Published: April 30, 2026 at 6:52 pm
It is now 52 years since India have won a football trophy at the Asian level. The historical achievement happened on April 30, 1974, when India, under the captaincy of Shabbir Ali, had jointly won the Asian Football Confederation Youth title with Iran.
The period between 1948 to 1970 is often considered as the Golden Era of Indian football. The period saw the Indian football team win two Asian Games gold medals (1951 and 1962) and one bronze (1970). India also made their AFC Asian Cup debut in 1964 and finished runners-up, their best finish in the competition.
Shabbir Ali scored five goals in the tournament
After the 1970s, India had few successes on the field. One of the notable ones was the 1974 Asian Youth Championship in Bangkok with Iran. It was under the captaincy of Shabbir Ali that the Indian junior team achieved this success. Ali went on to score five goals in the tournament and became one of India’s most dependable strikers.
The tournament had 16 teams, and India was clubbed with Laos, Burma (currently Myanmar) and Hong Kong. Initially none of the foreign experts and media thought India had a chance. They thought India was just a participant to make up the numbers. But the Indian coaches Arun Ghosh and the late SA Salam told the players to take one step at a time. And those ‘one step at a time’ created history
Hyderabad’s Shabbir Ali, who is the first footballer to be given the Dhyan Chand award, pens the following text for Khel Khiladis.com.
https://x.com/khelkhiladis/status/2049839688522096678?s=20
The last time that India won a trophy (jointly) at the Asian level happened on April 30, 1974. It was one of the glorious moments of Indian football because we were declared joint winners and shared the Asian Football Confederation Youth (Under 19) championship with Iran in Bangkok, Thailand. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was highly impressed with our performance and praised us lavishly.
Team determined to change the script
The national under-19 team had taken part in the tournament several times on earlier occasions but had failed to qualify out of the group stage and reach the quarterfinals knockout stage. But in 1974, we were determined to change the script and take India to a higher level.
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The usual preparatory one-month camp for the tournament kicked off at the NSNIS ground in Patiala. In the camp were 35 to 40 footballers under the stewardship of the coaches Syed Abdus Salaam, the 1956 Olympian, and Arun Ghosh, the defender who featured in the 1960 Olympics. Dilip Kumar Ghosh was named the manager of the squad.
Since I was the senior most member of the team, the burden of captaincy was thrust on my wiry shoulders. Prasun Banerjee was named the vice-captain. Our team spirit was good. We wanted to spring a surprise on our rivals as well as our supporters back home who were not expecting much from us.
We mostly played with a 4-2-4 formation in the camp as well as in the tournament. There was the acrobatic Prashanta Moitra in goal, Amit Dasgupta and Devanand as stopper backs and CC Jacob and Dilip Palit as side backs. Both Jacob and Palit were experts who were always ready to overlap and aid the attackers.
In midfield, Devraj was a workaholic while Prasun was the creative one. We also had fantastic ball players and fast-moving wingers in Mohammed Yakoob and Lateefuddin while Harjinder and myself made up a wonderful and nippy striking pair. Our bench strength was also formidable.
Plan was simple, says Shabbir
When it came to strategy, our plan was simple. We wanted to take the lead in the first half and defend it till the final whistle. This plan was highly successful. In most of the matches, we were 1-0 up at half-time and won by that margin.
But even when we topped the group, beating Laos and Burma both by 1-0 margins and drawing with Hong Kong 2-2, we thought that we would never get past Singapore in the quarterfinal!
I scored a goal apiece in the first two games and in the quarterfinal. Yakoob also scored a brace in our third game. With every match our performance and confidence improved by leaps and bounds. We fought hard against Singapore and goalie Prashanta emerged as our hero in the 1-1 (4-1) tie-breaker win.
We faced an uphill task against the ‘hot favourite’ Thailand in the semifinal. But we rose to the occasion and pipped the hosts 2-1. Yakoob and I once again found the target.
Biggest test was against Iran in the final on April 30
Then came our biggest test. We had to play against Iran in the final. They had pumped in 10 goals in the group stage. Everyone not only tipped Iran to win but said they would teach us a footballing lesson.
When our team bus was moving alongside Iran’s bus and heading towards the stadium for the final, we heard them singing, chatting and making merry. It indicated that they were brimming with confidence. Our coaches Salaam bhai and Arun-da commented, “The way they are behaving, it looks like they are taking us for granted. They are not showing us any respect, we must show them we are no pushovers!”
Living legends: Captain Shabbir Ali, CC Jacob, Dilip Palit, Shishir Guha Dastidar, Ranjit Das (Gobinda), and SP Kumar were felicitated by the AIFF at the Hindustan Hotel in Kolkata on April 30, 2024
In the match we fought for every ball, never slackening our intensity. Iran took the lead but Lateefuddin Najam equalised for us. The score was 1-1 at full time. In the first minute of extra-time, I scored to give ourselves a lead. It was my fifth goal of the tournament. But Iran equalised in the dying minutes of the game to make it 2-2.
What tea would you prefer? Darjeeling or Assam? Ali had asked Hyderabad’s Shabbir
Thereafter, it was decided by the organisers that India and Iran would share the trophy. So, April 30th, 1974 was a glorious day for India and we still remember it vividly even though 52 years have passed.
AIFF celebrated 50 years of triumph in 2024
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) organised a grand function to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Indian junior team’s victory in the Asian junior championship in 1974 in Kolkata on April 30.
Six players including the then skipper Shabbir Ali were able to attend but three others including Arun Ghosh could not come. Arun Ghosh was suffering from ill health. Harjinder Singh and Tapan Bose could not attend.
“I am grateful to AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey for arranging the programme,” said Shabbir Ali.
Speaking on the occasion Chaubey said “When I began my footballing journey, I had heard that the 1970s were a golden period in Indian football. I would like to convey my gratitude to Shabbir da for reminding me of April 30, 1974, so that we could celebrate the 50th anniversary of this famous victory.”
Shabbir Ali appointed chief coach of Citadel Godavari Legends FC, Raza is assistant coach
The squad that played in the AFC Youth tournament:
Goalkeepers: Prasanta Mitra, Chandan Chakravarty.
Defenders: C C Jacob, Joaquim Baretto, Dilip Palit, Amit Dasgupta, B Dayanand, Chinmoy Chatterjee.
Midfielders: A C Devraj, Prasun Banerjee (vice-captain), P Kumar, Tapan Bose.
Forwards: Harjinder Singh, Shabbir Ali (captain), Latifuddin Najam, Sisir Guha Dastidar, Mohammed Yaqoob, Gobinda Das.
Coaches: S A Salam and Arun Ghosh.
Manager: Dilip Ghosh.
