EUROMANIA - The Agony Again

The Euro 08 is one sporting event that has captivated television audiences from around the world and is a much awaited extravaganza for soccer fans! As a typical Indian viewer there is a lot to expect from these championships which is into its QF stages even as this post is being written and much to wonder about. People from all over the country are engrossed in Euro 08 as they also will be in 2010 for the WC in South Africa! This leaves me wondering where do we stand?? When will I watch a major footballing event rooting for my own country and not for Italy, Portugal or Brazil! When will I hear Jana Gana Mana before a match and not a french or swedish national anthem. I dream of seeing the tricolour flying high alongside the union jack! I dream of watching the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia scoring past Buffon! I would love to see a N S Manju tackle a Ronaldo! India is a huge country as far as area or population is concerned! When I see a Serbia Montenegro or a Senegal playing a WC match against Germany my inside twitches! India is a giant nation claiming to be competing with the US economy very soon but in a sport which it was quite famous for in the 50s and 60s, olympic appearances where regular, now they rank close to 150 in the world! A 99 ranked Greece are defending Euro Champions and india cant qualify for the Asia Cup!

Our football federation needs to wake up! We need a proper coach like Guus Hiddink who reformed Korea, rejuvenated Australia and now is doing wonders with Russia and not someone like Bob Houghton who dreams of making it to the WC 2018 and loses the Saff Cup to Maldives?!!??!!

To me thus, a major event like Euro or WC brings sorrow to my mind!! It seems like agony revived. When I watch Ballack dribble and then I see a Lalkamal Bhowmick struggle I realise how behind we are!! It is painful to watch these tournaments and even more difficult to figure out how Indian experts comment on these games and also criticise some players! We are ages behind and if the infrastructure doesnt improve we will keep celebrating when a Ronaldinho scores a goal or Casillas makes a save and see bright hope when we go down to Maldives saying we lost by just a goal and not 7 as against Japan!