India at Olympics: 4 Olympics, Best Position 4th & a Hattrick for Football

Considering the current struggle of Indian Football to make an impression against opponents from other countries, one would find it hard to believe but its true that Indian Men’s Football team was just a win away from BRONZE medal, in 1956 Olympics. Overall Men’s team appeared in 4 consecutive Olympics from 1948-1960 Olympics. The Olympic World remembers them by their “bare foot” game. Check complete history and record of India in Football at Olympics.

Winners of Football at Olympics
Indian History at Summer Olympics: Performances in Every Olympics
History of All Sports Played at Olympics by India
Indian Medals In Olympics: When and Who Got It!!

Olympic Statistics for Football Team

1. Hattrick at Olympics: Neville D’Souza (vs Australia in 1956)
2 Wins including one by Walkover, 1 draw and 7 losses.
4 Appearance by Sheikh Abdul Latif is the maximum at Olympics by Indian player.
4 in 1956 is the best finish.
7 Players scored 10 goals for India.
9 Matches against 6 countries in 4 Olympics. Played twice each vs Hungary, France, and Yugoslavia.
10 Goals Scored, Goals Conceded: 27

Matches in Olympics

1-2 France (1948)
1-10 Yugoslavia (1952)
4-2 Australia (1956)
1-4 Yugoslavia (1956)
0-3 Bulgaria (1956)
1-2 Hungary (1960)
1-1 France (1960)
1-3 Peru (1960)

Goal Scorers

4 Neville D’Souza
2 Balamaran,
1 Sarangapani Raman, Ahmed Mohammed Khan, PK Banerjee, Kittu

1948: Played one match and knocked out

Squad: Talimeren Ao, Sattar Basheer, Robi Das, Ahmed Muhammad Khan, Sailen Manna, Sahu Mewalal, Taj Mohammed, Ramchandra Parab, Mahabir Prasad, Dhanraj Raman, KV Varadaraj, Sheikh Abdul Latif

In the knock-out format, India lost 1-2 to France in the 1st round.

1952:
Indians played without boots.
Squad:

2nd: Sheikh Abdul Latif, Ahmed Muhammad Khan, Sailendra Nath “Sailen” Manna
Others: Berland Anthony, Chandan Singh Rawat, Joseph Anthony, Mohammad Sattar, Padamttom Vankatesh, Sayed Moinuddin, Sayed Khwaja Aziz-ud-Din, Thulukhanam Shanmugam

Results:

Preliminary round: Yugoslavia def India 10-1.
4 goals by Zebec.
1 goal by Ahmed Mohammed Khan (89th minute) from India

1956: 4th
Neville D’Souza scored a hattrick against Australia in QF.
Squad:

3rd: Sheikh Abdul Latif
2nd: Sayed Khwaja Aziz-ud-Din
Others: Hussain Ahmed, Krishna Kittu, Krishna Pal, Muhammad Kannayan, Muhammad Salaam, Muhammad Noor, Neville D’Souza, Nikhil Nandy, Peter Thangaraj, PK Banerjee (20 year old), Samar Banerjee, Subramaniam Narayan, Abdul Rehman, Tulasidas Balaram (19 year), Mariappa Kempaiah

Results

1st Round: Walkover by Hungary
Quarterfinals: Def Australia 4-2 (Neville D’Souza 3, Kittu 1)
Semis: Lost to Yugoslavia 1-4 (Neville D’Souza 1)
Bronze Medal Match: Lost to Bulgaria 0-3

1960: 16th (Last)
Squad

4th: Sheikh Abdul Latif
2nd: Peter Thangaraj, PK Banerjee, Tulasidas Balaram (19 year), Mariappa Kempaiah
Others: Bahadur Chettri Ram, Dharmalingam Kannan, Dhillon Singh Jarnail, Menon Chandrasekhar, Simon Sunder Raj, Subimal Goswami, Youssef Khan, Simon Sunder Raj

Results

Group D
Lost to Hungary 1-2 (Balamaran scored)
Drew France 1-1 (PK Banerjee scored)
Lost to Peru 1-3 (Balamaran scored)