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Recollecting the best times
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The Kolkata Veterans Sports Club celebrations provided chance for football Olympians and veterans to recollect the golden era of the sport
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Pradip Choudhary and Leslie W. Claudius
FOR THE five Olympians from Hyderabad - A. Salam, D. Kanna, Zulfiquar Ali, Hamid and S.S. Hakeem (son of the illustrious coach Raheem) - it was an encounter on November 29 and 30 (2003) at the famous East Bengal ground, as part of the Kolkata Veterans Sports Club celebrations, which they will not forget that easily. For, it saw them rub the shoulders with the best and a virtual who's who of Indian football.
To commemorate the occasion, the organisers even hosted a tournament for the four big teams - Mohammadan Sporting Club, Mohun Bagan Club, East Bengal Club and Veterans Sports Club - which again gave the aficionados a glimpse of the class of these outstanding footballers. Just consider the names assembled for the momentous occasion, as former India captain Victor Amalraj rightly put it. The legendary Ahmed Khan, widely believed to be the East Bengal's striker of the century, the one and the only Sailen Manna, goalkeeper Peter Thangaraj who took the art to new heights with his innovative, long clearances, Lesile Claudius, the creative Chandan Banerjee and, of course, artistes Chuni Goswami, P.K. Banerjee, T. Balaram and Nikhil Nandy to name a few.
Ahmed Khan, Victor Amalraj and Mewalal
The names take one down memory lane through the pages of India's golden era in football. Amalraj says that the bonhomie was something to be seen to be believed. The expected queries - `how's life?', `Do you remember that match?', `What was your best performance?' `Can you recollect how we scored that goal?' - dotted the encounters. Ahmed Khan recalled that the best match he played was against the Swedish FC Goteborg in 1953 at this venue only. Fading memory of some of the all-time greats didn't give their fans a peep into the history straight from the horse's mouth. A `padayatra' which these footballers took out, as part of their endeavour to inspire younger generation, was another instance which touched the emotional chords of the soccer crazy fans of Kolkata.
But the mere appearance of these sportspersons was just enough to transport their moods into a world of fantasy. Quite fittingly, Mohammadan Sporting emerged winners beating East Bengal 3-2 via penalties. When the West Bengal Finance Minister Ashim Das Gupta presided and distributed mementoes to the 21 Olympians and host of other internationals he was only recognising in a small way the immense contribution of these stars who twinkled when there was little to rave about on facilities and incentives front.
Truly, a memorable occasion to remind the nation of the golden pages of Indian football history!
V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
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