What the full fledged Indian teams have struggled to achieve in the recent past, has been accomplished by a bunch of juniors donning the jersy of India B in the recently-concluded "Bristol Independence" Cup at Colombo.
In winning the four-nation tournament, the CV Pappachan-led team have proved that given the right exposure, the Indian footballers, too, can succeed on the bigger stage. Nazir Ahmed Khan, who went to Colombo as Chef de Mission, felt total devotion and feeling for the country were the reasons behind the team’s success. Talking to the Hindustan Times, he said "ours was a youthful team, full of vigour and passion for the country. Success was bound to come."
The 3-2 victory over Sri Lanka in the final was especially a sweet one as the hosts fielded their full strength team. In 1995, Sri Lanka beat India at the same venue in the SAARC football final. According to Khan, the 3-1 win over Malaysia in the first group league match was an important one as the Indian victory came as a shock for both Malaysia and the hosts. Malaysia came with the team which is preparing for the next pre-Olympics to be held in Kuala Lumpur. Two and a half crores in Malaysian currency have already been spend on the team, all the players have been given a flat and car each. Four foreign coaches are attached with the team and the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur himself accompanied the team to Colombo. Malaysia took the lead but India came back strongly in the second half to score three goals.
The Indian team comprised mainly players from FC Kochin, Mahindras, Air India and Tata Football Academy. The B team had to be sent as the frontline players are busy preparing for the forthcoming Asian Games. Khan informed that the team had to face a lot of trouble initially because of the last minute entry. "We were not even in proper kit when we landed in Colombo. But we arranged everything there. We could take only 19 players as Manjeet Singh had to be left behind since he did not have a passport. But the boys overcame all these problems to perform superbly on the ground." Curiously, the team had been sent to Colombo on a no cost to the Government basis.
The Chef de Mission, who is also the president of the J&K Football Association, refused to name anyone in particular as outstanding player saying the whole team played inspired football. "Skipper Pappachan played only the part of the first three matches, but in the final he played the whole match including 20 minutes of extra time." Karunakar Raj led the team when Papachan was substitued.
In the final, Sri Lanka twice took the lead but India came back both the times to restore parity before Rajesh Pandey scored the golden goal in extra-time to give India the Cup. The Indian wing back, who plays for Mahindras, scored three goals in the tournament and proved to be very efficient in converting flag kicks. Two of his goals came through corner kicks.
The Indian goalkeepers also played their parts with confidence. The first choice goalkeeper Marc Mascarenas got injured midway through the final match, but his replacement Nasim Akthar rose to the occasion to thwart the Lankans. Third goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee, a teenager from TFA, was given chance by the coach Sreedharan in one match and the youngster proved exceptional. Such was the popularity of the Indian youngsters, that according to Khan, the Lankan fans also backed the Indian team at times in the two matches they were pitted against the hosts. The Indian High Commissioner in Colombo himself congratulated the team.