Hyderabad, Nov. 26 -- Who was the first Indian footballer to play for a European football club? Very few people in India will be able to answer this question correctly.

He was a Kolkata-based football player MohammedSalim who was selected by the well-known Celtic Football Club in Scotlandin 1936. He carved out a brief but glorious career before returning to hishometown.

An interesting story was once told by his son Rashid Ahmed. After hisfather had grownold, the son decided to see if the famous Celtic Club of Scotland still remembered his father. He wrote to Celtic Club introducing himself as the son of their former player Mohammed Salim and stated that his father was facing financial difficulty in hisold age.

Rashid Ahmed was not real...