New Delhi: The popular belief that India withdrew from the 1950 World Cup because they preferred to play barefoot, as opposed to FIFA's rule of wearing shoes, is a "misconception", a football expert wrote in his recently-released book.
Novy Kapadia's latest offering, 'The Football Fanatic's Essential Guide', takes the reader on a comprehensive tour of the history of World Cup, beginning with the inaugural edition in 1930 in Uruguay to the 19th jamboree in South Africa four years ago.
"The apprehension that Indian players would have been out of depth because they had to wear football boots is exaggerated. It has just become a self-perpetuating myth," Kapadia wrote.
Calling it a "missed opportunity", the author, a well-known football commentator on Indian television, added that a number of factors contributed to the decision to pull out of the mega event, which was held in Brazil.
64 summers later, with the mecca of football hosting the upcoming edition starting in three days' time, the release of the book has been timed to perfection.
Broadly, the book describes in graphic detail the epic clashes and touches upon controversies surrounding the beautiful game's showpiece event. It is a ready reference material, with dates, results, venues and detail on significant games from every World Cup.
From Uruguay 1930, when four European team travelled by sea to Montevideo, to the first African World Cup in 2010, the author has tried to cover every important aspects related to the world's biggest single sporting event.
The lucid language will surely attract the fancy of readers, fans who are eagerly looking forward to extravaganza in Brazil.
There is a special section on this year's World Cup and any reader, irrespective of whether he is a layman or an expert, will benefit from reading the 12 pages of analysis. The book also contains trivia and statistics.
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