Why India hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup is such a big deal

27 August, 2003 — it was 2-2 in Finland that day — as Spain and Argentina were locked in a FIFA World Cup U-17 World Cup semifinal battle. The match went into extra-time and the clock had just ticked past 119 minutes. There was a minute to go before the match would enter the lottery of the penalty shootout. But a Spanish midfielder was hellbent on writing another story — he banged in a golden-goal and Spain were through to the finals. On the back of his shirt, it said ‘Cesc’. In September that year he signed for Arsenal, and in October became Arsenal’s youngest ever first team player, aged 16 years and 177 days. The back of his shirt said Fabregas. The party’s coming home Pick a big name from a hat — Juan Sebastian Veron, buck-toothed Ronaldinho and the silky Neymar — they all made their first mark at the U-17 World Cup. Scouts from all the top clubs — Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich — they’ll all be here, in India. In a month-long frenzy, you will hear talk about the ’next Zidane’, the ’next Ronaldo’, the ’next Beckham’ and probably even ’next Messi’. [caption id=“attachment_1270789” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Indian football could have a new beginning with the U-17 World Cup. AIFF[/caption] Nothing, nothing beats the thrill of watching talent unfurl in front of your eyes. It’s like you watch Prithvi Shaw slam 546 runs recently — and if he makes it to the Indian team, you’ll be able to tell the incredible story of witnessing that innings. It’s the same with football — the catch though is that this is the world stage. It’ll be ruthless and it will be unlike something you’ve ever witnessed. The party’s coming home, it truly is. Infrastructure, finally! FIFA and AIFF (All India Football Federation) will bear the full cost of hosting the tournament — finally, someone will be forced to cough up the cash and build some real infrastructure in a country where cows graze on prospective venues . Indian football has been a ridiculously long story of incompetence, lack of facilities and motivation to play the game. That story could have a new beginning and for once, this is a chance to prove the naysayers wrong — Indians can play the game, Indians can host a FIFA tournament — India, despite cricket being their supposed ‘religion’ — has it’s fair share of football followers. Also, they can put to bed the Commonwealth Games fiasco by hosting a quality, scam-free tournament. Having AstroTurfs pop up all over Mumbai is one thing — that caters to a particular set of people in the society — those who can pay around Rs 300 for an hour of football. It’s now up to the AIFF to take this chance and produce the goods. They need to make football a playable sport across the country — not just Kolkata and Goa — and encourage kids to take up the game with the promise of success. All in all, it means more playgrounds. Credit is due to FIFA here — they’ve pushed India as a massive talent pool for a decade now and it’s time to justify that trust. It’s not easy, but a country seldom gets a chance to hold a World Cup — so it’s now or never. Let’s talk Indian football — the final push We went to the 1948 Olympics, losing 1-2 (barefoot) to France and as legend goes, were applauded off the pitch. AIFF withdrew the team from the 1950 World Cup. FIFA said they’ll pay most of the travel expenses but we just didn’t think too much of the tournament. The cover-up was that organisers didn’t want India to play barefoot. Since then, the country has not even come close to qualifying for any FIFA tournament. Not a single one. But as hosts of the Under-17 World Cup, they get to put in their best young players — pit them against Spain’s tiki-taka and Brazil’s joyous brand of football. Pit them against England’s stocky defence and Nigeria’s pace and power. The African side has won four titles, Brazil three and Mexico two. But that doesn’t mean India doesn’t have a chance. Saudi Arabia did it in 1989. Qatar, Turkey, Bahrain and Oman have put in good shifts in earlier editions. India has fans, India has the players — all they need is an inspirational performance to take football to another level. They have four years to create a top U-17 side — which means grassroots level — encouraging the U-12s and U-13s with the biggest carrot stick — you can play for India at the FIFA World Cup. “I cannot sum it up in words what this means to Indian Football,” AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said. India can however, sum it up in action. Now is the time. And that’s why it is such a big deal. You can follow the writer on Twitter @TheFalseNo9