Jarnail is a former Indian footballer who was born on 20th February 1936 in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. Jarnail played as a stopper back in the playing eleven and was one of the best in the role during his era. Jarnail Singh was one of the stalwarts of the Indian football team which won the 1962 Asian Games. Jarnail was only sixteen years old when he started playing football for the Khalsa Sporting Club.
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In 1957, he made his dream move to Calcutta when he joined Rajasthan Club. Jarnail’s beginnings in Kolkata were not easy. He was used as a centre half which was an unusual position for him. His tough tackling style was not appreciated by the Calcuttan crowd. Mohun Bagans' coach Arun Sinha realized Jarnail’s talent and potential and offered him a spot in the team. Jarnail accepted the offer and in 1959, he started his legendary career for The Mariners. Sinha started playing him as a stopper-back and had a tough first season. Jarnail soon made his debut for the Indian national team and along with Chuni Goswami formed one of the memorable partnerships in Indian football. The players were completely opposite to each other in terms of their playing style but complemented each other very well on the field. In the 1961 Merdeka Cup, India faced Malaysia, a team which had “Asian Puscas” Abdul Gani in their ranks. Gani had nutmegged Jarnail twice in the initial few minutes of the game after which Jarnail reacted by landing a solid kick on the face of Gani in a follow through after clearing a high ball. Gani was rattled and remained ineffective for the rest of the game. In the 1960 Rome Olympics, India faced Hungary and Jarnail was tasked with containing Florian Albert, the top scorer of the 1962 FIFA World Cup.
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Jarnail performed the job admirably and only once did Albert escape Jarnail throughout the game. Another of Jarnail’s memorable performances came during the wee days of his career during a Kolkata derby in 1968. His side took the lead early on with the help of his assist. In the second half, East Bengal sieged forward again and again but Jarnail stood tall and denied them any opening. Towards the end, East Bengal finally beat the Bagan goalkeeper but Jarnail effected a goal-line clearance from which Mohun Bagan scored another goal.
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Facts:
He has been the only Indian Football player ever to be selected for the Captaincy of the Asian All Star team. Jarnail was selected for the position in the year 1966.
Jarnail Singh served as the Deputy Director of Sports for the state of Punjab during 1985-90, and as the Director of Sports for the same state during 1990-94. In honor of his extraordinary services to the nation, he was conferred upon the Arjuna Award in the year 1964. He died on the 13th of October 2000 at Vancouver, Canada.
Records:
Asian Games Gold medal: 1962
AFC Asian Cup runners-up: 1964
Merdeka Tournament runners-up: 1964; third-place: 1965, 1966
AFC Asian All Stars: 1965, 1966, 1967
Arjuna Award: 1964
Only Indian footballer to be selected as captain of the Asian All Star Football Team in 1966.
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