Amit Ravindernath Sharma directs “Maidaan,” a film that tells the tale of a remarkable period in Indian football. It speaks about the time when India won big at the Asian Games with coach Syed Abdul Rahim leading the team.

This story is all about resilience, determination, and never giving up, portraying how a team with hardly any resources managed to defeat some of the toughest teams in Asia. Let’s learn about the challenges Coach Rahim faced and the hurdles he overcame to make history.

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Building Coach Rahim’s Team

Back in 1952, India’s performance at the Olympic games wasn’t great, especially in football. They lost to Yugoslavia, and everyone was talking about it, especially in places where football was popular.

The media criticized the Indian team a lot, and the federation blamed Syed Abdul Rahim for the loss. In a meeting, Rahim explained that the players didn’t have proper football boots, which affected how they played.

He also mentioned that in practice and local tournaments, games were shorter, only 70 minutes, but in the Olympics, it was the full 90 minutes. Because of this, the players got tired in the last part of the game, and other teams scored more goals against them.

Rahim had another issue to address that most players were from West Bengal, which wasn’t fair representation for the whole country.

He argued that there was talent all over India, and they needed to find and recruit players from different regions to improve the team.

Shubhankar Sengupta had it in for Rahim. He claimed he just wanted more players from Hyderabad on the Indian team. But the chairman trusted Rahim’s judgment.

Rahim was given the task to pick the best players from all over India. He had a unique way of finding talent. Rahim didn’t care about a player’s big tournament experience. He looked for flair and believed he could develop talent.

Tulsidas Balaram was one such player. Despite coming from a humble background and playing in small leagues, Rahim saw potential in him. He even fought with federation members to get Balaram on the team.

India’s fourth-place finish in the 1956 Summer Olympics was a huge achievement for a young nation. However, Shubhankar Sen continued to mock Rahim and belittle his team’s efforts.

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Why Did Coach Rahim Lose His Job?

Back in the 1960 Olympics, India played against France in football and managed to tie the game. This was a big deal because France was a really strong team. Rahim, the coach, felt hopeful.

He believed that in a few years, Indian football would become really great. But things took a bad turn when the people in charge didn’t support him. They didn’t care about his vision. The trouble started when Rahim had an argument with a famous journalist named Roy Chowdhary.

Roy said some bad things about the Indian team, and Rahim told him to stop talking about stuff he didn’t know about. Roy got angry and decided to ruin Rahim’s reputation. He made sure that a man named Shubhankar Sen became the head of the football federation. Shubhankar wasn’t fair.

He always criticized Rahim and the team, even though everyone knew they needed Rahim to win big games. But Shubhankar cared more about his own interests than the country’s success.

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Why Did Saira Wish for Rahim’s Return to His Job?

Rahim quit his job and got diagnosed with cancer. He decided to spend his remaining time with his family. But his wife, Saira, thought he shouldn’t give up hope. She reminded him of their dream to see India win a gold medal.

She encouraged him to try coaching again. Rahim was hesitant because of a guy named Shubhankar Sen who disliked him. Despite that, Rahim agreed to give it a shot. Shubhankar treated Rahim badly, ignoring him completely.

But Rahim didn’t give up. He asked the old federation chairman for help. After a lot of convincing, the board decided to let Rahim coach again, considering the team’s poor performance without him.

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Did Syed Abdul Rahim Achieve His Dream?

When the Indian team was ready to go to Jakarta for a big football tournament, they got some bad news. The government said they couldn’t pay for the trip because they didn’t have enough money. This made the players very sad.

Two guys named Shubhankar and Mr. Roy made fun of them for it. But their coach, Rahim, was angry because he knew the team had a real chance to win. He decided to go to Jakarta anyway.

At first, things were tough for the team. But they got better as they played more. They wanted everyone to know they weren’t weak. Rahim was sick, but he still came to every game to help the players.

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During a press conference, a guy named Mr. Sondhi said bad things about Indonesia. This made people in Indonesia mad, and they didn’t like the Indian team. They booed them at every match. But Rahim told his players to ignore it and keep playing.

Finally, India made it to the finals against South Korea. The players did amazing and won 2-1. It was a huge moment for India, and Rahim felt like he had achieved his goal in life.

Rahim passed away in 1963, but he left a big mark on Indian football. People still think he’s the best coach ever because of his talent in picking players, his love for the game, and how hard he worked.