Sailen Manna

Sailen Manna, one of the best defenders of Indian football history, played for Mohan Bagan in Calcutta league for 19 long years (from 1942 to 60). Manna thinks playing for India in the 1948 London Olympics as the finest moment of his career. Under Manna's captaincy India won the football gold in the first Asian Games in Delhi in 1951. India made football history when it finished fourth in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and Manna was an integral part of that team. The national team missed 1950 World Cup because the management did not know that barefoot play was not allowed in World Cup.