Syed Abdul Rahim’s men will be eager to avenge their humiliation in the last Olympic Games, but will be facing a strong Australian unit.

'India at 1956 Olympics Football' is Goal's latest endeavour to celebrate the nation's heroics in the beautiful game. 60 years ago in the Melbourne Olympics, India had finished fouth. In this seven article series, which will be published over the next two weeks, we bring you all the news, updates and analysis taking a stroll down the memory lane.

BY

ATANU MITRA (@Atanu00 on Twitter)



Melbourne, 29th November: The Indian national team will finally be starting their journey at the Olympics here on Saturday, when they face the hosts in an afternoon kick-off to be played at the Olympic Park.

India will return to the quadrennial extravaganza with an eye on making their first mark at the global stage. The national team played its first official match in the 1948 London Games against France, where they went down 2-1 against the mighty European side after wasting two penalty-kicks. The Helsinki sojourn, however, turned out to be a nightmare as they were thrashed 10-1 by Yugoslavia in the first round encounter, with Ahmed Khan scoring the only goal.

This time, though, they have been extremely lucky to reach the quarter-finals without even playing a single match. Owing to a number of countries pulling out of the competition, both India and Thailand were given byes in their qualifier. While Thailand were steamrolled 9-0 by Great Britain in a first round fixture this week, another pleasant surprise was waiting for India.

Abdul Rehman and co. were drawn against Hungary, arguably the best side in contemporary European football. The squad, consisting of the likes of Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Koscis and Nandor Hidegkuti, had won the gold in 1952 Olympics and finished as runners-up in 1954 World Cup. However, the team withdrew from the Melbourne Games after the fixtures were decided and while the officials tried to lure South Korea to replace them, the Asian country also declined resulting in India getting a walk-over in the first round.

This now means that India will be facing the hosts in the last-eight clash, who have defeated Japan in the first round 2-0. The Richard Telfer coached side is no new opponent for India as Rahim’s side defeated them 4-3 in a practice match last Saturday.

The contest is expected to a litmus test for the side which has had mixed results in the international stage in the last few years. While they have won the Quadrangular Tournament (involving India, Pakistan, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Burma (now Myanmar)) for four consecutive times during 1952-55, they failed to clear the first round in 1954 Asian Games in Manila and were also handed some crushing defeats by a visiting USSR team last year.

The team had played a couple of exhibition matches at the Cooperage Stadium in Bombay earlier this month to raise funds for their tour. While Neville D’Souza’s hat-trick helped them beat Hyderabad Police 4-2 in the first tie, they could only manage a unconvincing 1-0 victory courtesy Neville’s spot-kick in the second match against Mohammedan Sporting.

The Blue Tigers are expected to line-up in a 2-3-5 formation, a system that has been adequately used in the club football in this decade. Samar Banerjee, the Mohun Bagan attacker who was named as the captain of the squad to the surprise of many, is certain to start upfront while Neville D’Souza, K.Kittu and M.Kannayan are also assured of starting berths. Two youngsters – Peter Thangaraj and Pradip Banerjee (better known as P.K.Banerjee) - had made their debuts in last year’s Quadrangular Tournament and are likely to retain their places in the starting line-up. The responsibility of defending will be on the duo of Syed Azizuddin of Hyderabad Police and Rajasthan Club’s Abdul Rahman.

The hosts are also brimming with confidence, fresh from their win against Japan in a face-off that they dominated for long. Ron Lord is expected to start between the sticks for the hosts, while the veteran Bob Bignall is the best-known name in the back-line. Graham McMillan and Francis Loughran, who had scored in the first match, will continue to lead the lines while young forward Bruce Morrow will also be eager to open his account.

There was a lengthy discussion in the managers’ meeting today on whether the Indian team can play without boots. While it was agreed upon that India will be allowed to play barefooted, Syed Rahim’s boys finally stressed that they will play wearing boots unless they suffer cramps. It remains to be seen whether the squad led by Banerjee can finish the match without injuries by playing in their non-conventional style.

With both teams set to resort to a 2-3-5, the onus will be on the forwards to make the chances count. For India, it will be a brilliant opportunity to cap off their lucky campaign with a favourable result and make it to the semi-finals for the first time ever. For the hosts, it will be a great chance to take revenge of the defeat suffered in the practice match played a week ago.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Times of India, Nation at Play (by Ronojoy Sen), Sydney Morning Herald, The Socceroos and Their Opponents (by Laurie Schwab), Olympics: The India Story (by Boria Majumder and Nalin Mehta), Official Report of 1956 Olympics.