India almost won a bronze medal in football at the 1956 Olympics thanks to pullouts and some inspirational form from forward Neville D'Souza.
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Indian football history at the Summer Olympics is an interesting one. India sent football teams to the Games on four occasions – 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960. In fact, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) considered the Olympics very important. So important, in fact, that they declined an invite to take part at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Yes, the AIFF thought the World Cup was less important than the Olympics. History would prove them spectacularly wrong in that regard but at the time it was not a bad opinion. Indeed, the 1950 World Cup was shunned by a number of top nations. And India, while not necessarily a global power, were definitely a top Asian side. What’s more, they almost won a bronze medal in the Games!
As we count down to India’s greatest Olympic moments, we look back now at the time when the Indian football team came close to a medal winning performance.
1956 was an unusual year for football at the Olympics. The Games were being held in Melbourne and the football tournament was set to feature 16 teams.
However, by the time the football was set to begin, there were only 11 teams left. Yes, five of the teams had dropped out of the race for a number of reasons.
First, the People’s Republic of China pulled out in protest that Taiwan were recognised as a seperate entity. The Chinese Civil War had led to the Republic of China (RoC) leaving for Taiwan.
Egypt, who at the time were involved in the Suez Crisis, also boycotted the Games. This was done to protest the invasion of the country by France, Israel and the UK.
Turkey and Vietnam also withdrew, as did 1954 World Cup runners-up Hungary. Hungary were actually cheered loudly in other Olympic disciplines due to them being supressed by Soviet troops.
Of course, a smaller number of teams would lead to a smaller football competition.
The large number of team withdrawals benefitted India. There were first meant to be eight matches in the first round, which was a knockout. But the withdrawal of five teams meant only three matches were played.
India were drawn against Hungary, who at the time were quite the force in world football. They had made the finals of the 1954 FIFA World Cup and would have been favourites to go the distance in the Olympics.
However, thanks to Hungary withdrawing India got a bye to the quarterfinals. And India were set to face hosts Australia in their first match of the tournament.
But before the game came another important decision – will the Indian team play barefoot or with boots on? Most teams were moving towards playing while wearing boots, although the Indians still played shod at the time.
In the end, the Indians chose to play with boots on and the match against Australia was a cracker. Australia twice took the lead in the first half, but goals from Neville D’Souza saw the score at 2-2 at half-time.
There was also some controversy as the Indonesian referee disallowed two goals. To make matters worse, he was confronted by Australian captain Robert Bignall, who couldn’t get an intellgible answer out of him.
The second half was all India. D’Souza completed his hat-trick – the first by an Asian player at the Games – and a goal from J Krishnaswamy sealed the game. India ran out 4-2 winners.
A win in the semi-finals would mean India were guaranteed at least a silver medal as finalists. However, they were up against a powerful Yugoslavia side in the semis.
Amazingly, it was India who took the lead in the match through D’Souza in the 52nd minute. But it was all downhill from there. Yugoslavia equalised two minutes later and scored thrice after that to win the semi-final 4-1.
India were, of course, still in with a chance of winning a medal. The losers in both semis would meet to determine the bronze medal winner.
India would go on to face Bulgaria in that match. However, their medal hopes were dashed thanks to a flawless performance by the Bulgarians.
They ran out 3-0 winners on the day and India would end up going home with no medals. Still, it remains the Indian football team’s best ever result in the Olympics. Indeed, after 1960, the side never met the criteria to qualify for the Games.
