MLS interested to sign Indian players

[Alarius]

Being Indian-born, I keep tabs on what's happening in the Indian football scene, I found this little snippet on the Indian Football website..

::: MLS interested to sign Indian players :::
The Major League Soccer (MLS) has expressed its interest to sign Indian players for the upcoming season. Indian internationals Sunil Chetri and Steven Dias have been already handed contracts by an US-based agent. Other players have been also approached in the last few days.
Midfielder Steven Dias has reportedly signed an pre-contract with the agent, before leaving for Hong Kong with the Indian national team. Meanwhile, striker Sunil Chetri has asked for a few more days, before giving a final nod.
The US pro-league MLS teams sign players based on the draft system. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team selects a player, the team receives exclusive rights to sign that player to a contract, and no other team in the league may sign the player.

http://www.indianfootball.com/index1.html (Under January News)

Here's an article from the Times of India: http://sports.timesofindia.indiatime...ow/3965281.cms

[Juanito]

Look .... I have NO IDEA who these guys are but when I think of football, I don't think of India .... if this was cricket, that's a different story.

Does anyone know if these guys are any good?

[Hitcho]

Not sure I have ever even heard of India having a national team in qualifying etc (I'm sure they do, I have just never heard of it), nevermind a profesisonal league or any decent players for recognised leagues to look at (even MLS, such as it is).

If TFC can snap up a gem or two then great, but this smacks of a horrible waste of an international spot to me - sorry dude!

[flatpicker]

^ India is ranked 143

[Wagner]

not a stellar record of qualifying...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_..._football_team

[Hitcho]

^ India is ranked 143

out of how many ranking nations?!

[flatpicker]

out of how many ranking nations?!

well, the last one I see is Papua New Guinea at 201

- has Mo been to Papua New Guinea yet?

[Hitcho]

well, the last one I see is Papua New Guinea at 201

- has Mo been to Papua New Guinea yet?

Haha! You bastard - I just read that and guffawed out laughing in the middle of the office. Very funny.

So India are basically one of the worst 50 teams in the world then. Not sure these guys will make any money from signing up to some agent for MLS terms. I hope they didn't pay him any money for the privilege of being taken on!

[Pachuco]

Maybe they are signing contracts with USL and not MLS. Who knows.

[redcard]

sometimes the form of a national side does not indicate how well individual players are...

[jaahuuu]

So India are basically one of the worst 50 teams in the world then.

This might be true, but they have the 2nd largest population in the world, more than one out of every 6 people on the planet. Their nat team may suck but there's gotta be at least a half dozen guys that can kick a ball into a net.

[Dirk Diggler]

India's domestic clubs generally have a long tradition and history and in regions where cricket isn't as popular, football is in fact the primary sports. I believe in Calcutta, the derby between the two local clubs usually draws upwards of 60,000 spectators and the fans are usually very passionate. It is just very odd to see why a country that has such an understandably long history with the sport has been so unsuccessful (to say the least) at the international platform.

[Hitcho]

^^ fair points, but large population counts for nothing (australia are brilliant at cricket despite being a fraction of the size of india and even england in population size, for example, and how good are argentina at rugby - not very) and long history is equally as uselss if you don't have the right infrastructure in place. You need youth coaches, academies, feeder clubs and scouting systems to get any kind of supply line of worthy talent going, and top level coaches, training facilities and a decent, competetive league to allow the senior players to improve and do well. absent those things, all the people and tradition in the world are utterly useless when it comes to the global game, imho.

[Toronto Ruffrider]

well, the last one I see is Papua New Guinea at 201

- has Mo been to Papua New Guinea yet?

Midfielder Nathaniel Lepani of the PNG national team apparently plays for Brisbane City in the Brisbane Premier League. Too bad he's not a CB, because then he'd be our DP for sure.

[mohawk]

The wikipedia entry for the Indian national team has a nice tale about India being invited to the 1950 world cup, but having to forfeit because they had to wear shoes. Very interesting...

[CretanBull]

There's a billion (or so) Indians in the world, some of them must be good at footy! If they're MLS calibre, it would be a good marketing move for the Toronto area...I think it would be interesting to see - as long as the player is qualified.

[redcard]

the simple reason why he indian football team has not been successful as well as other national sports teams is money...lets not forgot for the longest time India was a developing nation...they have just in the last decade began to consider themselves developed...but still there is little money making it to the national sports teams.

[VPjr]

Steve Goff claims this story is BS...he actually spoke to the agent for these two players.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soc...karound_3.html

[TFC07]

There's a billion (or so) Indians in the world, some of them must be good at footy! If they're MLS calibre, it would be a good marketing move for the Toronto area...I think it would be interesting to see - as long as the player is qualified.

Not too sure about that...Do Indians in Toronto/Canada even play/watch soccer? I know basketball is quite popular in Indian community in GTA, not too sure about soccer though.

As for India itself, the reason why they do poorly in sports (excluding cricket of course) because politics and money.

[Cashcleaner]

Not buying any of this. While I'm sure there is at least a handful of quality footballers kicking around the country, I have my doubts there is a concerted effort to bring any over here. Now if we started up a National Cricket League along the same lines of the IPL...

[mr k]

Not too sure about that...Do Indians in Toronto/Canada even play/watch soccer? I know basketball is quite popular in Indian community in GTA

Broadly speaking, adult Indians tend to play it recreationally; but watching in person is another matter - though can be said for many parts of Toronto's community. And kids playing organized sports isn't usually the highest priority for Indian families.

