The Nehru Cup was an international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tournament organised by the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

(

AIFF AIFF may refer to: * Audio Interchange File Format * All India Football Federation, the national governing body of Association football in India Film festivals * Addis International Film Festival, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * Alexandria Internation ...

), named after the first Prime Minister of India,

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

. It was launched in 1982, but was not held from 1998 to 2006. After the trophy was won by

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in 1997, it was reinstated only in 2007 before officially being held last in 2012 and was replaced in 2017.

History

Overview (1982–2012)

Eden Gardens under floodlights during a match

Nehru Cup was launched in 1982 by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in memory of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, held in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. Known as ''"ONGC (

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking which is the largest government-owned oil and gas explorer and producer in the country. It accounts for around 70 percent of India's domestic pro ...

) Nehru Cup"'' for sponsorship reasons, it was held once every 2 years. The first edition was inaugurated by Nehru's daughter, Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

lifted the trophy with a 2–0 win against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It was not held from 1998 to 2007. India v argentina 1984

The tournament was mainly started to popularise football in India, and the hosts won for the first time in 2007 beating

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

became the first Asian team to win the trophy in 1993 edition, defeating Romania B 2–0.

Nehru Club Cup (1990)

In 1990, the "Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Club Cup" (to celebrate the birth centenary of Nehru) was organized in place of Nehru Cup, which became the only international club tournament held in the country. The tournament was won by Paraguayan side Club Olimpia after their 1–0 win against Argentine club

Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (; ''La Plata Gymnastics and Fencing Club''), also known simply as Gimnasia, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1887 as "Club de Gimnasia ...

, in which Luis Monzón scored the winner. Mohammedan Sporting Club was the only Indian team to qualify for semi-finals. They defeated Zambia national team 1–0 and FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv 1–0, before losing 2–0 to Argentine side Gimnasia Esgrima. In the semi-final, Mohammedan lost 1–0 to the eventual champions, Paraguayan outfit Club Olimpia. *Official awards: **Taj Bengal Trophy for player of the tournament: Emeka Ezeugo **Director's Special Trophy for top scorer: Gabriel González

TV coverage

The first Nehru Cup in 1982 was covered by Prabir Roy with a 5 on-line camera operation. This was long before

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

started the same during the Delhi Asian Games in November 1982. This was apparently the first colour television broadcast in India.

Absence, revival and replacement

The tournament was shelved after 1997 due to lack of sponsorship and other reasons. It was revived in 2007 mainly due to persuasion by the former coach of

India national football team The India national football team represents India in men's international Association football, football and is governed by the All India Football Federation, the governing body for Football in India, football in India. It is a member of FIFA, ...

– Bob Houghton. The original rolling trophy could not be recovered from

, and a new trophy was designed. The tournament held during 2007 was called the ONGC Nehru Cup, to acknowledge sponsorship from the

. The 2007 Nehru Cup took place from 17 to 29 August 2007 with

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

as participating nations where

won their first title after hosting it for the last couple of decades defeating the much higher ranked

in the final by a 1-0 margin, on a goal scored by N. P. Pradeep in the 44th minute on a back pass from

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

. The 2009 Nehru Cup took place in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

from 19 to 31 August 2009. After the participation of Palestine was cancelled by the

, the tournament was changed into a round-robin format with five teams playing each other and the top two clashing in the final.

defeated

by 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the final on 31 August 2009. The 2012 Nehru Cup was the 15th edition of the Nehru Cup and 3rd Nehru Cup since it was revived in 2007. It was held from 22 August to 2 September. The tournament was hosted in

. A total of 5 teams participated in the tournament through being invited by the

. The final match happened between India and Cameroon and India won the match in penalty shoot out 5-4 after the match ended 2-2 after 120 minutes of play. Hopes to have another tournament in 2014 were shelved in August 2014 due to the AIFF not being able to pursue capital investment. AIFF revealed on 17 May 2016 that it plans to replace Nehru Cup with a new Intercontinental Cup.

Results

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Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

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Medal summary

{{Medals table , caption = , host = , flag_template = fb , event = , team = , gold_RUS = 4 , silver_RUS = 2 , bronze_RUS = 1 , gold_IND = 3 , silver_IND = 0 , bronze_IND = 0 , gold_HUN = 2 , silver_HUN = 1 , bronze_HUN = 0 , gold_IRQ = 2 , silver_IRQ = 0 , bronze_IRQ = 0 , gold_POL = 1 , silver_POL = 1 , bronze_POL = 0 , gold_ROM = 1 , silver_ROM = 1 , bronze_ROM = 0 , gold_PRK = 1 , silver_PRK = 0 , bronze_PRK = 1 , gold_URU = 1 , silver_URU = 0 , bronze_URU = 0 , gold_CHN = 0 , silver_CHN = 4 , bronze_CHN = 1 , gold_SYR = 0 , silver_SYR = 2 , bronze_SYR = 0 , gold_CMR = 0 , silver_CMR = 1 , bronze_CMR = 2 , gold_BUL = 0 , silver_BUL = 1 , bronze_BUL = 1 , gold_YUG = 0 , silver_YUG = 1 , bronze_YUG = 0 , gold_UZB = 0 , silver_UZB = 1 , bronze_UZB = 0 , gold_GDR = 0 , silver_GDR = 0 , bronze_GDR = 1 , gold_KGZ = 0 , silver_KGZ = 0 , bronze_KGZ = 2 , gold_KOR = 0 , silver_KOR = 0 , bronze_KOR = 2 , gold_ARG = 0 , silver_ARG = 0 , bronze_ARG = 1 , gold_DEN = 0 , silver_DEN = 0 , bronze_DEN = 1 , gold_FIN = 0 , silver_FIN = 0 , bronze_FIN = 1 , gold_MAR = 0 , silver_MAR = 0 , bronze_MAR = 1 , gold_MDV = 0 , silver_MDV = 0 , bronze_MDV = 1 , gold_THA = 0 , silver_THA = 0 , bronze_THA = 1

References

External links

{{Portal bar, India, Association football {{commons category
IndianFootball.de - India's premier football site
(archived)
Soccertub - All coverage for 2012 Nehru Cup

on the

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

ONGC NEHRU TROPHY 2007
on Kolkata Football (archived)
ONGC Nehru Cup (2009) Photo Gallery

2012 edition results
on Nehru Cup blogsite {{Nehru Cup {{Football in India {{Friendly association football tournaments in Asia International association football competitions hosted by India International men's association football invitational tournaments 1982 establishments in India 2012 disestablishments in India