Vijayan also had a distinguished India career as well, scoring around 40 goals for the Blue Tigers. He made his national team debut in 1989. In the 1999 SAFF Cup, he scored one of the fastest international goals in history during the tournament, hitting the net against Bhutan after only 12 seconds.
He retired from India duty in 2003 after the Afro Asian Games where he was the top scorer with four goals.
The Malayali forward was the first player to win the AIFF Player of the Year multiple times. He has won the accolade thrice.
Barcelona great Xavi Hernadez recently guided Qatari club Al Sadd SC to the Qatar Stars League title in the 2020-21 season. Al Sadd, under the tutelage of the Spanish star, won the trophy without losing a single match this season.
FC Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez wishes Indian football icon IM Vijayan on his 52nd birthday goal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from goal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.