The year 2007 will be remembered for Indian football breaking its longdrought for an international title by claiming the Nehru Cup on home turf.
The success in front of packed galleries at Delhi's Ambedkar Stadium gave afresh lease of life to Indian football which had largely been relegated to thebackground of public consciousness with more and more youngsters identifyingthemselves with European teams and their players.
Though the competition India faced was not of the highest standard in Asia thehosts beat Syria, ranked 113th in the world, in the final it achieved its aim ofmaking a forward thrust in international football.
It resulted in English coach Bob Houghton and the national team players beingrecognised by a much larger section of the public, whereas only Bhaichung Bhutiawas assured of a dedicated following earlier.
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The national squad benefited from a fortnight-long exposure-cum-training tour toPortugal which showed in their performance.
The team was expected to build on the success and improve its standing in Asia.However, it fell in the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cupgoing down to Lebanon over home and away legs.
A 1-4 deficit in West Asia proved too big a hurdle to climb and India couldmanage only a 2-2 result in the home leg in Goa.
However, India's standing in the game improved as can be gauged by the year endranking of 143, compared to 157 in December 2006.
The visit of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Asian Football Confederation chiefMohammad Bin Hammam to inaugurate the All India Football Federation headquartersalso added to the positive vibes.
With a significant number of international matches on the card, as desired bythe head coach, Indian players had the opportunity to make considerableimprovement in their game.
The year was also significant for the launch of the I-League, a new version ofthe National Football League which ran for more than a decade. It is hoped thenew competition will bring professionalism in the domestic game.
To that end, AIFF has decided to bar national team players from turning out fortheir clubs in state competitions and local leagues to preserve them forinternational games and major domestic tournaments such as the I-League andFederation Cup.
It is one of the changes Houghton wants desperately as he tries to form a strongnational side.
In the qualifiers for the football competition in the 2008 Beijing Olympics,India finished fourth in Group E behind strong teams like Iraq, North Korea andThailand.
India had prevailed over Myanmar via a penalty shootout in the preliminarystage.
There was heartbreak for Mumbai outfit Mahindra United, which narrowly missed asemi-final berth in the AFC Cup after conceding a late penalty at Lebanon's AlNejmeh.
After going down 1-2 in Delhi, they recovered from a 0-2 deficit in the away legand were on course to go through at 3-2 before the late equaliser by the hosts.
The other Indian team in the competition, Mohun Bagan, had bowed out after thegroup stage itself.
