AFC Asian Cup: 'Indian Football Has Changed As We Know It,' Says Midfield Maestro Victor Amalraj

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"There's so much passing and quick movement nowadays!" says former Indian midfielder Victor Amalraj when you ask him how he looks at Igor Stimac's Indian football team that is currently competing at the AFC Asian Cup.

"Indian football team back in the 80s was more about individual brilliance of gifted players. It made the goal closer than it was. There wasn't much dependence on passing in our case," tells the former India captain, who led the national team during the 1983 President's Cup in Dhaka.

One of the finest footballers to come from Hyderabad, Victor Amalraj felt there's not much to compare between the national team from his time as far as talent is concerned. And it's hard to argue with the former linkman on that as he shared the dressing room with the likes of Shabbir Ali, Prasun Banerjee, Prasanta Banerjee, Monoranjan Bhattacharya among many others.

The abovementioned players were the core of the Indian team that played in the 1984 AFC Asian Cup under renowned Yugoslavian coach Ciric Milovan after going out in the quarterfinals of the 1982 Asian Games. And unlike the ongoing 24-nation AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, only the top 10 nations could make the cut for the continental championships back then.

However, watching the Indian team play with a never-say-die attitude and leave it all on the pitch against higher-ranked Australia, the retired footballer felt that the current crop of Indian footballers value the national jersey more.

"You could see clearly they play as a unit against a team like Australia, who are far ahead of us. The current players value the national jersey more, they take pride in wearing it. Back in my days, many of us played it safe with the national team because a gruelling domestic season awaiting back home.

"It was one tournament after another and that's why clubs wanted us back uninjured. And if you are injured during the season, you earn nothing," says the retired footballer, who has played and won a hoard of trophies with all three of Kolkata Giants over 14 years of professional football in Kolkata.

Some of the issues may sound relevant to this day too as Indian football fans have witnessed a cold war between coach Stimac and some of the top-tier clubs over releasing players for the national camp. The Croatian was already forced to pick a second-string squad for the Asian Games last year and has downplayed the importance of the ongoing AFC Asian Cup over not getting enough time for preparations.

Victor Amalraj, who penned his autobiography Midfield Maestro in 2022, could draw a comparison between coach Stimac and the former Indian coach Milovan at this point as he felt hailing from the Slavic region they have one thing in common, giving it their all for the country.

"From Stimac's body language, it's very clear that he commands authority over his team and wants them to put the country ahead of their clubs. Ciric Milovan was no different, he was a strict man, who brought professionalism to the Indian football team.

"Like how you see India now play as a team, Milovan pushed us for the same, he made us wear the national tri-colour with pride. He made it a point that we win as a team and lose as a team, it's not about any individual," says Victor Amalraj, who played under the Yugoslav in Pre-Olympics and Asian Cup qualifiers.

India famously featured in the tri-colour against a visiting Argentina, led by their legendary coach Carlos Bilardo, during the 1984 Nehru Cup. Amalraj was also part of the tournament, which also featured Poland, a consistent face in World Cup knockout stages in those days.

India's performance at the tournament -- played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata -- earned rave reviews as they lost by a goal margin to both Argentina and Poland in what was deemed as India's best-ever performance against top-footballing nations in front of a packed 80,000-odd crowd.

Milovan at that point was seen as the man to take Indian football team forward in years to come but the former Red Star Belgrade manager resigned a year after at the 1985 Nehru Cup in Kochin. Retired journalist Shyam Sundar Ghosh later revealed in his book 'Kick Off' that infighting with federation officials and non-performing players led to his decision to quit.

Post his departure, India suffered a catastrophic failure at the subsequent Nehru Cup, Asian Games, and World Cup qualifiers as India slumped to a new low ever since. Turning to the present, Victor Amalraj is hopeful that the current Indian football team won't suffer a similar fate, urging for one step at a time.

"The Indian football team is doing well because we have a coach, who has played World Cup for Croatia. He has seen top-level football, he knows the standards that are needed and that's why he brought necessary changes. I understand fans want us to be there at the top but we have to be patient because Rome wasn't built in a day," concluded the Midfield Maestro.