Calcutta maidan

AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey: Fifty years ago, a rag-tag bunch of Indian youngsters made history by winning the 1974 AFC Youth Championship jointly with Iran. As Indian football gets ready to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that triumph on April 30, 1974, Shabbir Ali, captain of the Indian U20 team, said team spirit was the reason for that milestone moment in Bangkok, Thailand.

It was due to the strong team spirit that the India U-20 Men’s national team went on to create history.

The India national U20 team, comprising a bunch of unknown boys, was up against the odds even before it set foot in Bangkok as there was uncertainty about whether they would be able to travel for the event despite a month-long training camp in Patiala.