The U-17 FIFA World Cup is set to bring about a football revolution in India.
While the government is doing its bit by doing various promotional activities in order to spread the word around about the event, it is now up to the people of India to go out in huge numbers to the stadium and cheer our boys in blue.
For far too long, India has neglected all sports in the country and shown a subservient attitude towards cricket. In what is the biggest tragedy of Indian sports, cricket is the only sport that has been given exposure on a national platform on a regular basis.
Which is why the FIFA U-17 World Cup that is going to be held in India this year is a huge opportunity for the Indian sporting fraternity. After the embarrassing scenes ahead of the CwG 2010, everyone will be looking to project a wonderful image for India on a global stage.
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Perhaps the biggest sporting icon that India has ever seen, Sachin Tendulkar has given his full support to the FIFA World Cup. At a recent event, Sachin spoke to Harsha Bhogle on the potential impact of this event in India.
“This is India’s greatest opportunity to show our support towards other sports, which we have been showing. This is only about taking it to the next level.
“And I am sure the spectators won’t disappoint us. Indians, let’s not disappoint each other. (Let’s) go out and support those youngsters (India’s U-17 football team), and above all, India.”
“World Cup in any format is always competition at the highest level, where the players don’t want to compromise on anything. They don’t want to give an inch to each other. I am looking forward to this tournament.”
“I started when I was 16, so in U-17 you will have some world class players playing.”
“Seventeen in today’s world is not young. Seventeen is just about when you are looking to be competitive, and I know for sure that at 17 you really push hard and sometimes cross the line, but there are guys to advise them to stay within the limitations and go out and deliver.”
