Sunil Chhetri bowed with folded hands. The rest of the team followed suit. They repeated it at every corner of the ground.
“India, India” resonated in chorus. It could have been mistaken by someone outside the stadium as fans egging on a cricket team at the Wankhede Stadium. But it was, in fact, the Indian football team that was taking a victory lap at the Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri on Saturday. It was the Indian football team’s way of appreciating the vociferous support of the evening.
India were expected to give Puerto Rico a fight. Maybe, the Blue Tigers were expected to even pull off an upset. That they could assault the opposition with such ferocity was out of question. Throughout the 90 minutes, the backing of the home fans had played a role in a 152nd-ranked India mauling a 114th-ranked Puerto Rican side.
A subdued beginning
It had been 61 years since international football was last played in Mumbai. Thus, there was innocence in the way the crowd supported their boys on the field. But that innocence was attractive. And above all, it carried a promise – that the day football becomes a regular feature in the city, Mumbai will boast of one of the strongest fan bases. It also issued a warning – that if a naïve crowd could rattle a strong opposition, imagine what a seasoned set of fans will manage to do.
It was just the eighth minute when an atrocious tackle from Jackichand Singh gifted Puerto Rico a penalty. The crowd was stunned into silence. The game had barely started. That the opposition was a stronger outfit had already been playing on everyone’s mind. And now they had a penalty. The crowd did not know how to react; some of them booed, the others let off screams of “Come on, India”. But nothing helped. Emanuel Sanchez put the ball in the back of the net. Puerto Rico 1, India 0. The crowd were further confused. They were scarily silenced.
“They are almost fifty ranks better than us. This had to happen,” said a young boy to his friend in the stands. “But we have almost the entire game to turn it around,” responded the friend.
"Let’s go, India"
Play had resumed post the goal. The Indians tried to establish a pattern of play in the midfield. But the crowd did not have an equivalent of a “Shout for England” or a La Roja Baila (The Red Ball – Spain’s official theme song for Euro 2016) chant. They wanted to cheer but they did not know how to. So they came up with “Let’s go, India”. They repeated it vehemently. The 6900-odd fans in the stadium repeated it as if they were all forced to do so, on gunpoint. But it worked. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the captain for the night, and his boys found rhythm, almost in tune with the latest chant.
The momentum built. Chhetri’s direct free-kick hit the post, but Narayan Das was there to tap it in. Every single person in the stands went ballistic. They wanted to celebrate the goal, but did not have a football chant to do so. So they went back to the famed “India, India” chant. It was more cricket than football, but the stadium was shaking. And, maybe, so were the Puerto Ricans
Had England been playing, with all their history and tradition, the fans might have switched from “Shout for England” to “Three Lions”. But there would be no end to the singing. India is still embracing football and its ways of fandom. So even after the goal, and the initial celebration, the volume fell.
Let's try a song
But, aware of the impact their support had had, the fans felt the need to continue the singing, to reignite the spark. A group decided to fall upon the old patriotic favourite, Vande Mataram. Few songs have the kind of patriotic feel to them that the national song carries. The stadium swayed to the song. The team swayed with it on the field. And, through another Chhetri freekick, took the lead. “India, India” – it was back to the routine for the crowd.
The Mumbai crowd could sense fear in the opposition camp. Whether the opposition would understand a word of it or not, they next sang a popular Hindi film number – “In the Mumbai, we are the bhais (dons)”. Dons they were all turning out to be, bullying the more seasoned Puerto Ricans with their dominating support.
Already jet lagged due to a late arrival in the country, the onslaught from the crowd unnerved the depleted Puerto Rican outfit. Chhetri found Jeje Lalpekhlua with a beautiful cross, who went on to find the net with a header.
Bang, bang, bang. India had roared back after conceding the early goal to go into half time with a two-goal advantage.
Louder, louder, louder
In countries where football is well established, they even have songs for star players. At the Mumbai Football Arena, the fans welcomed the team into the tunnel by chanting names of the star players like “Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu” and “Sunil Chhetri, Sunil Chhetri”. It was effective for now, but there is no reason why the next time the Indian team walks out onto this turf, there will be player-personalised chants. There was a promise in the momentum the crowd had picked up. There was hope in the unified voice of the fans in the stands.
A mix of all the songs sung during the first half kick-started the next 45 minutes. The decibel levels only soared. The Indians raised the level of their game. And, the Puetro Ricans struggled to find answers. Even Singh, who had conceded the initial penalty, scored and won over the crowd. “Jackechand, Jackichand’, they yelled. At the corner post, before he took the kick, he applauded the crowd. The crowd, in response, yelled his name even louder.
“I like this stadium because the fans are pretty close to the playing surface. It really helps create a wonderful atmosphere inside the stadium,” captain Sandhu had expressed ahead of the game. It was this wonderful atmosphere created by the supporters that had played a major part in carrying India towards a sensational victory.
And it was a crowd still finding ways of manifesting its love for the national football team. Still, it had helped the Men in Blue annihilate Puerto Rico. The day this crowd has found its football voice, the Indian team will rarely go down without a fight.
