At 80, former India football international Syed Nayeemuddin, who was recently named Telangana Brand Ambassador, cuts a lonely figure. At a time when he should have been recollecting moments from his glorious career on the field, this articulate footballer is distraught after having lost his 1970 Bangkok Asian Games bronze medal.
Sitting at his daughter’s residence near Toli Chowki in Hyderabad, Nayeemuddin, regarded as one of India’s finest defenders and a huge fan of Chuni Goswami, is now seemingly hopeless of getting back that medal.
“I don’t know what to do. It was lost in transit apparently from Kolkata to this place. Just asked my teammate in that bronze-medal winning team, Shyam Thapa, to send a picture. It is a terrible loss,” he said in a chat with Sportstar.
“Obviously, winning Asiad bronze was the finest moment for me as a footballer. The fact that we trained in Anjuman School in Mumbai before going without any practice match, with not many expecting us to do well, and still won that medal is something immensely satisfying,” said Nayeemuddin who was also once adjudged the ‘Indian Footballer Of The Year’.
“We beat Japan for the bronze and lost to South Korea in the semifinal. It is no joke,” insisted Nayeemuddin, who holds the rare distinction of winning both the Arjuna and the Dronacharya Awards.
Syed Nayeemuddin spent a couple of hours with the Telangana State team preparing for the forthcoming Santosh Trophy championship. | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G/The Hindu
However, brushing aside the disappointment of losing his medal, the former India coach, at the insistence of his ‘student’ G.P. Palguna (a former India international who won the 1986 SAFF Championship in Pakistan with Nayeemuddin as the head coach), spent a couple of hours with the Telangana State team preparing for the forthcoming Santosh Trophy championship.
On the Indian Super League, Nayeemuddin hoped it would do the expected good for Indian football. “See, foreign players and coaches are okay but any player should stick to the basics, master them to be a force to reckon with,” he said. “Keep learning from every player, try to keep improving always,” he added.
“There is talent. But, a lot depends on the young talent to dream big and work really hard. Luckily, the Telangana Football Association is doing a terrific job in hosting so many national and international events which should also remind the current generation of the rich history Hyderabad had,” he explained.
Nayeemuddin, is looking forward to meeting Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. “It would be great to meet him and share a few thoughts. I want to see Telangana win the Santosh Trophy,” the former India captain said.
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