have happened to Indian football and his attitude of keeping long term goals in mind rather thinking of short term will take the game to higher level, provided the AIFF persists with him.
Playing in the World Cup or Olympic still remains a distant dream but then Koevermans has already sown the seeds and the main task that remains now is to work and make sure that it sees the light of the day.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
