Gokulam FC had once again established itself on India's football map by winning the Durand Cup in 2019. But the owner of the club, VC Praveen, is not satisfied with this and he wants other Indian players along with his club to compete with the best foreign players. The head coach of the Indian football team, Igor Stimak, recently said that there is a need to reduce the number of foreign players in Indian football clubs. Speaking to IANS, Praveen said, 'We need to respect the views of our national coach Igor Stimac. He would not have made this suggestion without doing an in-depth analysis of Indian football. AIFF should ensure that both the I-League and ISL-League have an equal number.
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He said, 'But the reduction in the number of foreign players definitely paves the way for Indian players to shine. They (Indians) should take up their responsibilities and they should not only compete with foreign players but also perform better than them. Emphasizing the need for quality players in the first place, Praveen gave examples from the early stages of the National Football League (NFL). He believes that the task of identifying talent should be done at the youth level itself.
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He said, 'Do not mix the policies of the clubs with the selection policies of the national team. Baichung Bhutia (96-97) and Raman Vijayan (97-98) were the only top scorers in the league when the selection of foreigners fell short in the early stages of the NFL. Praveen said, "But after the increase in the number of foreign players in the 2013-14 season, there were only foreigners except for Sunil Chhetri, who was the top scorer. Only three Indian players have emerged as top scorers in the last three years.
