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OPINION INDIA
March 02, 2012
Football Legend Manna Passes Away
KOLKOTTA (The Hindu): When the late Princess Margaret, younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II of England, asked a soft-spoken Indian footballer how he could defend so well against the tough Europeans while playing bare feet, Sailendranath (Sailen) Manna replied that the strength lay in the mind. Manna, who marshalled the defence as the centre-back, had to tackle the question from the young royalty during a reception at the Buckingham Palace, after India had its first international outing at the London Olympics in 1948. The man, who typified the resurgence of India as a footballing nation after independence, lost his battle against a host of age-related ailments at a city nursing home in the early hours of Monday. At 87 (born September 1, 1924), Manna’s stature as a footballer remained undiminished drawing awe and reverence from generations of Indian footballers, most of whom knew him from the records and stories about him being the most complete footballer the country has ever seen. No wonder the whole football fraternity came together in an unusual show of spontaneity to pay homage to the legend, who served as an emissary to the best of Indian football. A natural leader, Manna became the face of the Indian football that sought to emerge from the shadow of the Imperial dominance after independence. India’s performance in the 1948 London Olympics was a favourite topic for Manna and he would fondly recount it on occasions to highlight the golden time of Indian football. Though India lost in the first round match 1-2 against France, Manna drew lot of appreciation from the European press for the way he held up against a “fully geared” European giant. The meeting with the English royalty happened just after that. India tasted its first big success under his captaincy, winning the Asian Games gold in 1951.
Having taken Indian football to the peak of its excellence, Manna’s reign at the helm of Indian national team prompted the England Football Association to rate him among the 10 Salien Manna best skippers in its yearbook of 1953. His leadership inspired more wins. India won four successive titles in the South East Asian quadrangular meet (featuring India, Pakistan, Burma and Sri Lanka) between 1952 and 1955. The talent of the Indian footballers received worldwide acclaim after this sequence of success. True to his nature, Manna showed unflinching loyalty to his club – Mohun Bagan. Making only one change in his club career, Manna joined Mohun Bagan from a second division side, Howrah Union, at the age of 18 in 1942 and stayed back with the renowned club till his retirement in 1960. He captained Mohun Bagan for six years from 1950 to 1955 but never took money as a player saying he was happy with the salary he got from his employer, the Geological Survey of India. Manna was drafted in as a coach immediately after retirement and then joined Mohun Bagan’s administration, where he rose to the position of an assistant secretary. Manna disassociated himself from the sport in 1990 on completing 50 years of association with football. He received the Padma Shree in 1970 and was named the Best footballer of the Millennium by the All India Football Federation in 2000. He was also conferred the Mohun Bagan ‘Ratna’ (jewel) in 2001 and continued to receive laurels in some form or other till his last day.
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