Rahim Sa’ab: The Pioneer of the Golden Era of Indian Football
Reneeka Chatterjee
B.Sc. S.Y. (2022-25)
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes.
Image Credit: news18.com The real VS the reel Rahim Sa’ab
Ajay Devgn’s latest Bollywood release Maidaan features the actor playing the role of Syed Abdul Rahim, who served as the coach of the Indian national football team from 1950 to 1963. The film depicts Sir Syed Abdul Rahim’s journey as the national coach, and his invaluable contributions to Indian football. The best thing about the film is that it does not glorify its protagonist; and highlights the protagonist’s challenges and failures, besides his achievements.
Under Syed Abdul Rahim’s able tutelage, India won the Gold medal in the Asian Games in 1962, defeating one of the most formidable teams in the world, South Korea. India also qualified for the semi-finals at the Melbourne Olympics football tournament in 1956. In the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, India became the first Asian country to reach the semi-finals at the Olympics in football. Syed Abdul Rahim, popularly known as “Rahim Sa’ab”, is someone who transformed Indian football at a global level. Under his leadership, the Indian national football team achieved several milestones in various prestigious tournaments all over the world.
The film Maidaan features the numerous challenges that Rahim Sa’ab faced throughout his tenure as the national coach. Rahim Sa’ab was born in 1909 in Hyderabad. He became involved in football coaching in the late 1940s. However, he became the coach of the Indian national football team only in 1950. He passed away in 1963 at the age of 53 due to lung cancer.
Rahim Sa’ab was known for his innovative coaching methods, styles, techniques, and formations. He was a man who was capable of identifying hidden talent and providing the players with opportunities to showcase their talent on the playground. He selected and nurtured several talented footballers from different parts of the country, and taught them the values of discipline, teamwork, and perseverance.
Image Credit: facebook.com : Chuni Goswami, who played as a striker, with Jarnail Singh, who played as a center-back defender.
Rahim Sa’ab faced innumerable hurdles during his career as the national football coach. Some of these challenges included limited resources, inadequate infrastructure, limited funds, lack of support from the Football Federation, lack of faith in his coaching prowess due to multiple losses in the initial years, lack of support from the Government of India and from the Indian Finance Ministry, and so on. Rahim Sa’ab’s determination and his contributions to Indian football shall always remain priceless!
However, what kept him determined was his dream. He dreamt of creating the world’s best football team in India, and he dreamt that his team could win the gold medal at the Olympic Games or at the Asian Games. His desire was so strong that it ignited a bright spark in his heart, and that is what helped him stay focused and headstrong, despite falling ill in the early 1960s.
The “Golden Era of Indian Football” began with the appointment of Syed Abdul Rahim as the national coach and ended with his unfortunate death in 1963. The Golden Era of Indian Football began in the early 1950s and ended in the early 1960s. During this period of about a decade, Indian football witnessed massive growth and significant achievements.
One of the most significant achievements of Indian football was India’s performance at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The Indian football team reached the semi-finals and finished fourth overall, under the leadership of Rahim Sa’ab. Till date, this remains India’s best performance in football at the Olympic Games. During this period, many European commentators called India the “Brazil of Asia” for the team’s achievements and successes.
In 1951, India won the gold medal at the Asian Games in New Delhi. This victory highly popularised the sport of football in the country. India participated in the inaugural Asian Cup in 1956, and emerged runners-up. This popularised India’s status and position as a nation that excels in football, all over the continent of Asia.
Furthermore, India bagged the Gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, and this was a historic achievement for Indian football. After repeated efforts and tireless labour, the Indian national football team won the Gold medal under the able guidance of Rahim Sa’ab. His dedication and vision helped football in India reach the greatest heights. His legacy also inspired many youngsters and football enthusiasts to pursue the sport and start playing.
Football is a sport that Indians don’t talk much about, or don’t know much about. The immense popularity of cricket in the country has somehow marred the popularity of other sports such as hockey or football. Football is possibly the only sport in which you write your destiny with your feet, and not with your hands. I strongly believe that nothing teaches you discipline the way playing any sport does.
Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org : Syed Abdul Rahim Sahab
There are a number of lessons that we all can learn from Rahim Sa’ab’s coaching styles and techniques, and from his moral values. Firstly, he was a man of great vision, caliber and determination. Rahim Sa’ab, right from the beginning, dreamt of popularising Indian football at an international level. Not too many people know about Rahim Sa’ab’s legacy, but he was undoubtedly an iconic sporting figure who the Indian football team could least afford to lose!
There is a dialogue in the film Maidaan which loosely translates to: “India is not the largest country in the world. India does not have the biggest Army in the world. India is not even the richest country in the world. Half of the world’s population does not even know about the existence of the country. However, football can help India achieve global recognition.” Rahim Sa’ab remained steadfast and headstrong, and worked tirelessly to help the Indian football team acquire international fame.
Secondly, Rahim Sa’ab was known for his innovative coaching techniques. He was a man who did not hesitate to experiment with his players, or take risks. He was a tactful coach who introduced new methods, new formations, and new strategies whenever the team performed poorly, to improve the team’s performance in the upcoming tournaments. Taking risks, experimenting, thinking outside the box, and moving out of one’s comfort zone, can help people achieve success in any field.
