1964 Asian Cup: When Indian flag flew high on the banks of Mediterranean

Former India player Sukumar Samajpati hasn’t met his ex-teammate Inder Singh for the last 30 years. Yet Samajpati, a versatile right winger in the 1960s with deadly dodges, vividly remembers the passes he made with inside-right Singh to leave the rival defenders stunned in the 1964 Asian Cup final rounds played in Israel.
“Playing the Asian Cup in 1964 was sheer joy. It happened 60 years ago, but is still fresh in my memory,” remembered octogenarian Samajpati from his south Kolkata home. Yes, we could not win the title and finished runners-up, but India played rousing football throughout the tournament in all three matches. Inder was a young boy, but his display was marvellous,” Samajpati was quoted by the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) official website as saying.
The fans and followers of Indian football weren’t spellbound by the Blue Tigers’ second-place finish in the continental championship. India were the champion in the 1962 Asian Games and one of the favourites to seal the Asian Cup as well.
However, it didn’t go according the plan, as Chuni Goswami and his side fell short and had to settle for the runners-up trophy. But overall, Goswami’s side showed an eye-catching performance throughout the league.
A year before this, Indian football suffered after their long-time National Coach, SA Rahim died of cancer at the age of 53. As they say, the Indian football was orphaned at that time. Under Rahim’s coaching, the Blue Tigers won two Asian Games gold medals and sealed a fourth place in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
After Rahim passed away, the AIFF decided to hand over the responsibility to a foreign coach for the first time. Englishman Harry Wright was assigned to coach and train the prospective coaches and was given the job of training the 19-member squad.
The Indian team had many stars in their team at that time. Players like Peter Thangaraj, Jarnail Singh, Arun Ghosh, Ram Bahadur, Chuni Goswami, M. Yousuf Khan, FA Franco, Prasanta Sinha, and others were household names for their exploits on the pitch. Joining them in the squad were Syed Nayeemuddin and Inder Singh, who went on to serve the National team for many years to come.
India didn’t have to play the qualifiers as all the other teams in the group withdrew from the competition. The team travelled to Israel to play the final rounds of the 1964 Asian Cup, but they could barely imagine the devastating news waiting for them on the morning of India’s opening tie against South Korea in Haifa on the slopes of Mount Carmel on May 27, 1964. As Team India woke up, the tragic news of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s death came.
The team lost all motivation to play and asked the team manager, Wing Commander Kalyan Kumar Ganguly, to get the match postponed. However, the postponement wasn’t possible due to a tight schedule.
“Finally, we took the field (Kiryat Eliezer Stadium) wearing black armbands. We weren’t totally focused because of obvious reasons, but we still managed to beat South Korea 2-0,” recalls Samajpati.
Two days later, Asian champions India squared off against hosts Israel in Tel Aviv. The hosts scored once in each half to win 2-0. A few days later, India returned to winning ways at the same venue after they defeated Hong Kong 3-1. Inder Singh, Samajpati, and skipper Chuni Goswami were on the scoresheet for India. The victory ensured India’s runners-up spot in the Asian Cup.
It was a commendable finish from Team India, but many felt the result would have been brighter if Coach Wright played his cards rightfully. His selection of the playing eleven before every match was always in question and raised eyebrows within the team.
“Sixty years have gone by; many of my teammates have bid adieu to the world. Only a few like me are still there to share those moments we had in the Asian Cup,” Samajpati added.
“Will the posterity remember us? Will they know that once a bunch of amazing players donned the national jersey and dominated Asian football?” asked the winger, whose back centres always reached the strikers at the right spots.”
“Maybe yes. Maybe not. But we did our best to keep the Indian flag flying high on the banks of the Mediterranean,” Samajpati concluded.