31 July 1948 - India's Day Of Firsts

On 31 July 1948, India played their first official international, losing 2-1 to France in the first round of the Olympics.

Football in India dates back to 1889 and the national governing body, the All India Football Federation, formed in 1937. While the AIFF created a national team to tour neighboring countries, India did not join FIFA until 1948, making that summer's Olympics their first official tournament.

They met France in the first round at Cricklefield Stadium in Ilford, East London in front of a crowd of approximately 17,000. The day was wet and cold, which proved to be a problem for the Indian players, most of whom were playing barefoot, the dominant style in India at the time.

Nevertheless, they kept the game close, despite missing two penalties. After France took the lead with a 30th-minute goal from René Courbin, India's Sarangapani Raman (who had missed one of the penalties) equalized in the 70th minute, scoring the national team's first official goal. But France pulled ahead again in the 89th minute with a goal from René Persillon to claim the 2-1 victory.

11 March 1951 - Home Cooking With Curry

On 11 March 1951, hosts India won the gold medal in football at the first Asian Games in New Delhi, beating Iran 1-0 in the Final. It was the national team's first piece of major silverware and part of an overall strong performance at the Games by India, who finished with 51 medals, including 15 golds.

In total, eleven countries participated in the Games, but only six took part in the football tournament. One of those was Japan, who had been barred from the 1948 Summer Olympics due to being under Allied occupation at the time. (Japan made the most of the opportunity by collecting a total of 60 total medals, 24 of which were golds, the most of any country in either category. India were second in both.)

India cruised through their first two matches with ease, beating Indonesia then Afghanistan by the same score: 3-0. Iran similarly started well with a 2-0 victory over Burma in the quarterfinals, but fought two closely-contested matches against Japan in the semifinals, first drawing 0-0, then edging Japan 3-2 in the replay. Japan still medalled, beating Afghanistan 2-0 in the third-place game, while India took the gold with their victory over Iran.

15 July 1952 - Yugoslavia Takes Ten

On 15 July 1952, Yugoslavia opened the Olympics with a then-record 10-1 win over India.

Yugoslavia came into the tournament as contenders, having won the silver in 1948. Playing in Helsinki, they sought to solidify that status with a strong showing against India in the preliminary round, but few would have expected the result they got.

Bernard Vukas (pictured) opened the scoring in the 2nd minute and, by the break, Yugoslavia were up 5-0 with goals from Rajko Mitić (14', 43') and Branko Zebec ( 17', 23'). The second half was just as impressive, with more goals from Vukas (62') and Zebec (60', 87'), who were joined on the score sheet by Tihomir Ognjanov (52', 67'). India's Ahmed Khan found the net in the 89th minute, but by then it was small consolation.

Yugoslavia eventually reached the tournament's final, but lost to Hungary to take silver again. (After finishing in second in 1956, they finally won the gold in 1960).

The scoreline against India was Yugoslavia's biggest margin of victory since a 6-0 win over Israel in 1949 and was the most goals they had scored since beating Poland 9-3 in 1947. They eventually improved upon it, however, with a 10-0 victory over Venezuela in 1972.

29 April 1965 - The Story Of VP Sathyan

On 29 April 1965, former India captain and 1995 AIFF Player of the Year V.P. Sathyan was born in the Kannur District.

A center back, Sathyan began his career in 1982 with Spirited Youth Club, but spent the majority of his career with Kerala Police where he won back-to-back Federation Cups in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, he joined Mohun Bagan, where he won another pair of consecutive Federation Cups in 1992 and 1993 (in the latter, he scored the only goal of the final).

In 1994, he returned to Kerala Police for two more seasons, then closed out his club career with a year at Indian Bank, which he later managed in 2001.

Along with his domestic success, he rose to prominence during his ten-year tenure with the Indian national team, serving as captain of the squad that won the gold medal at the 1995 South Asian Federation Games. It was that performance that led to him winning the All-Indian Football Federation's Player of the Year award.

Unfortunately, his life took a downward turn after football. In 2006, at the age of 41, financial pressures led him to take his own life by jumping in front of a train.

31 July 1948 - India's Day Of Firsts

On 31 July 1948, India played their first official international, losing 2-1 to France in the first round of the Olympics.

Football in India dates back to 1889 and the national governing body, the All India Football Federation, formed in 1937. While the AIFF created a national team to tour neighboring countries, India did not join FIFA until 1948, making that summer's Olympics their first official tournament.

They met France in the first round at Cricklefield Stadium in Ilford, East London in front of a crowd of approximately 17,000. The day was wet and cold, which proved to be a problem for the Indian players, most of whom were playing barefoot, the dominant style in India at the time.

Nevertheless, they kept the game close, despite missing two penalties. After France took the lead with a 30th-minute goal from René Courbin, India's Sarangapani Raman (who had missed one of the penalties) equalized in the 70th minute, scoring the national team's first official goal. But France pulled ahead again in the 89th minute with a goal from René Persillon to claim the 2-1 victory.

11 March 1951 - Home Cooking With Curry

On 11 March 1951, hosts India won the gold medal in football at the first Asian Games in New Delhi, beating Iran 1-0 in the Final. It was the national team's first piece of major silverware and part of an overall strong performance at the Games by India, who finished with 51 medals, including 15 golds.

In total, eleven countries participated in the Games, but only six took part in the football tournament. One of those was Japan, who had been barred from the 1948 Summer Olympics due to being under Allied occupation at the time. (Japan made the most of the opportunity by collecting a total of 60 total medals, 24 of which were golds, the most of any country in either category. India were second in both.)

India cruised through their first two matches with ease, beating Indonesia then Afghanistan by the same score: 3-0. Iran similarly started well with a 2-0 victory over Burma in the quarterfinals, but fought two closely-contested matches against Japan in the semifinals, first drawing 0-0, then edging Japan 3-2 in the replay. Japan still medalled, beating Afghanistan 2-0 in the third-place game, while India took the gold with their victory over Iran.