Captaining India was like a dream come true, admits IM Vijayan
IM Vijayan feels it was like a dream come true for him to be the first footballer from Kerala to ever captain the Indian football side. Vijayan was one of the most decorated footballers during the 1990s and still is the second-highest goal scorer ever for the Indian national football team.
Having started his career with Kerala Police in the late 1980s, IM Vijayan emerged as one of India’s top footballers, which earned him his first international cap in 1989. Neither India nor Vijayan looked back as he made 66 appearances for the Blue Tigers, having scored 29 goals, the second-highest by an Indian ever, trailing only Sunil Chhetri. The retired international was the first footballer from Kerala to captain the Indian side, which, according to him was a dream come true.
“It is a dream for every player to captain India at some point in their career. I captained India for the first time in qualifier matches for the Asian Games. No one from Kerala had ever captained the Indian football team in an Asian Games qualifying match before that, I was proud to do that," said IM Vijayan, to Sportskeeda.
Vijayan’s career spanned over 19 years during which he played for various clubs including Mohun Bagan, East Bengal Kerala Police, JCT, and FC Kochin. He’s enjoyed a trophy-laden career, having been awarded the Footballer of the Year three times, in 1992, 1997 and 1999. The Keralite holds a unique of scoring one of the fastest International goals, having struck in just 12 seconds against Bhutan in a group match during the 1999 South Asian Games.
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