Thirdly, Rahim Sa’ab stressed on the importance of teamwork. He taught his players to play unitedly as a team. He believed that anyone who plays alone or plays for personal glory often plays against the rest of the team. Since his players came from different parts of the country, and from different cultural and financial backgrounds, he tried to foster a sense of unity and collaboration among all of them. Football is a team sport, and understanding the values of collaboration and cooperation is crucial in a game like football.
Another unique factor about Rahim Sa’ab was that he selected players who could play from all positions. He chose players who could defend as well as attack on the ground. His aim was to create a capable team that comprises players who can cover each other’s weaknesses. He wanted his players to not only contribute to the team through their strengths, but to also cover the weaknesses of the other players in the team, in order to create an undefeatable team.
Image Credit: firstpost.com :The Indian National Football Team (1962 Asian Games in Jakarta)
Fourthly, Rahim Sa’ab taught his team members discipline, hard work, and labour. He wanted all his players to remain focused, determined, and industrious. A strong sense of discipline and work ethic is possibly the single-most important thing that Rahim Sa’ab instilled in his players. Undivided discipline, tireless labour, and work ethic are values that helped all the players perform well individually so that the team’s overall performance stood out at various sporting competitions.
Fifthly, Rahim Sa’ab was a man who displayed immense resilience in the face of tough times. Rahim Sa’ab faced constant challenges throughout his career as the national coach. Lack of infrastructure, lack of funds, lack of resources, continuous criticism, lack of support from the All-India Football Federation, lack of support from the Government of India, and his deteriorating health, were a few challenges that he faced. Despite these, he displayed immense resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity.
Lastly, Rahim Sa’ab always believed that there was a lot of untapped talent in the country. While the Football Federation wanted more players from Bengal to be a part of the Indian national football team, and while they wanted popular players from popular football clubs in Bengal to be a part of the national team, Rahim Sa’ab discouraged the idea of glorifying any particular state, sporting club, or sporting league, while selecting his players for the national football team. He handpicked and trained several young footballers from different parts of the country and provided them with golden opportunities. This quality simply added to his greatness!
He never thought twice before investing in new talent, or before experimenting with different kinds of players, or with different kinds of footballing techniques and tactics. While players like Pradip Kumar Banerjee and Chuni Goswami hailed from Bengal, Rahim Sa’ab also selected and popularised footballers such as Tulsidas Balaram. Tulsidas Balaram was a player from the slums of Secunderabad, who became one of the biggest football icons of his times and continues to be a household name even now.
Image Credit: telegraphindia.com : (From left to right) Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee, and Tulsidas Balaram at the Maidan (playground in Kolkata)
Peter Thangaraj played as the goalkeeper in the Indian national football team in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and in the 1960 Rome Olympics. In 1958, he was voted as Asia’s best goalkeeper. He played as the goalkeeper in the Asian Games in 1962 in Jakarta, in which India won the precious Gold medal. Legendary strikers Chuni Goswami and P. K. Banerjee remarked that Thangaraj’s long kicks after preventing the opponents from striking a goal often gave them some of the best goals in their career.
Rahim Sa’ab faced a number of failures at various global tournaments throughout his tenure as the national coach. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, India appeared for the first time at the Olympic football tournament but was eliminated in the quarterfinals. India played against Yugoslavia and lost by a huge margin. The margin was 10 – 1. Though India’s debut appearance at the Olympic football tournament did garner some attention, Rahim Sa’ab was widely criticised for India’s poor performance.
Similarly, in the 1960 Rome Olympics, India failed to progress beyond the group stage, and Rahim Sa’ab was once again severely criticised for India’s poor performance. Although his effective coaching methods continued to shape the team’s performance, he continued to face repeated criticism and backlash from the Football Authorities in India.
After Rahim Sa’ab passed away in 1963 due to lung cancer, India never qualified for a single football match at the Olympic Games. It has been 64 years since then. After India’s failure at the 1960 Rome Olympics, India won the Gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games in Indonesia. Had Rahim Sa’ab not passed away in 1963, India would have qualified for the 1964 Olympic Games, and smoothly excelled.
Syed Abdul Rahim’s coaching innovations, his styles and techniques, and his philosophies about football, transformed and revolutionised the sport of football in India. His legacy as one of the greatest football coaches in India, and his legacy as one of the Fathers of Indian Football, remain unparalleled till date. Those who are fond of football remember his contributions to Indian football with utmost passion and fervour.
The film Maidaan beautifully traces the journey, the struggles, the failures, and the achievements of Sir Syed Abdul Rahim. Ajay Devgn delivers a praiseworthy performance in this technically brilliant sports-drama biopic that has football written all over it. The film makes use of top-notch production design, set design, and cinematography to bring alive the magic of the Golden Era of Indian Football on the big-screen. This sports biopic is a delightful watch; and if you are a sports enthusiast, the film is definitely a must-watch for you!
Image Credit: siasat.com : Ajay Devgn’s portrayal of Rahim Sa’ab’s character in Maidaan
Had Rahim Sa’ab lived a few years longer, India would have definitely qualified for the World Cup in football in the years that followed. There’s a fair chance that India would have achieved greater milestones in the sport of football in various international tournaments. Rahim Sa’ab has left behind an everlasting and immortal legacy in the field of Indian football. One of the players from the 1962 Asian Games team, Arun Ghosh, exclaimed, “Rahim Saheb was like a God to us”. One of the midfielders from the 1962 Asian Games team, Fortunato Franco, quite rightly remarked, “With him (Syed Abdul Rahim), he took Indian football to the grave”.