Bengaluru have put India on world map, says Baichung Bhutia

Saying that Indian football was headed in the right direction, former India captain Baichung Bhutia felt Bengaluru FC had put the country on the world map by finishing runners-up in the AFC Cup.

Albert Roca’s boys became the first team from India to make the final of the elite tournament losing the title clash to Iraq’s Air Force Club 1-0 last Saturday.

“It’s certainly a big achievement by Bengaluru FC. Everyone around the country has started talking about it. This is what will take the game forward. The boys have told the rest of Asia and the world that we are there and can compete,” Bhutia told this paper on the sidelines of the launch of Back to the Roots — a book by Shaji Prabhakaran (regional development officer for Fifa in South and Central Asia) — in New Delhi on Monday.

Bhutia, who turns 40 next month, was all praise for former team mate and Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri. “Over the years Sunil has grown as a player and is mature now. It was really good to see the way he used his leadership skills to take his team to the final.”

Bhutia, who retired from international football in 2011, hoped that the Under-17 World Cup would attract youngsters to the game and encourage them to take up the sport.

“We need to build infrastructure for the growth of the game and for that to happen, the government should allocate the right budget to sports. It’s not sufficient at the moment,” he felt.