Did India really score Nigeria 99-1? I remember growing up with this popular fable that India had an epic battle with our football team where India used black magic to destroy the Nigeria Football team so much so that even the balls became lions when shot towards our goal post, a Nigerian player allegedly “died” in this match after scoring the only goal. It would shock you to note that it was only recently did i get the truth behind this story; What is the truth? It never happened, there was no such match, i was a bit disappointed though, because a part of me wanted this epic battle to be true. So what really happened? Why does india not participate in world Cup matches and games of soccer? Isn’t it due to their legendary black magic power? No, it’s not. Here is the real reason why India doesn’t seem to be active on the soccer game

They qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time in 24 years, but lost all three group games, scoring three goals and giving up 13.

A large problem is that football is a distant third in popularity in the country. Cricket is, by far, the most popular sport in India. Field hockey is second – it is actually the official national sport, and India has won eight Olympic gold medals.

However, the team was much better in the past. They qualified for the 1950 World Cup, but were not allowed to play in bare feet. They won the 1951 Asian Games and played in the 1952 Olympics – the last tournament they were allowed to go without boots.

In 1956, they finished fourth in the Olympics, missing out on a medal after a 4-1 loss to Yugoslavia and a 3-0 loss to Bulgaria in the third-place match.

They won the 1962 Asian Games, which ended the golden age of Indian football. In the last 50 years, neglect of the national program and the huge amounts of money poured into cricket have dropped India from one of the top football nations in Asia to a near non-entity.

India ranked 145th in the latest FIFA rankings, between Singapore and Hong Kong.

In India, the most popular sport is cricket by far. BCCI( the cricketing board) enjoys a monopoly because of the huge popularity of cricket and its influential board members. This in turn allows them to further popularize cricket at the expense of other sports.

It is not only about football. Every sport other than cricket is treated as wasteful in India. A country which was once famous throughout the world for hockey is now content with just qualifying for the hockey world cup. This is the sad condition of every sport in India excluding cricket. There are many athletes who have won medals in Asian or Commonwealth games and are today struggling to make ends meet. I don’t think you will find such a situation in any other country.

There are many instances where the stadiums of other sports have been converted into cricket stadiums further discouraging other sports. Until both the people and government understand their mentalities, there is no hope for other sports.


It says much that a country with such a large population is consistently around the 150th rank in football. Massive investments in infrastructure, good youth training, establishing a good league( ISL is a good start but there is no guarantee about how long it will last) are a few basic necessities for India to improve in football.

The under -17 FIFA world cup is also good to promote football in India. Let’s hope that it changes the scenario of football in our country.

Summary: India doesn’t seem to have much interest in playing football. . There, so now we know the real reason India doesn’t play football much. However, just for the fun of it i would also riddle my children with the gist that India bashed Nigeria 99-1.

Read more Interesting stuff here http://truenaijayarn.com/did-india-really-score-nigeria-99-1read-here/

Hehehehehehe.... I remember that "Lion" part...

http://truenaijayarn.com/did-india-really-score-nigeria-99-1read-here/

n even till today we've grown up with this notion that india is Evil