Indian football has, yet again, flattered to deceive. The national team, after ending 2011 on a high in which they lifted the South Asian Football Federation Cup (SAFF) defeating Afghanistan 4-0 in the final, are back to square one with a steep fall this year.

Dishing out a pedestrian show, India lost two friendly ties against Oman and Azerbaijan earlier this year. However, the first-round exit during the AFC Challenge Cup in Nepal this month came as a rude shock. Losing is not a crime, it can be committed.

However, the 2008 champions conceding eight goals in three matches against teams like Tajiskisthan and Phillipines and not being able to score one themselves is inexplicable.

India team coach Savio Medeira was the first to condemn his team’s efforts during their neighbouring trip. He lamented the lack of quality strikers in the national team as the reason behind the poor outing.

“All the clubs prefer to play foreign strikers in the I-League, a result of which local lads hardly get a chance to play. We need to change the system," Savio said after India were knocked out of the AFC challenger.

On the face of it, the former Salgaocar player might have just raised an extremely vital point. While only a handful of I-League teams are ready to groom country-made footballers, the others inevitably procure the services of an Odafe here and an Ozbey there.

As a result, when international fixtures come calling, the national team runs woefully short of strikers. Savio went on to add that there should be a decree formed in which I-League clubs are not allowed to sign more than one player of international origin.

Cut from national to state league — precisely Chennai here. The scene isn’t any different when it comes to the CFA senior division league. With each passing year, one could see at least half-a-dozen foreigners (read Africans) ply their trade at the Nehru Stadium.

In all, there are six foreign players taking part this season. Defending champions AGORC have roped in Ivory Coast player Doumbia Mamadou, while Useni Joshua, Maduabuchi Ohaba (both Nigeria) and Rwanda’s U. Bienvenue complete the imported entries for Indian Bank.

Valentine and Madu John are the latest additions to the African bandwagon. However, the Nigerian duo who turn out for Arrows FC, haven’t actually been able to set the floor on fire. Keeping the Santosh Trophy and the other national assignments, we asked, is it a boon or bane to have foreigners playing in the Chennai league?

Sabir Pasha (Indian Bank coach): Yes, it is definitely a disadvantage if u make some talented striker warm the bench while opting to play the foreign recruit. To an extent, this is the case with I-League and I guess that is what Savio was trying to stress. Savio is right as playing alongside a foreigner will only help in improving the Indian striker further.

However, talking about the Chennai league, tell me one striker who I can recruit and confidently play him throughout the season. It is not a drawback to obtain foreign assistance when we know we don’t have the required talent to play with. The only way out of this quandary is to spot young talent and start producing strikers.

Some may argue that having foreign players in the squad gives that particular team an edge. But there is also an element of risk when we sign them as we never know how good or bad they would turn out to be. That is why, at Indian Bank, we sign a deal of three months and take it from there.

K. Thiagarajan (Arrows FC coach): For a private club like ours, we often have a handful of college footballers on our rosters. So, it is necessary that we have experienced players in the attacking positions. Having said that, we aren’t too happy by the way things have panned out for us this season.

It has been a disappointing show by our two foreign recruits so far. Valentine, after receiving a red card against Southern Railway, hasn’t been able to produce his best. I think the send off off is definitely playing on his mind.

I agree that by playing foreign strikers, the chances for local talents are few and far between. However, I am confident that the top four strikers will be identified to play for Tamil Nadu in the Santosh Trophy. As for the foreigners, they bring a lot more to the table and are also crowd pullers.