Indian soccer great Jarnail Singh dies at 64

Jarnail Singh, one of Indian soccer's legendary defenders, died in Vancouver, Canada, on Friday owing to an asthmatic disorder, according to information received in Calcutta.

Jarnail Singh (64), a widower, had gone to visit his son Harshmohan in Vancouver four months ago. He was rushed to hospital on Friday after he complained of breathlessness, but the end came soon after.

A leading light of the golden age of Indian football in the 1960s, Singh played a key role in India's gold medal-winning performance at the Jakarta Games in 1962 and led the national side at the Asian Games in Bangkok four years later.

He had also donned the national colours in the Rome Olympics in 1960, the last time that India made it to the main stage of the quadrennial showpiece event.

Jarnail Singh, who learnt his basics at Phagwara in Punjab, was endowed with a rare combination of physical strength, mental toughness and keen competitiveness, which made him a defender par excellence.

He caught the imagination of football aficionados as a youngster in the All-India University Tournament in Bareilly in 1957. "I realised then and there that a very big player was coming up," said another legend Chuni Goswami, who also played in the tournament.

PTI