The Indian national football team was one of the best Asian teams in the 1950s/60s and the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics was of course one of the most memorable tournaments.
India finished 4th in the Olympics Football Tournament which was a competition for senior national teams in those days.
Mohun Bagan striker Samar Banerjee was the skipper of the Indian team and players like P.K. Banerjee, Neville D’Souza, Peter Thangaraj were members of the squad. Neville D’Souza was India’s star performer with four goals.
There are not many pictures and video footages left from those days. But I found a video clip which is a tribute to the Australian national team with a few pictures and comments on their match against India.
India faced the hosts in the quarterfinal at the Melbourne Olympic Park in front of 7,413 fans on December 1, 1956. Coach Abdul Rahim Syed’s team defeated the Socceroos 4-2 courtesy to a hat-trick by Neville D’Souza and one goal by Krishna Kittu.
India went down to Yugoslavia (1-4) in the semis and they also lost the Bronze Medal Match against Bulgaria (0-3).
Watch the SBS Tribute to the Australian team and catch a few glimpses of the Indian team…