Legendary Indian footballer PK tackled international stars with finesse and easy

When P.K. Banerjee passed away this day last year, he left behind a void in Indian football that will be difficult to fill. As a player he was excellent, as a coach he was outstanding and as a football expert on television and print media, his vast knowledge educated and informed the viewers and readers.  He was one of the first recipients of the Arjuna award when the awards were instituted in 1961. Besides he was also awarded the Padma Shri and later named Indian Footballer of the 20th Century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. But one of the greatest honours came from FIFA – the world governing body of football. FIFA conferred on him its Centennial Order of Merit in 2004. This was the highest honour awarded by FIFA for footballers and officials from all over the world.
“PK” as he was popularly known, captained the Indian team at the Rome Olympic Games in 1960. Before that he was a member of the team which came fourth at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. After leaving the game as a player, he turned to coaching and studied to become a FIFA qualified coach. His phenomenal success as a club coach for East Bengal and then Mohun Bagan led him to be named coach of the Indian team.
Indian team at the 1960 Olympics, Coach Syed Rahim at the front row centre and captain P.K Banerjee on his right side.
In his autobiography titled Beyond 90 Minutes, P.K. Banerjee has provided interesting insights into his life, his game and his attitude which enabled him to become one of the legends of Indian football.
In 1955 PK was first selected to play for India in the Quadrangular tournament in Dhaka. He was in the team along with some other great names such as Sailen Manna, S. Mewalal, Ahmed Khan, Abdus Sattar and Aziz.
He developed a secret signal with the goalkeeper Peter Thangaraj who was from Hyderabad. Before executing a long kick into the opponent’s half, the tall and sturdy Thangaraj would bounce the ball twice on the ground. That was the signal for PK that it would be a very long kick and that PK should run ahead to trap the ball and convert the opportunity into a goal.