Atletico de Kolkata (ATK)
defender Arnab Mondal attributes his superlative performances in the
Indian Super League (ISL) to the improved facilities in the inaugural
tournament and says the enhanced infrastructure should be replicated in
tournaments like the I-league and the Federation Cup for Indian football
to rise in FIFA rankings.
Languishing at the 171st spot (out of
209) in global rankings, Indian football is at its lowest ebb and the
All India Football Federation (AIFF) launched the ISL with the objective
of ushering in a fresh wave of interest in the world's most popular
sport in a country dominated by cricket.
The efforts witnessed a
marked improvement in off-field infrastructure and Mandal lauded the
professionalism that characterised the ISL, which he said was earlier
lacking in Indian football.
"We won't get the same facilities in
the I-league. If you have to really change something then change the
whole of it," Mandal told IANS in an interview.
"Yes,
professionalism has helped as it was a well managed league. We had to
play matches at short intervals. Yet we never quite faced much
inconvenience."
The 25-year-old also highlighted the need for a "grassroot development programme" and infrastructure uplift of the local clubs.
"We
have to improve the standards of the local clubs, start grassroot
programmes and develop the infrastructure; ISL is only there for three
months in a year. For the bulk of the year, we have to remain content
with facilities which are not as good," said the footballer who was
recently involved in East Bengal's flop Federation Cup campaign.
Mandal
said his own performance improved markedly in the superior
infrastructure. He was one of the few Indian stars of the tournament and
led ATK's triumphant march.
The talented defender first came
into prominence in city club United SC and since then his stock has
risen steadily as he made international appearances and become East
Bengal's backline mainstay.
He forged a formidable central
defensive pairing with Spaniard Josemi for ATK and was praised by coach
Antonio Habas and marquee skipper Luis Garcia.
"ISL has given
birth to a new Indian football. Mentally and physically it was a
challenge for the players to play against their foreign counterparts.
Greats of the game are coming to India to play for Indian clubs. No one
could've thought about this before," he said.
"It is overall a
platform for players like us, a platform that is recognised at the world
stage," says Mandal, who took to football at the tender age of eight.
Mandal's
exploits earned the praise of team co-owner and former Indian cricket
captain Sourav Ganguly, who claimed that reigning La Liga champions and
ATK co-owners, Atletico de Madrid, wanted the 1.79 m tall player in
their ranks for the next season.
Though Mandal expressed happiness at this, he said he was completely unaware of the development.
"I have not had any talks with Atletico Madrid. I know nothing about this."
The
lanky footballer, who came up through Mohammedan SC's youth setup, also
said that he benefited a lot from the ISL, getting the opportunity to
work with "inspirational" Garcia and "perfect defensive leader" Josemi.
"We
always looked up to him (Garcia) for inspiration. He encouraged the
whole team every time we were down and out; he knew what to tell when,
to boost our morale," he remarked.
"Josemi taught me a lot of
things. Whenever he told me anything, I always listened very carefully,
so that I could implement the skills on the ground when needed."
Coach Habas' aggressive strategies and animated character enthused energy in the team, he said.
"Habas
was very aggressive. He always put the team ahead of any player; at
team meetings he was a very animated character who would make sure we
understood all his strategies."
After a bright start, ATK were in
the news for the wrong reasons as reports of tantrums from Ethiopian
striker Fikru Teferra and Garcia emerged. Mandal admitted those
disruptive actions "unsettled" the players but credited the team
management for handling the situation well.
"Yes we were a bit
unsettled when such incidents took place, but we were mentally charged
up by the coach to just focus on the game and play to our potential."
(Debdoot Das can be contacted at [email protected]
