Asian Cup Football
The Asian Cup is all set to begin in less than two week. All Indian fans are you thrilled, exited, or concerned? The stage is all set and on 10th of January 2011 India will be actually in it. Well the question is whether the wait for 23 years will actually pay off or not? Well India being placed next to Australia, Bahrain and South Korea in group stages, the pundits have given there prediction that Indians might concede a total of 20 goals in the 3 matches and would comeback shattered. So there is nothing much about to cheer for Indian fans.
Well I am of a different opinion India placed next to teams with ranking 1, 3 and 7 in Asia it would be a better opportunity to prove their worth in an International scenario.If we would have been places next to smaller teams then what would have happened. India have already faced plenty of smaller Asian teams in International friendlies they have proved their worth sometimes and has even failed bitterly. Some people might think that if placed next to smaller teams India would have held a better chance of qualifying to the next round or would have lost with a lesser margin. I am some different opinions and I am happy that we are placed next to Asian heavy weights as India now need to experience real International football and playing against smaller teams won’t help that. They might not win against these teams but the learning curve and the level of exposure and competition would be majestic. Facing the teams who played World Cup would be a real and a life time experience.
The perfect example which justifies my thinking is India’s Major opponent South Korea. Have you ever heard about this team before World Cup 2002? Frankly speaking I haven’t heard about it but it’s true they were good even before World Cup 2002 but it’s quite visible that there level of performance has increased incredibly. And it was the wins against Spain, Portugal and Italy which caught the world’s attention. No one even remembers any other previous match of South Korea. It was that event which brought them under the lamplight.
It’s not just a good platform for the team but for Individual players in World Cup 2002 the world saw Park Ji Sung and then he went to PSV Eindhoven and now he represents one of the biggest European clubs Manchester United. Well the same way it can be a good opportunity for Chhetri, Subrata Paul and Steven Dias to show their talent in front of the whole world.
Never mind what the critics predict, don’t forget the fact that its football. There can be surprises, the power of passion and commitment can overcome any amount of skills. I have always dreamt about India playing in a big event and this is it. There can be a real drama as a true Indian fan I would be supporting my country and would keep my fingers crossed for their success.
The result may or may be not the way which we are expecting but India competing in such a serious competition will surely create a real landmark event in the history of Indian football and would surely turn out to be a real boost for Indian Football.
Tags: AFC Asian Cup, Asian Cup 2011, Australia, Bahrain, Baichung Bhutia, Football, Football India, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, India, Indian Football, South Korea, Steven Dias, Subrata Paul, Sunil Chhetri
