The Hindu : Sport : Tragic end to a brilliant career

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 19, 2006

Sport

Sport

Tragic end to a brilliant career

S.R. Suryanarayan

— File Photo: V. Ganesan

SAD DEMISE: V.P. Sathyan, former India captain and assistant coach, met with a sad end.

CHENNAI: Former India football captain, V.P. Sathyan, met with a tragic end here on Tuesday when he was knocked down by suburban electric train at Pallavaram station. He was 41.

Sathyan is survived by his wife and a daughter.

An assistant manager with the Indian Bank here, Sathyan had served the bank since 1995, initially as a player and then as the team's coach from 2002. A stopper back, Sathyan started his career in 1983 representing Kerala in the Santosh Trophy National championship. He attended the South Zone camp for Indian probables under Amar Bahadur in 1985. Strongly built and a capable defender, he did enough to get into the National team for the 1985 SAF Games in Dhaka. But it was in 1986 that his career began to flourish as he represented the country in the Nehru Cup in Thiruvananthapuram and the Seoul Asian Games.

The late eighties brought forth some of his glorious moments. Sathyan's exploits with the once formidable Kerala Police team are well documented in the Indian football's history. He was a key member of the Thiruvanthapuram team, which won the Federation Cup twice in 1989-90 and 90-91. From Kerala Police, he went to Mohun Bagan in 1992-93 for two seasons before returning to Kerala Police again and then moving over to Indian Bank.

The 40-yard goal

The AIFF vice-president, C.R. Visswanathan, who travelled with the Indian team as manager during the 1986 Merdeka tournament recalled "the stupendous 40-yard goal that Sathyan scored to help India beat South Korea in the quarterfinals. It's still fresh in my mind.

"A very disciplined player and modest to the core, I have always thought of him as a footballer worthy of emulation. His death is a great loss to Indian football," he said in his tribute.

Mr Visswanathan was present at the Chromepet hospital, from where his mortal remains were taken to his birth place near Thalassery.

Sathyan became the captain of the Indian team in 1991 for the World Cup qualifiers in Beirut and Seoul. "As the then AIFF secretary, I can say Sathyan won the captaincy by his sheer performance. He was a solid presence in the defence," said P.P. Lakshmanan from Kannur, while expressing his sadness. He remained skipper till 1995 and during this period India played around 10 international matches. He retired in 1997 and by then Sathyan had played around 80 matches for the country.

Shocking

The Indian Bank sports secretary, D.V. Sundar, said it was a "shocking end. I have lost a humble younger brother." Mr. Sundar said he had always known Sathyan as a committed player, disciplined and humble.

Sathyan was adjudged the AIFF player of the year in 1995, and that perhaps was the highest recognition for this largely unsung hero of Indian football. He had begun to make a mark in coaching, and was assistant to Stephen Constantine in 2002 when the India toured South Korea.

It was ironic that his end came at a time when the AIFF was finalising a benefit match for him sometime next month between an Indian XI and a Sri Lankan XI in Kochi. The AIFF president, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, had agreed for such a match. "I had conveyed this news to him from Mr Visswanathan only four days back," said Sundar.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport