Didnt know this (India in the Worldcup)
By Shuaibkazi •
India made it to the 1950 World Cup
No, don't rub your eyes in disbelief. India did make it to the 1950 World Cup finals. Well sort of. Four countries from Asia were invited to participate in the qualifiers. Burma, Philippines and Indonesia all withdrew, so India qualified automatically.
India was placed in Group 3 with Sweden, Italy, and Paraguay. But their request to play barefoot was turned down by FIFA and they withdrew!
Abibi Bikila, the great Ethiopian runner ran barefoot winning the marathon gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Who knows what India could have done playing barefoot at the 1950 World Cup???
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I find it quite funny though
Playing barefeet :)
Shuaibkazi ...India's greatest athelete....is Milka Singh.....in the 1960 Rome Olympics he broke the then world record with 45.6 seconds....but the class of the race was so good that 3 others finished micro-seconds ahead of him.
Since then nobody in India has come near any world record other than cricket.
Nah! just when u picture it in this day and age
sport shoes are extremely rare in those days....