That said, If TFC gets a bit more Latin flavour in a similar vein as Guevara and MLS credibility improves, then it can challenge the Raptors for Indian interests. Basically, TFC needs to be viewed as diverse (beyond Cdn/American whitebread and blacks - but don't need Indians on team) and for the status conscious, the match experience needs to be viewed as top tier.

[Hitcho]

Hah! I love the analysis on this thread, but somehow I cannot see "attract a larger Indian audience" being very high on the list of things to achieve in Mo's office for 2009..

[ACSertL]

Slightly askew to the topic at hand but Bayern Munich are setting up an academy in India.

http://www.fcbayern.t-home.de/en/new..._sid=SESSIONID

Perhaps they are there to uncover diamonds in the rough or to actually develop local talent, time will tell I guess.

[TFC07]

Slightly askew to the topic at hand but Bayern Munich are setting up an academy in India.

http://www.fcbayern.t-home.de/en/new..._sid=SESSIONID

Perhaps they are there to uncover diamonds in the rough or to actually develop local talent, time will tell I guess.

Cool...BTW, I just came up with this article:

India U-16 team held Manchester United youth team to a 3-3 draw on Tuesday night at Manchester with start striker Malswamfela being the hero yet again.

Link: http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/13...chester-united

So there is quality players in India.

[TOBOR !]

I think it's a little shortsighted to assume that because they aren't a soccer power there is no reason to resource talent in India and surrounding regions. Keep in mind that FIFA* had them ranked as high as 94th in 1996 (need I mention that we are 90th right now). Really it's more down to poor administration than lack of talent or interest in the sport. I'd reason that capable management dould put together a handy Indian side with expats or grandfathered players (in the manner that Jackie Charlton built an Irish squad back in the early '90's).

As an aside, the I-League opened it's doors only just in 2007. It seems to me that it would only be a logical place to rummage about to see what you might find - maybe for your team, or your academy.


*Yeah, I know, but what other gauge is there ?

[redcard]

Broadly speaking, adult Indians tend to play it recreationally; but watching in person is another matter - though can be said for many parts of Toronto's community. And kids playing organized sports isn't usually the highest priority for Indian families.

head over to malton, erin mills, and of course brampton you will see many youth indian players with a lot of talent as well as the parents are lined up on the sidelines watching...i coach a U11 team at the sportzone in mississauga and the indian parents out number the rest!

as a side note the U11 team is top of the table with only one loss and 69 goals scored and with only 10 conceded.(all 14 players are of indian decent)

[ensco]

I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw who the manager of the Indian National Team is.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Houghton

[StandUpIfYouHateChelsea]

sometimes the form of a national side does not indicate how well individual players are...

true and , how big is india, in the billions???? there HAS to be a player with immense skill..... its just a fact.... =)

[Alarius]

My thoughts:

India is still another 10-15 years away from being any sort of football 'powerhouse'. However, they do have the potential of being one eventually, if they get more organized. With India's growing economy, finding funding will get easier. FIFA and the AFC are concentrating efforts to bring India and the rest of Asia up to world class standards, by helping to organize and 'professionalize' their regional teams and leagues. Other countries like Brazil and Germany, and some Premiership clubs have also offered training and coaching support.
India has made some positive moves in the past few years. Qualifying for the ASIAN cup for the first time since 1984 could be seen as a big step forward. Bob Houghton has done a good job with the national team.
In the club scene, prominent Goan and Bengal clubs are getting stronger in the region. The I-League has been following the AFC's guidelines to become a fully professional league.
My only gripe with the Indian system is that clubs play too many regional competitions giving the National Team very few oppurtunities to train and play meaningful friendlies against good opposition. I don't think you're gonna get any better playing the same opposition over and over, the more exposure they have to world class competition the better they will become.

One thing I can say is that the AIFF (Indian football association) has been doing a much better job now. They easily put the CSA to shame. But then again, your local girl scout association puts the CSA to shame.

[TFC07]

My thoughts:

India is still another 10-15 years away from being any sort of football 'powerhouse'. However, they do have the potential of being one eventually, if they get more organized. With India's growing economy, finding funding will get easier. FIFA and the AFC are concentrating efforts to bring India and the rest of Asia up to world class standards, by helping to organize and 'professionalize' their regional teams and leagues. Other countries like Brazil and Germany, and some Premiership clubs have also offered training and coaching support.
India has made some positive moves in the past few years. Qualifying for the ASIAN cup for the first time since 1984 could be seen as a big step forward. Bob Houghton has done a good job with the national team.
In the club scene, prominent Goan and Bengal clubs are getting stronger in the region. The I-League has been following the AFC's guidelines to become a fully professional league.
My only gripe with the Indian system is that clubs play too many regional competitions giving the National Team very few oppurtunities to train and play meaningful friendlies against good opposition. I don't think you're gonna get any better playing the same opposition over and over, the more exposure they have to world class competition the better they will become.

One thing I can say is that the AIFF (Indian football association) has been doing a much better job now. They easily put the CSA to shame. But then again, your local girl scout association puts the CSA to shame.

I wish Canada had that kind of treatment.

BTW, I just look at I-league (funny how one of worst soccer countries in the world has their own tier one league with 2 divisions while Canada doesn't), one of the teams (JCT FC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCT_FC) have a partnership deal with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Impressive!