Simon Sundararaj (born 9 November 1937) is a retired Indian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for the India national team. He represented South India Railways in the club level. As a coach, he coached the Kerala state team to its first

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

win in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Early life

Sundararaj was born on 9 November 1937, in

Tanjore Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore,#Pletcher, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian c ...

(now Thanjavur) in the erstwhile

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

, (now in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

) of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His uncle was a footballer who played for the local club, Tanjore United. Sundararaj, as a kid followed him to all his matches, and subsequently took to football. He holds a diploma in

Physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

Career

Playing for the India national team, Sundararaj wore jersey number 23. He was the first from

to play in the national team. At the club level, he played for Southern Railways. India qualified for the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, as the only Asian team. India entered the Olympics winning the Asian qualifiers beating a higher ranked Indonesian team 6–3 on aggregate. Sundararaj finished the tournament scoring three goals. In the group stage at the Games, India played its first match against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

losing the match 1–2. The next match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

was drawn at 1–1. Failing to qualify for the next round, India played its final group stage match

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and lost the match 1–2. Sundararaj scored India's lone goal in the match with a 30-yard strike. Ever since, India failed to qualify for the Olympic Games. This made Sundararaj the last Indian to score at the Games. Following a

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. Semi-transparent and non-porous, it is usually covered by a tough and fibrous membrane called perichondrium. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints ...

tear that he sustained during the Madras United Club tournament the following year, he lost his place in the team that won the gold at the

1962 Asian Games The 1962 Asian Games () also known as the 4th Asian Games, IV Asiad, and Jakarta 1962, were the fourth edition of pan-Asian multi-sport event sanctioned by the Asian Games Federation (AGF). The games were held from 24 August to 4 September 1962, ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. Following his playing career, Sundararaj qualified himself as a coach at the

Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, commonly known as National Institute of Sports (NIS), is the academic wing of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Asia's largest sports institute located in city of Patiala. History Founded on ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubar ...

. He coached and managed the Kerala state team that won its first

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundararaj, Simon 1937 births Living people Indian men's footballers India men's international footballers Footballers from Tamil Nadu Olympic footballers for India Footballers at the 1960 Summer Olympics People from Thanjavur Men's association football midfielders