Can India ever learn to love football?

[Linebacker]

Fuck soccer,they should learn American football,now thats a sport worth playing.

[Lurker]

I know many Indians following Premier (English, Italy, Spanish, German) league games and also FIFA world cup.
90+ % of them just watch and never play

I'm pretty sure, interest to play soccer is increasing but currently extremely low comparing to majority of world countries.

Most Indian parents won't let their children involve in sports during childhood because of emphasis on education and the belief that there is nothing gainful from sports.

Cricket can be played virtually at any place (regardless of size) in the world if there are at least 2 players.

Short-game (3 hours) format of Cricket is now very popular, and that game is as much interesting as soccer.

May be after 3 decades (one generation later), we can see Indian soccer team like current Mexican (at max) team or something.

There is a popular belief that Indian physique is not compatible enough to play the best soccer in order to beat powerful opponents. I'm not agreeing with this though.

Football is the easiest game to be played, meaning it requires the least resources/equipment. In Brazil (and in some places in Africa) people play football with two sandals as goalposts and with a bunch of socks pressed together to form a ball (I know I did lol). There are several games that are akin to football that Brazilians play on the streets and beaches.

Brazilian football games on the streets also last as long as people want. When I was a kid I remember people not actually caring about the score and deciding, when the moms decided to call us back to our homes for dinner, that the team who scored the next goal was going to be the winner lol.

[brazuca]

Nowhere near as boring as NFL (grid iron) and baseball. It is the complete opposite of lame and requires a whole range of physical and mental abbilities.

And don't call it soccer, it's called Football for gods sake.

I think Indians are just racially not suited to play Football. They can't run, jump or kick a ball for some reason.

I do not know what is NFL!

[Shah-Jehan]

Definitely not in Bengal, football still by far is almost on par with cricket in terms of popularity even though the former is neglected. The second largest football stadium in the world is in Calcutta, Bengal: Salt Lake Stadium.

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


And in Indian football leagues, teams from Bengal are in top form and most of them have history going back to the early 20th century and some even to the 19th century.

Popular football clubs from West Bengal:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohun_Bagan_A.C.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammedan_S.C._(Kolkata)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bengal_F.C.

from East Bengal(Bangladesh):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamme...g_Club_(Dhaka)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abahani_Limited_(Dhaka)

[brazuca]

Football is the easiest game to be played, meaning it requires the least resources/equipment. In Brazil (and in some places in Africa) people play football with two sandals as goalposts and with a bunch of socks pressed together to form a ball (I know I did lol). There are several games that are akin to football that Brazilians play on the streets and beaches.

Brazilian football games on the streets also last as long as people want. When I was a kid I remember people not actually caring about the score and deciding, when the moms decided to call us back to our homes for dinner, that the team who scored the next goal was going to be the winner lol.

It's called street football is common throughout south america and africa, but no longer exists in europe, beach football is not popular because the minority of the population live on the beach. I never saw a "ball of rags"

[GrebluBro]

///

Did you check world soccer rankings of India and Bangladesh?

That matters above everything

[GrebluBro]

Bangladesh 164, Pakistan 165

http://www.fifa.com/associations/ass...king/gender=m/

India 154

http://www.fifa.com/associations/ass...king/gender=m/

[Arcadefire]

Good on India for being ranked 150! Certainly above the likes of Bangladesh and Pakistan. It shows that India's starting 11 out of a pool of 2 billion people are far superior!

[brazuca]

Bangladesh 164, Pakistan 165

http://www.fifa.com/associations/ass...king/gender=m/

India 154

http://www.fifa.com/associations/ass...king/gender=m/

curious that all Anglos colonies are considered one trash in football!!

[GrebluBro]

Good on India for being ranked 150! Certainly above the likes of Bangladesh and Pakistan. It shows that India's starting 11 out of a pool of 2 billion people are far superior!

China rank 88

http://www.fifa.com/associations/ass...king/gender=m/