Indian Women were the only achievers for India in 2014 besides the fans and AIFF who can boast of great success of Indian Super League as well can brag grabbing the hosting of 2017 Under-17 World Cup. Indian Men’s Football Team sank to its worst in the FIFA ranking. ISL was the only silver lining for a better future, for fans and players both.
Indian Women’s Team completed a record hattrick of titles in the SAFF Championships defeating Nepal in the final. Indian Women’s team is ranked 53 in the current FIFA list. They did not qualify for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
In the 2014 Asian Games, Indian Women’s Team won a match against Maldives defeating them 15-0 but lost to South Korea and Thailand by 10-0 each getting knocked out of the tournament at Group Stage. Kamala and Sasmita scored 5 goals each in the win against Maldives.
Indian Men’s Football team started the year at 156th rank. By the end of the year they sank further to 171 in the FIFA ranking. It is India’s worst-ever ranking.
Indian Men’s team crashed out at Group Stage in the Asian Games. Initially, the Sports Ministry had refused to send the team for Asian Games at the cost of government, due to its poor show in past such Games.
Indian Men’s Team drew Bangladesh 2-2 at Goa in March and Lost to Palestine 2-3 at Siliguri in October 2014.
Indian Men’s Team did not even qualify for the first time in AFC Challenge Cup.
Indian Super League has been the silver lining and in future Indian footballers can expect better footballing experience as well as healthy remuneration too. ISL became World’s 4th most commercially successful tournament in its first edition.
Leave a Reply