Barefoot ‘WIMCO’ Thangaraj

Since FIFA World cup 2018 is trending all over the place, Nilgiris also share the immense love for the game on the memory of the legendary footballer M Thangaraj who is popularly known as ‘WIMCO’Thangaraj .Thangaraj is a well known player from Ooty he represented the erstwhile composite Madaras state from 1944 to 1955. He not only played for the province he is also selected for Indian Olympics Team in the year 1948. Thangaraj was born on December 12,1923 at Band Lane in Ooty he was raisen by the humble and devout Roman Catholic family. He is very famous for his barefoot play that welcomed a huge crowd for his play. He played for a lot of teams in Ooty. He worked with TVS from 1943 to 1949 and played for TVS Greens as the captain of the team from 1950 to 1956 he got a huge fans all over India they nicknamed him as ‘WIMCO’ Thangaraj. In 1953 Thangaraj was a member of the touring Indian team and played in the ‘Iron Curtain’ Communist nation USSR and in Romania. His unbelievable booting skill with his traditional ‘barefoot’ from the middle of the ground against the famous Russian goal keeper is still being talked as a ‘Miracle’ of Indian soccer. Thangaraj was the most cleverest and most effective inside-right of footballer’s during his playing years. With his rare skill and complete lack of showmanship, he had earned millions of hearts and soccer fans throughout India. Thangaraj was appointed as the coach of south Africa after his playing career but lost everything because of his addiction to liquor. He was called the master of the dribble .Football lovers say that it is very disheartening that there as been no memorial for Thangaraj in his hometown Ooty for his great sportsman.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *