31. January
4th Air-India Millenium Cup - Quarterfinal: Central Railway 1-0 Rashtriya Chemicals&Fertilisers
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: New Delhi Heroes - Moonlight Club
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Semifinal: Karnataka 2-0 Punjab - Goals: 1-0 Udaykumar (68'), 2-0 Dharani (80').

Note-1: The Gawuhati High Court will now decide whether the AIFFs strictures against the All-Manipur Football Association are fair enough. Convenor of Sports Movement, Manipur RK Ranendrajit - in a PIL filed with the high court's Imphal bench - has challenged the AIFFs decision to fine the Manipur body Rs 100.000 and bar the latter from hosting any national event for a year. Ranendrajit has challenged the fine and the restrictions imposed by the AIFF disciplinary committee, saying they were "arbitrary and in violation of natural justice". The AIFFs disciplinary committee penalised its affiliated unit for failing to control the crowd during the Santosh Trophy semifinal between Goa and Manipur, leading to the match being replayed. A division bench of the high court issued notices to the Manipur government, the AIFF and the Union Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry, returnable within two months. The petitioner, in the PIL, urged the court to cancel the AIFFs decision. The petition argued that the decision to hold a replay was taken by the organising committee and officials of the AIFF, including the disciplinary committee chairman himself. Ranendrajit said the AIFFs decision was not only shocking but also amounted to humiliation of the sport lovers of Manipur. He said controlling the crowd was the responsibility of the state law and order machinery and not the AMFA.

30. January
7th National League - Goa: Salgaocar SC 2-0 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - Goals: 1-0 Sunday Seah (4'), 2-0 Samson Singh (40').
Salgaocar SC won 2-0 against Hindustan Aeronautics Limited at home at the Nehru Stadium, Margao in the National League. Liberian striker Sunday Seah opened the score in the 4.minute off a pass from Dharamjit Singh. Young striker Samson Singh doubled the lead in the 40.minute of a cross from Jatin Singh Bisht. HAl just didn't seem strong enough a team to play in the NFL, not even putting up a fight against the defeat.

4th Air-India Millenium Cup - Quarterfinal: Western Railway - Sea View
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Indian Air Force, Delhi 5-2 Tarun Sangha
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Semifinal: Uttar Pradesh 0-0,0-1 Goa [golden Goal] - Goal: 0-1 Philip Pereira (98').

Note-1: The heads of the IFA (Bengal body) met today in Calcutta to discuss numerous issues.
The IFA decided not to bid to host the next Santosh Trophy as the tournament had lost it's glamour and was too costly in hosting. The money would be better spend on football development in Bengal. A good decision!
The transfer period has been finalised. Calcutta Super Division and 1.Division transfers will be held from May 2-16, while lower division transfers will take place earlier from April 16-May 1.
The dates for the Super Division and IFA-Shield were also released. The Calcutta Super Division will kickoff on June 15 but the big four - East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Tollygunge, Mohammedan Sporting - will join the league action only after July 15, as the IFA-Shield will be held from July 1, as the Calcutta season-opener. The plans for the Shield are to hold a nine team tournament, with maybe a foreign team taking part. Interesting to note that the IFA nor any other state association in India, according to the AFC ruling, cannot host any foreign team in the year 2003. Maybe this has been forgotten for the moment.
The IFA officials also meet with Nigel Empson, CEO of the Sino-British marketing agency FMMI, who is in Calcutta to see ways of maybe entering football market in India through Calcutta.

Note-2: Former Delhi captain Sharifuddin (50) passed away today after a prolonged illness. He is survived by wife and three daughters. He had played 15 years for Delhi in the Santosh Trophy, playing for top Delhi sides.

29. January
7th National League - Bangalore: Indian Telephone Industries 1-3 East Bengal Club - Goals: 0-1 Sasthi Duley (17'), 0-2 Suley Musah (36'), 1-2 Ibrahim Karim Al Hasan (60'), 1-3 Mike Okoro (83').
East Bengal continued their winning run away by beating bottom-placed Indian Telephone Industries 3-1 in a National League match at the Bangalore Football Stadium. East Bengal opened the scoring in the 17.minute when Sasthi Duley headed in a Alvito D'Cunha freekick, with the in-form Ghanian Suley Musah doubling the lead in the 36.minute with a placed shot past the diving ITI keeper Balaji. Ghanian striker Ibrahim Karim Al Hasan reduced the deficit for ITI in the 60.minute, when he connected a Raghuveer Singh freekick. In the next ten minutes ITI had chances to equalise as the East Bengal defence relaxed and became complacent but they could not use their chances. East Bengal's Nigerian Mike Okoro sealed the match with his teams third seven minutes from time.
ITI: Narshiman Balaji, Akshay Das, Sunil Kumar, AS Firoze, Niyaz Rahaman, Raghuveer Singh, KV Dhanesh (T Roopesh), James Singh (Louis Nickson), Mohammed Najeeb (J Muralidharan), Ibrahim Karim Al Hasan, Jude Nwadu.
EAST BENGAL: Sangram Mukherjee, Suley Musah, Subhashish Roy Chowdhary, Deepak Mondal, M Suresh, Douglas da Silva, Sasthi Duley (Subhas Chakraborty), Chandan Das, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Alvito D'Cunha (Kalia Kulothungan), Mike Okoro.

7th National League - Goa: Vasco SC 1-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 1-0 Rui Wanderley Weis (48').
Vasco had to work hard for their 1-0 victory against Tollygunge Agragami in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Vasco controlled the match in the first half but wasn't able to score of their chances. That changed in the 48.minute when Vasco's Brazilian striker Rui Wanderley Weis scored the winner. After that Tollygunge woke-up, played some refreshing attacking football and young international Ashim Biswas had the best chance to equalise, when a shot of his was moving towards the Vasco goal and had to be kicked out by international teammate Selwyn Fernandes.

7th National League - Chennai: Indian Bank 0-2 Mahindra United - Goals: 0-1,0-2 Ednei Jose Damasio (1',90').
Indian Bank lost 0-2 against Mahindra United in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Chennai. For Mahindra's it was the first win since their opening match victory against HAL in mid-November and they have to thank new Brazilian recruit Ednei Jose Damasio, who scored in the opening and closing minute, to prove his class. Damasio, also called Nei Junior, is on paper the best-ever foreigner to play in the National League, joining Mahindra's from former Brazilian champions Botafogo and after scoring his third goal in his second match, he is proving that and making a name for himself in India.

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Moonlight Club 3-2 Delhi Police

28. January
7th National League - Calcutta: Mohun Bagan AC 5-1 Dempo SC - Goals: 1-0 Lorendra Singh (45'), 2-0,3-0 Jose Barreto (47',55'), 4-0 George Ekeh (58'), 4-1 Sergey Andreev (81'), 5-1 Stanley Colaco (83' - own Goal).
Mohun Bagan trashed Dempo SC 5-1 in a National League match at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta: Bagan continue to be on a roll after the NFL break and are closing in on league leaders and city rivals East Bengal. Brazilian Superstar Jose Barreto scored another brace today, with Nigerian striker George Ekeh and defender Lorendra Singh also scoring, with Dempo defender Stanley Colaco scoring an own goal to finish the rout. Uzbek Sergey Andreev scored the consolation goal for Dempo.
MOHUN BAGAN: Bibhas Ghosh, Dulal Biswas, Yakubu, Satish Bharti, Lolendra Singh, Sheikh Sanjib (Sunil Chetri), Basudeb Mondal (Kajol Bhattacharya), Palash Karmakar, Renedy Singh, George Ekeh, Jose Barreto (Amar Ganguly).
DEMPO: Francis Fernandes, Melwin Rodrigues, Stanley Colaco, Jose Luciano, Sameer Naik, Lazarus Fernandes, Mario Soares (Wilton Gomes), Jose Colaco, Clifford Miranda (Raman Vijayan), Bijen Singh, Sergey Andreev.

7th National League - Goa: Churchill Brothers SC 0-2 JCT Mills - Goals: 0-1 Harvinder Singh (24'), 0-2 Jo Paul Ancheri (68').
Churchill Brothers suffered a surprise two goal home defeat at the Nehru Stadium, Margao against former National League champions JCT Mills. JCT who put up a much better display than in their earlier matches in Goa, who where strengthened by the return of IM Vijayan, adding teeth to the attack. JCT went ahead in the 24.minute through youngster Harvinder Singh scoring of a rebound, while veteran Jo Paul Ancheri headed in a Ram Pal freekick in the 68.minute.

4th Air-India Millenium Cup - Quarterfinal: Air-India Red 0-0,1-3 Bank of Baroda [on penalties]
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: City Club 2-0 Tarun Sangha
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Kerala 3-0 Punjab
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Uttar Pradesh 2-0 Madhya Pradesh

27. January
4th Air-India Millenium Cup - Quarterfinal: Air-India White 1-0 Haywards 2000
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Indian Nationals FC 1-2 New Delhi Heroes
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Karnataka 1-0 Bihar
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Goa 1-0 Tripura

26. January

7th National League - Goa: Salgaocar SC 3-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 1-0 Jatin Singh Bisht (35'), 2-0 Sunday Seah (36') 3-0 Alex Ambrose (66').
Salgaocar scored a comfortable 3-0 victory against Tollygunge Agragami in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Salgaocar scored twice in 60 seconds 10 minutes from halftime, when midfielder Jatin Singh Bisht and Liberian striker Sunday Seah scored. Striker Alex Ambrose added a third in the 66.minute.

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Indian Air Force 0-0 Hindustan Club
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Punjab 1-0 Madhya Pradesh
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Uttar Pradesh 1-0 Kerala

25. January
7th National League - Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited 3-5 East Bengal Club - Goals: 0-1,0-2,0-5 Alvito D'Cunha (33',46',72'), 0-3 Subhas Chakraborty (48'), 0-4 Mike Okoro (64'), 1-5,2-5 Kenneth Onu (81',85'), 3-5 Mahendra Mani (90').
East Bengal won 5-3 away to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in a National League match at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Until 10 minutes from time East Bengal were crushing to a 5-0 victory against HAL but until the referee blew the whistle HAL had pumped in three goals to reduce the margin of defeat. East Bengal's side today was a different one from the side that won the IFA-Shield on Wednesday, with the Indian internationals and Mike Okoro returning to the line-up. Alvito D'Cunha seems to have keeped his good form from the SAFF Cup, scoring three goals, while Subhas Chakraborty and Nigerian Mike Okoro got also on the scorecard by the 72.minute. East Bengal were cruising but HAL were able to score thrice, late in the match, twice through Nigerian striker Kenneth Onu and in injury time substitute Mahendra Mani added a third.

7th National League - Calcutta: Mohun Bagan AC 4-0 Indian Bank - Goals: 1-0 Renedy Singh (12'), 2-0 George Ekeh (60'), 3-0,4-0 Jose Barreto (81',86').
Mohun Bagan returned from the National League break with a bang, trashing Indian Bank 4-0 at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Though Bagan had a number of injury worries, they seem to have used the break to regroup as the trio of Barreto, Ekeh and Renedy Singh dazzled with their attacking display. Renedy Singh opened the scoring with a great goal from the edge of the penalty area shooting high over Bank goalie Felix Edward. At the hour mark, Bagan's best George Ekeh doubled the score but the Jose Barreto was still to come. Jose Barreto having missed a number of easy chances got his teams third in the 81.minute of header from a cross from Renedy, the 100th goal for the Brazilian for Bagan! Barreto finished the rout four minutes from time when he shot home of a rebound from keeper Edward after Amar Ganguly had taken a shot.
MOHUN BAGAN: Bibash Ghosh, Dulal Biswas, Yakubu, Satish Bharti, Lolendra Singh (Santosh Singh), Sunil Chetri (Sheikh Sanjib), Basudeb Mondal (Amar Ganguly), Kajal Bhattacharya, Renedy Singh, Jose Barreto, George Ekeh.
INDIAN BANK: Felix Edward, David Maria Gerald, Anthony Noel, J Anandarajan, AV Villy, VK Harish, Mohammed Bin Hassan (Imran Mohammed), DC Nathaniel (Joseph), Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya, Stanley Festus, Syed Shabir Pasha.

7th National League - Goa: Vasco SC 2-1 JCT Mills - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Marcos Pereira (8',70'), 1-1 Kwabena Yeboah (26').
Vasco rode on the brilliance of Brazilian Marcos Pereira to beat JCT Mills 2-1 in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Marcos scored both goals for Vasco of headers, in the 8. and 70.minute, both of crosses from Jules Alberto. JCT had equalised in between through a long-ranger from Ghanian striker Kwabena Yeboah in the 26.minute, after Vasco keeper Saji Joy could not keep the ball under control.

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Delhi Police 5-0 Goans SC
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Karnataka 1-1 Goa
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Tripura 0-3 Bihar

24. January
7th National League - Goa: Dempo SC 0-0 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: none.
For league leaders Dempo the second stage of the National League after a month long break started with a goalless draw in a Goan derby at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Churchill Brothers looked tired after their IFA-Shield final loss only two days back but Dempo, could not score of their numerous chances, which the strikers Bijen Singh and Uzbek Sergey Andreev created.

7th National League - Mumbai: Mahindra United 1-1 Indian Telephone Industries - Goals: 1-0 Ednei Jose Damasio (39'), 1-1 James Singh (63').
Mahindra United wanted to use the National League break to regroup and then bounce back, when the league restarted but today they were only able to get a 1-1 draw against Indian Telephone Industries, in the end lucky not to loose. Mahindra opened the scoring in the 39.minute through new Brazilian recruit Ednei Jose Damasio, scoring a classy goal, his first on Indian soil. Then before the breather ITI were reduced to 10 men, as Ghanian Seth Osei received a red card for bringing down Mahindra captain Debjit Ghosh. But the joy for Mahindra wasn't to remain after the breather as ITI started to attack and work hard for the equaliser, even with 10 men, which came in the 63.minute from a placed shot by ITI's James Singh (not to be mixed-up with MahUtd's James Singh). After the equaliser ITI then went for the winner but that wasn't to be and the Telephonemen had to be content with a draw and will have to wait longer for their first NFL win this season.

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: City Club 0-1 Mughals Club
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Madhya Pradesh 2-1 Kerala
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Punjab 1-0 Uttar Pradesh
Meghalaya Football Championship - Final: Lajong SSC 0-0,4-2 Langsning FC (on penalties)

23. January
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Indian Nationals FC 1-0 Moonlight Club
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Karnataka 1-0 Tripura
38.Dr BC Roy (under-19) Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Bihar 2-2 Goa

Note-1: Baichung made some interesting comments on why India failed at the SAFF Cup, putting a lot of blame on the Indian clubs and also being honest enough to blame himself for missing the tournament. "Most of the players, who played at the SAFF tournament were not fully match fit and could not perform their best. The clubs should give players enough time to rest before major international engagements," Baichung said. The ace striker, who missed the tournament due to a calf injury, said India was definitely the favourite to win the tournament but could only finish third as most of the players were drained out and lacked the pace and tempo for the key matches. The Indian captain said the AIFF should direct the clubs to not only release their players for the country but also allow them to take rest before major international tournaments. He held the clubs responsible for being insensitive towards the hectic match-schedule and advocated stretching out the tournaments to allow room for the players "to recharge their batteries."
He also held himself responsible for not being able to play at the tournament saying it was "unprofessional" on his part to play a league match after nursing the calf injury. "I missed the SAFF tournament very badly... I blame myself for being lenient in not taking enough precaution and straining myself before such crucial events," Baichung added.
The ace striker said he was expected to be back in action in a couple of weeks time and undergoing physiotherapy under Dr Vece Paes in Kolkata. "I hope to participate in the second round of the National Football League," he added.
The Indian captain said most of the footballers have to continue playing despite injury because of pressure from the clubs. "We play too much football these days without any break. This doesn't help Indian football in any way and often causes injuries. Players run out of steam before important fixtures," he noted.
Baichung praised coach Constantine for his "invaluable" contribution to the Indian team. He, however, refused to comment on Constantine's remarks that India should have skipped the tournament and have played "friendlies" with European countries.
The ace striker brushed aside any suggestion that the coach be replaced and said there was a general lack of quality coaches in the country who have an awareness of the demands at the international stage. "We have finally started winning tournaments abroad - the LG Cup victory in Vietnam was the high-point in Indian football for many years."

Note-2: Radical Islamic groups in Bangladesh today forced the authorities to scrap a football match between the touring Bengal women's team against the Bangladesh Women's XI claiming women playing football was anti-Islamic, officials said. The friendly match in Netrokona was abandoned as Muslim clerics threatened to storm the local stadium if the organisers went ahead with the game, district commissioner Alauddin Fakir said. Mr Fakir said the 'friendly' was put off in the face of violent protests in the town staged by militants of the United Islamic Alliance and the student front of the fundamentalist Jamaat-i-Islami over the past two days. Earlier, the clerics issued a 'fatwa' banning the participation of women in football wearing shorts in front of male spectators saying it was anti-Islamic for women to expose publicly any part of their body.
The Bengal Women left hurriedly for Calcutta from Bangladesh due to fear of possible mishaps, to say it nicely.
Do I have to have another go at Bangladesh? or rather at Islamists? This is totally unacceptable and maybe the IFA will also have to question, how it can send a team of women footballers to such a hostile place...

Note-3: The AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco, at the AFC Vision Asia 2003 conference in Kuala Lumpur, announced the AIFFs ambitious plans to help its national team to play at the 2010 World Cup. Presently countries like Japan, Korea, China and Iran are part of this elite club which aspires to qualify for the World Cup from the Asian region. "Our target is to qualify for the World Cup 2010 and also to participate in 2008 Olympics. We are preparing a detailed programme to achieve these objectives," Colaco said. "India has a long soccer history and it used to be one of the leading countries in the region but somehow other countries geared up fast and have overtaken us. We have enough talent, we need better planning and administration," he added. "Though we are trying to get more support from AFC and FIFA, we have to manage with whatever we have. FIFA has also offered a one time grant under its aid programme called Goal Project," said Colaco.

22. January
108.IFA-Shield - Final: East Bengal Club 0-0,5-4 Churchill Brothers SC (on penalties) - Goals: none.
Satyabrata Paul reports for indianfootball.com: It's another title for East Bengal as they lifted the 108th IFA-Shield, beating Churchill Brothers 5-4 via sudden death. For East Bengal the winner came through Sasthi Duley as he scored the sixth and final penalty. Regulation and extra time time saw no score from either side. The game was mediocre as both tried to play within themselves and in-and-around the midfield. In the group league, East Bengal lost to Churchill Bros, by a solitary goal. So it was a sweet revenge for them. As the score remained goalless, the game moved to tie-breaker. Suley Musah missed for East Bengal, after Churchill's Roque Barreto shot was saved by the East Bengal custodian Sangram Mukherjee. Then again Sangram made a save, this time against Tiken Singh, while Sasthi Duley scored the winner to lift the trophy for East Bengal!
EAST BENGAL: Sangram Mukherjee, Amjad Ali Khan, Arun Malhotra, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (Soumitra Chakraborty), Suley Musah, Douglas de Silva, Shankarlal Chakraborty, Sasthi Duley, Jiten Rai (Kalia Kulothungan), Chandan Das, Trijit Das (Kaustav Ghosh).
CHURCHILL: Edward Ansah, Denzie Ferrao, Pio Rodrigues, Noel Wilson, Zaheer Abbas (Tiken Singh), Roque Barreto, Aqueel Ansari, Kanta Singh (Ratan Singh), Kasif Jamal, Rajesh Meetei, Yusif Yakubu.

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Hindustan Club 3-0 Tarun Sangha
41.Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Football Tournament - Mahilpur - Final: Punjab Police 0-0,7-6 Border Security Force (on penalties)

Note-1: As reported earlier on indianfootball.com, an FMM International representative will travel down to Calcutta late this week, to have have talks with administrators and club officials, and have a look at the facilities. Interesting to note is that FFMI's CEO Nigel Empson will be travelling down, showing how serious the interest is.
Mr. Empson informed that FMMInternational specialises in the European-Chinese market: they help to bring European expertise and experience to the Chinese football industry to help clubs there develop, and to help China achieve its full-potential as a football nation. We hope to do the same in India. He added, "My belief is that India has enormous potential. It is a vast country with a population similar to China's. If more children play football and more of these receive good coaching then the overall standard will improve, the professional game will become stronger, and India will, over time, become a force in world football. You will produce world-class footballers just as you do world-class cricketers. I sincerely believe this, and so do my colleagues at FMMI."
We can only agree and wish FMMI at best in their takes in Calcutta!

21. January
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: New Delhi Heroes 1-0 Goans SC

Note-1: The AFC will take a decision on whether to lift the ban on Indian football from hosting international events in April 2003 following an appeal by the AIFF. The AFC's appeal committee will meet in the second week of April to "consider and discuss" on the appeals from various countries against the sanctions imposed by AFC in its last executive committee meeting, AFC general secretary Peter Velappan informed. "India have also appealed against the ban and this will be examined by the committee," Velappan said after attending the closing ceremony of a four-day course for referees.

Note-2: East Bengal take on Churchill Brothers in the IFA-Shield final tomorrow. East Bengal, already facing problems to put a team together due to injuries and other problems, have not been allowed by the IFA and the AIFF to field the four returned Indian internationals from the SAFF Cup in tomorrow's final.

Note-3: In the second match of their Bangladesh tour, the Bengal Women's XI beat Bangladesh XI 4-0 in Dhaka, a sort of revenge for the Indian men, who had lost to Bangladesh on Saturday. Sujata Kar scored a hattrick in the match, while the other goal was scored by Sayenti Nandy.

20. January
3.SAFF Cup - 3rd Place Playoff: INDIA 2-1 Pakistan (golden Goal) - Goals: 1-0 IM Vijayan (56'), 1-1 Sarfraz Rasool (72'), 2-1 Abhishek Yadav (99').
India's pride had been dented on Saturday with the loss against Bangladesh in the semifinals but today they salvaged some pride and took revenge on Pakistan with a 2-1 golden Goal victory in the third place playoff at the SAFF Cup in Dhaka, to take home a purse of 15.000 USD against the 10.000 USD Pakistan received. Unlikely hero was Abhishek Yadav who headed in a cross from Selwyn Fernandes in the 99.minute to seal the match for India, after Abhishek had been the main culprit that India didn't win the match comprehensively in regulation time, missing at least three clear chances. India put together an impressive display in the first half, creating numerous chances but sadly the strikers could not convert the chances, the problem which has haunted India's campaign at the tournament. But after the lemon break India was able to break the deadlock, when a perfect Alvito D'Cunha cross was met by the head of IM Vijayan, who placed the ball into the far corner of the net. Vijayan at long last scored in this tournament and maybe he was able to score one last goal for India, in "maybe" his last match for the national team. But then India lost it's best midfielder today, Jo Paul Ancheri, who had to be substituted and Pakistan came back into the match, when striker Sarfraz Rasool headed in a cross from Nawaz in the 72.minute to equalise. After that Indian keeper Naseem Akhter even had to make two great saves, otherwise Pakistan could have beaten India again but the match went into extratime, where India again took control and scored the winner!
INDIA: Naseem Akhter, M Suresh, Roberto Fernandes, Selwyn Fernandes, Jo Paul Ancheri (Shanmugam Venkatesh), Abhay Kumar (Harvinder Singh), Subhash Chakraborty (Alvito D'Cunha), Climax Lawrence, Jules Alberto, Abhishek Yadav, IM Vijayan.
PAKISTAN: Jaffar Khan, Haroon Yousuf, Tanveer Ahmed, Zakir Hussain, Ashfaq Ahmed, Ayaz Mohammad, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Shahead (M Nawaz), Sarfraz Rasool, Mohammad Amir Khan, Abdul Ghani.

3.SAFF Cup - Final: Bangladesh 1-1,5-3 Maldives (on penalties) - Goals: 1-0 Rokonuzzaman Kanchan (12'), 1-1 Ali Umar (58').
Bangladesh won their first-ever SAFF Cup title in a penalty shootout.

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Indian Air Force, Delhi 3-0 Mughals Club

Note-1: The draw for the forthcoming AFC Women's Championship - Thailand 2003 were held at the Bangkok Radisson Hotel on Saturday. India have been placed into Group C along with continental giants China, Vietnam and Uzbekistan.
In addition to battling for continental honours, the 14 teams participating in the AFC Women's Championship will also be competing for two-and-a-half slots in the FIFA Women's World Cup, which is to be played in China later this year. Two teams advance automatically to the World Cup while a third will take on Mexico in a two-leg playoff for another berth.
So our Indian girls have gotten a tough group with no pushovers in the group...

Note-2: Babul Burmis, first FIFA referee from the northeast, passed away following a massive cardiac arrest at his Christian Patti residence in Nagaon, Assam. Burmis was 67 and suffering from prolonged illness.

19. January
Yesterday we at indianfootball.com organised our first-ever LIVE CHAT during a match of the Indian national team. It was a big big success, with approximately 25 people having come into the CHATroom at some time of the match to get updates from us. We will have the second such CHAT tomorrow, when INDIA face Pakistan for the third-place playoff at Dhaka.
We hope to repeat such CHATs in the future, not only with the national team but maybe also for important club matches in India. But for that we would need help...

108.IFA-Shield - Semifinal: East Bengal Club 2-0 Vasco SC - Goals: 1-0 Suley Musah (18'), 2-0 Jiten Rai (83').
108.IFA-Shield - Semifinal: Tata Football Academy 2-3 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 0-1 Kasif Jamal (3'), 1-1 Bhola Prasad (14'), 1-2 Yakubu Yusif (25'), 2-2 Debabrata Roy (47'), 2-3 Ratan Singh (71').

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Indian Nationals FC 0-1 Delhi Police
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Moonlight Club 1-0 Goans SC

Note-1: AFC general secretary Peter Velappan along with Japanese AFC and FIFA's executive committee member Junji Ogura arrived in Dhaka today for the SAFF Cup finals tomorrow. Talking to the press, Velappan hit out quite harshly against India and the SAFF countries in general.
"One billion people and a history of football of over 100 years, India is Asia's greatest tragedy. India played the semi-finals of the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 but it is amazing that they aren't a football power even in the continent," Velappan started but turned to the future. Velappan informed India would be one unit in the AFC's Vision Asia programme the continental body's latest panacea for football to be unveiled by president Mohammad bin Hammam in Kuala Lumpur this week. China is the only other country to be given a similar status. This 10-year programme would be tailor-made for each country/region with specific targets for each year. "This region has done nothing for the past 10 years. The national associations are not properly managed and those involved in administration dabble more in football politics than the uplift of the sport. Wake up or you will be left behind." One of the aspects of Vision Asia would be to train key club personnel in the basics of soccer management. He said it is imperative to get young people in sync with time to run clubs because they are the sport's lifeline. Velappan pointed out that it isn't without reason that the Maldives are playing Monday's final. "They and Sri Lanka are the only countries in this region to have put in place a development programme six years ago."
Harsh words but lets hope the right people have heard them...

Note-2: The Bengal's women football team started their tour of Bangladesh on a winning note, with star striker Sujata Kar being the match-winner with two goals, in their 2-1 victory against a Bangladesh Women's XI.

18. January
3.SAFF Cup - Semifinal: Bangladesh 2-1 INDIA (golden Goal) - Goals: 1-0 Rokonuzzaman Kanchan (78'), 1-1 Alvito D'Cunha (81'), 2-1 Motiur Munna (96').
A fighting India went down to hosts Bangladesh through a 20 metre long-ranger from Motiur Munna in extratime, giving Bangaldesh a memorable 2-1 golden Goal victory in the SAFF Cup semifinal against the defending champions India. In an entertaining match, the best so far in this SAFF Cup, both sides had their chances with Bangladesh having more control of the midfield in the match but India proving to be the more skilful side. Bangladesh had their first chance in the 5.minute, when an Arman corner was headed towards the Indian goal by Kanchan but Climax Lawrence made a goalline save, something Bangladesh would repeat again later in the match with more success. Then India had a good chance, when Jo Paul Ancheri took a typical left-footed shot at goal in the 28.minute, which went straight to the Bangladeshi keeper Aminul Haque. Both teams had more chances but the match was mainly confined to the midfield, the match really picked-up in the last quarter hour of regulation time. Bangladesh went ahead in the 78.minute when Bangladesh's Arman Miah took another corner kick, which IM Vijayan tried to head out but Kanchan got his head to the ball and the ball sailed in. But while Bangladesh were still celebrating, India equalised through an oppurtunistic strike by substitute Alvito D'Cunha three minutes later, when he lobbed the ball over Bangladesh keeper Animul Haque, who was far off his position, a deserved goal for the spritited Indian performance. But then India even had the chance to win the match in regulation time as substitute Abhishek Yadav chested down a cross for IM Vijayan to take a shot at goal but the ball missed the goal by a few inches. Then things went into extratime and India seemed a second not concentrated in the 96.minute as Motiur Munna won a midfield tussle, moved towards the Indian goal through the middle with an alley opening-up and took a long-range shot, which went into the bottom left-hand corner of the net as he found Indian keeper Naseem Akhter offguard, who couldn't save the ball. The stadium went into a frenzy and party mood, as Bangladesh won only their third match India. A number of Indian players were in tears after playing their best match of the tournament but still it wasn't enough for a team, missing too many regulars. India is still not strong enough to compensate missing players like Baichung, Deepak, Mahesh Gawli and Tomba, so for the future we need to expand the national teams base of potential international players.
While India and Bangladesh put together a spirited performance, the man in yellow/black Kunsuta Chaiwat from Thailand was either biased towards the home team or not upto the mark, an issue which will take a major portion of the report on the SAFF Cup, as the refereeing has been to some extend a catastrophy, if a team like Nepal might have been send home due to two major wrong decisions in their matches against Bangladesh and Maldies. Today Kunsuta Chaiwat took some yellow cards decisions, where cards weren't needed, while in other situations he was too leniant, with Bangladesh's Arif Joy being the biggest gainer, as he made some tackles after already having received a yellow card, which normally would directly have met with a red card but he wasn't even given marching orders. The AFC need (!) to send, at least for the latter stages of the SAFF Cup, higher quality referees, as otherwise there is no need to hold such tournaments, as otherwise not the best win but the team, which has the most luck with the referees.
But still congrats to Bangladesh for making it to the finals after a hard match against us...
INDIA: Naseem Akhtar, Debjit Ghosh, M Suresh, Roberto Fernandes, Sameer Naik (Abhay Kumar), Renedy Singh, Jo Paul Ancheri, Shanmugam Venkatesh (Alvito D'Cunha), Climax Lawrence, IM Vijayan, Ashim Biswas (Abhishek Yadav).
BANGLADESH: Aminul Haque, Rajani Kanta Barman, Nazrul Islam, Mohammad Sujon, Hasan Al Mamun, Arif Khan Joy, Parvez Babu (Ariful Kabir Farhad), Arman Miah, Motiur Munna, Rokonuzzaman Kanchan, Alfaz Ahmed (Mehdi Hasan Ujjal).
Yellow Cards: INDIA: Ashim Biswas, Alvito D'Cunha (IND); BANGLADESH: Kanchan, Joy.

3.SAFF Cup - Semifinal: Pakistan 0-1 Maldives - Goal: 0-1 Ibrahim Fazeel (12').

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Hindustan Club 2-0 City Club

Note-1: German coaches will be coming to Calcutta, to work with youth coaches, who can then teach youngsters in modern day football. The IFA had send an application to the German foreign ministry in March 2002 and only got a reply last week stating a positive reply.
The IFA also hopes to send junior teams to Germany for experience but nothing has been finalised yet.
The IFA also announced that FMM, a British football marketing company, will be coming to town on January 26 for talks on how a professional set-up could be installed in Calcutta and look at the youth development set-up.

Note-2: A 21-member Bengal women's football team left for Dhaka today to play three "promotional" exhibition matches in Bangladesh. Team technical director Kuntala Ghosh Dastidar said there will be three "matches", against a makeshift Bangladesh FF team that could also include a number of IFA players. The first match is in Jessore Sunday, followed by matches in Dhaka (21.1) and Netrakona (23.1).

17. January
When defending champions India take on hosts Bangladesh in the second semifinal of the 3rd SAFF Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka it will be seen as the foregone final, as these two teams were expected to repeat their final appearance from the last SAFF Cup. But sadly our Indian team hasn't been able to show their class in the tournament, which the team is capable off but Coach Stephen Constantine had to go to Dhaka without four regulars and that has effected the Indian team. In the Group stage Bangladesh won all their three matches, none of them really in style, while India have a mixed record with a win, draw and a loss. But tomorrow it'll be a one-off knockout match, so past records or the performance at this SAFF Cup will not count. Bangladesh will have the home crowd support but also they will have the pressure of the crowds expectations of winning against their football arch-rivals. Both camps have their injury worries but none of the coaches are openly saying whom they will field in the important match.
Common INDIA go for the final!!!

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Tarun Sangha 0-0 Mughals Club
108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group A: East Bengal Club 2-1 Tollygunge Agragami

108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group B: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-0 Calcutta Port Trust - the match had to be stopped 40 seconds before the end by referee Sarat Chandra Singh at the Mohammedan Sporting Ground, due to crowd trouble that erupted as Sporting were denied a penalty in the MSC opinion and hundreds of Sporting supporters made their way onto the ground to attack the officials and some CPT players, as in their eyes the denied penalty forced Sporting out of the IFA-Shield.

Note-1: Does idealism work in today's world of football?
Maybe it still does. Calcutta's cash-strapped Mohammedan Sporting Club, one of India's oldest football clubs, has declined a Rs 10 million sponsorship offer only because Islam does not allow association with liquor. "We cannot play with the name of a liquor company and that of the Prophet on our chests (jerseys)," Sporting coach Mohammed Habib told IANS. Habib said the Bangalore-based United Breweries had approached Sporting to sponsor the club. But officials unanimously but politely declined the offer for religious reasons. "They wanted our players to sport the Bagpiper logo on the jerseys for which they were ready to pay us Rs. 10 million," confirmed Iqbal Ahmed, a key member of the management team and a councillor in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation. Interesting is that two seasons ago Sporting were having the Bagpiper logo on their shirts. Maybe if the financial situation worsens, then Sporting might go back to the UB-Group after talks with Hero Honda and AirTel failed.

16. January
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: New Delhi Heroes 1-0 Delhi Police

Note-1: Indian football Superstar Baichung Bhutia is likely the only Indian footballer, who does not get into trouble, if he openly speask his mind. Baichung did it earlier this week in Delhi. He said, "It was unprofessional of me to play when I knew I was 70 to 80 per cent fit. I made a mistake, but I can't do anything about it. They system here is so different that you have to play. If I was in the UK, perhaps I would not have played."
About football development in India Baichung added, "It's not enough just to have plenty of funds at the club level. You also need to have the right kind of people to run the game. They should be professionals and not just people who are in it just for the love of the game. We have tried a system here and it has not worked. We need to think about what is wrong with it and study the system in Europe, where they really take care of their players, groom them from a young age."
"Players who do not perform well are dropped after the initial matches and get lost somewhere in the system," added Bhutia as he went to question the farce behind how some players were dropped quickly after given only a short time to impress. "There is a need for contracts that extend for two to three years so that these players get a chance to showcase their talent for a consistent period."
Playing in the National League after four years, Baichung feels that the standard of football has gone up and agrees that foreign recruits too have contributed to it. "To some extent, the foreigners playing now are of a much higher standard. Also a lot of youngsters are coming up and the overall standard is looking up."

Note-2: The battle IFA vs Mohun Bagan goes into it's next round. After Mohun Bagan kept it's stand not to play in the IFA-Shield, also forcing the club to withdraw from the Durand Cup, now it is the IFA's turn as the Bengal body wants to propose Bagan be banned from the forthcoming Calcutta Super Division, when the association's Governing Body meeting is convened next week. "We will not register their players, thus stopping them from playing in any outstation tournament (including the National League) as well," a top IFA official said. The official, however, added that they would not take such a drastic step if Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra admits not letting his club play in the Shield was a mistake. "He has to do it officially. Otherwise, it's our right to ensure they cannot play in the CFL or the NFL." He added "It's clearly written in the rule book that an affiliated unit of the association has to play in the CFL and the IFA Shield," he said trying to explain why Bagan might be punished. Meanwhile Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra is in no mood to relent. "I'll not apologise to the IFA under any circumstances," Mitra said. "If they take any such action, we will move court." Mitra tried to argue that they are not obliged to play in the IFA Shield. "It is an entry-fee tournament and we have every right to stay away from it," Mitra argued.
Bagan are in a dangerous situation, as the players are not happy with coach Subrata Bhattacharjee and the cub secretary takes on the IFA. Lets wait and see what derives out of all this...

Note-3: India's first-ever sports marketing forum, the Sportsbiz 2003, will be held in Mumbai on January 24.
The speakers at the Forum will include IHF president KPS Gill, former World billiards champion Michael Ferreira, badminton star Pullela Gopichand, AITA secretary-general Anil Khanna, BCCI vice-president Kamal Morarka, ESPN managing director Manu Sawhney, Taj TV managing director Chris McDonald and Formula Three driver Karun Chandhok.

15. January
The FIFA today released the latest FIFA World Ranking and the first for the year 2003. India moved up in the ranking to 125, up two places from their December 2002 ranking. Hopefully a good sign for the rest of 2003!

3.SAFF Cup - Group B: Nepal 2-3 Maldives - Goals: 1-0 Niranjan Rayamajhi (56'), 1-1 Ahmed Niyaz (66'), 2-1 Ashraf Luthfy (75'), 3-1 Ali Umar (82'), 3-2 Deb Narayan Chaudhry (90+').
3.SAFF Cup - Group B: Bangladesh 3-0 Bhutan - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Ariful Kabir Farhad (3',54'), 3-0 Rokonuzzaman Kanchan (78').

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: City Club 1-0 Indian Air Force, Delhi
108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group A: East Bengal Club 0-1 Churchill Brothers SC
108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group B: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-0 Vasco SC

Note-1: Former Olympian Anil Nandy died on Tuesday at a Calcutta Nursing Home following a haemmorhage in the brain. He was 80 and is survived by three daughters and one son. Anil, the elder brother of another Olympian Nikhil Nandy and twp further former football international brothers, was admitted to the Nursing Home on January 8 following a cerebral attack. A celebrated winger in the 1940s and 50s on the Calcutta Maidan, Anil Nandy played mainly for Eastern Railways.

Note-2: The Final of the 108th IFA-Shield has now finally been deferred by two days due to security reason. Now in place of January 20, it will be played on January 22.

Note-3: Corps of Signals won the Goa first Division league today, to gain promotion to the Goan Professional League the coming season, while Salcete FC were relegated to the second Division, finishing last.

14. January
3.SAFF Cup - Group A: INDIA 1-1 Sri Lanka - Goals: 1-0 Ashim Biswas (88'), 1-1 Chryshantha Abeysekera (89').
India once again didn't show what it is capable off but still reached the semifinals of the SAFF Cup with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against islanders Sri Lanka. The match had remained goalless for 88 minutes before youngster Ashim Biswas found the net again today, to open the scoring in the 88.minute for India off a rebound from the Lankan goalkeeper Sandun Devinda, after Devinda couldn't hold on to a shot from IM Vijayan. On the very next counter attack Sri Lanka equalised through susbtitute Chryshantha Abeysekera and then EB Channa even had the chance to score the winner for Lanka in injury time. Lucky India Channa missed and India reached the semis (!), as the second best team from Group A with four points, like Sri Lanka but with a better goal difference, due to the bigger victory margin against Afghanistan. Group A was won surprisingly by Pakistan.
INDIA: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar (Virender Singh), Debjit Ghosh, M Suresh, Roberto Fernandes, Sameer Naik, Renedy Singh (Subhas Chakraborty), Jo Paul Ancheri, Alvito D'Cunha (Abhishek Yadav), Climax Lawrence, IM Vijayan, Ashim Biswas.
SRI LANKA: Sandun Devinda, Dudley Lincoln Steinwell, M Azmeer (Isuru Udith Perera), KM Fuard, Samantha Prabath (EIP Perara), Chathura Maduranga Weerasinghe, (Chryshantha Abeysekera), EB Channa, Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya, Janaka Sanjaya Silva, MR Mohideen, MHM Hamsa.

3.SAFF Cup - Group A: Pakistan 1-0 Afghanistan - Goal: 1-0 Sarfraz Rasool (9').

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Hindustan Club 2-0 Mughals Club
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Indian Nationals FC 0-0 Goans SC
108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group B: Calcutta Port Trust 0-0 Tata Football Academy

Note-1: Might the final of the 108th IFA-Shield have to be cancelled? The final is dated for January 20 but on that date, the Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam will be in Calcutta, meaning not enough policing is available for the final. As the president will be in Calcutta until Tuesday, the shifting of the final by a day is also not possible.

13. January
3.SAFF Cup - Group B: Nepal 2-0 Bhutan - Goals: 1-0 Niranjan Rayamahji (16'), 2-0 Kumar Thapa (89').
3.SAFF Cup - Group B: Bangladesh 1-0 Maldives - Goal: 1-0 Arif Khan Joy (89').

108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group A: Tollygunge Agragami 1-1 Churchill Brothers SC
108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group A: East Bengal Club 2-1 Indian Bank
108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group B: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-2 Tata Football Academy

Note-1: The fact-finding committee, consisting of Justice Ragnath Mishra, Member of Parliament RK Anand and journalist KNK Menon, constituted by the AIFF to probe into the circumstances leading to the abandonment of the 107th IFA Shield 2001 final, has held the Brazilian side Palmeiras responsible for the disturbance and abandonment of the match. The committee, which submitted its report to the AIFF earlier this month, squarely blamed the Brazilian outfit for the disturbances on the field during the October 7 match in which several players of both sides were injured. "Palmeiras caused the disturbance and, therefore, the match could not be played or continued to get an appropriate conclusion," the report said. The committee also described as "not correct" the allegations of Palmeiras a day after the final that "there was nobody to give us proper security and ask us to keep playing the game because we were ready to play. So, we did not abandon the match". The committee, which viewed the video recording of the match as also the relevant correspondence before and after the incident between the various parties, said that "the allegations in the complaint of October 8, 2001, are not correct and Palmeiras were responsible for the discontinuance of play and the abandonment of the match". The IFA said its decision to award the controversial IFA Shield 2001 final to East Bengal stood vindicated following the report of the AIFF fact-finding committee. "The propaganda against IFA for declaring East Bengal as winners of the abandoned Shield final against Brazil's Palmeiras has been proved wrong," said IFA joint-secretary Ranjit Gupta. "The propaganda was only intended to malign the image of the Association." Pointing out that the fact-finding committee was formed as per the directive of the AFC, he said, "the AFC now has to act on the report. We are waiting for their reaction and will decide on our next course of action only after that." Asked about the one-year ban imposed by AFC on affiliates of AIFF, he said "we have not received any such order from the Confederation".

Note-2: Tata Football Academy coach Ranjan Chowdhury informed the press in Calcutta that TFA would take part in the 2.Division National League this season, so that the TFA boys get experience in the big league. Also Chowdhury informed that former India captain Carlton Chapman has joined TFA as a coach.

Note-3: It was disclosed today that Delhi's Indian Nationals FC have found a new sponsor in Mayor Group. Rajan Mayor, CMD of the company, said, "There is a lot of potential in India but we need a big financial boost. For our part, we extend our help by sponsoring a club who have done well in the NFL Division-II for the last three years. And the players will receive monetary benefits or something else if they perform well this season." The Mayor Group would also like to sponsor the Delhi State team in the senior, under-21, U-19 and U-16 category. The team is coached by Tapan Jyoti Mitra, a former Mohammedan Sporting coach.

12. January
3.SAFF Cup - Group A: INDIA 4-0 Afghanistan - Goal: 1-0,2-0 Ashim Biswas (30',63'), 3-0,4-0 Alvito D'Cunha (77',85').
India are back in contention for a semifinal spot from Group A and more after a 4-0 victory against fighting debutants Afghanistan. So to all our relief, the coincidences with France's show at last years World Cup have ended, now we can expect more of a young team, which will gain in confidence from this win...
The match started open and even but as the match progressed India took more and more control of the proceedings and started to score of their chances, which the team had been unable to do of the few chances against Pakistan. India was a more determined side today and got a number of early chances through veteran IM Vijayan but he missed three chances in quick succession, which he normally scores off at will and was substituted with Abhishek Yadav after India's first goal. But a new light at the end of the tunnel for India's problem of finding an international class striker succeeding IM Vijayan and being partner for Baichung Bhutia when he is back, might have been born today. Tollygunge Agragami striker Ashim Biswas, a lad from a Calcutta suburb, scored his first two international goals for India and set-up the third, in his first start for the Indian seniors. Ashim scored his first goal in the 30.minute when he was able to get a touch on a Jo Paul Ancheri header to put India in front. With the lead India grew in confidence but more goals were to come only in the second half. Ashim doubled the lead in the 63.minute with a header from a throw-in by substitute Abhay Kumar and then Alvito D'Cunha came-in as substitute to also score a brace. Alvito came into the match for Venkatesh in the 73.minute to score twice in eight minutes. The first goal came in the 77.minute after Ashim Biswas played a one-two with Renedy Singh passing the ball infront of the goalmouth for Alvito to blast home. Alvito scored his second and India's fourth five minutes from time with a strong left-footer after being send free on the left.
So now India take on Sri Lanka to decide who will follow surprise package Pakistan into the semifinals. India are in a better position with their better goal difference from the 4-0 trashing of Afghanistan and could move on with a draw but one should never risk to play for a draw. But Stephen will know what to do...
INDIA: Naseem Akhtar, Debjit Ghosh, M Suresh, Roberto Fernandes, Sameer Naik (Abhay Kumar), Renedy Singh, Jo Paul Ancheri, Shanmugam Venkatesh (Alvito D'Cunha), Climax Lawrence, IM Vijayan (Abhishek Yadav), Ashim Biswas.
AFGHANISTAN: Jamshid, Najib Naderi, Zia, Omar Azhar, Ahmed Rahil, Nasir Safi, Obaidullah, Rezaee Rezai (Farid), Rohallah, Basir Ahmed, David Yagubi (Naibullah).

3.SAFF Cup - Group A: Pakistan 2-1 Sri Lanka - Goals: 1-0 Zahid Niaz (50'), 2-0 Sarfraz Rasool (86'), 2-1 Chathura Maduranga Weerasinghe (89').

Note-1: The Delhi Senior Division Super League starts on Tuesday to find this seasons Delhi league champion. The teams have been divided in Group A, consisting of defending champions Hindustan Club, Indian Air Force (Delhi), Tarun Sangha, City Club and Moghals Club, while Group B is composed of Indian Nationals FC, New Delhi Heroes, Moonlight Club, Delhi Police and Goans SC.

11. January
National coach Stephen Constantine will be facing his toughest match as India coach yet, as India got ready for their crucial Group A match against debutants Afghanistan. But Stephen is facing further injury worries with Alvito D'Cunha and impressive debutant Subhas Chakraborty not able to practice today. Constantine didn't give any clear indications who will play tomorrow but some changes are in store for the Indian team. Constantine was unhappy about the loss yesterday and wrote to me on any other day India would have won 5-0 but luck was not on India's side, even though we didn't play so well...

3.SAFF Cup - Group B: Maldives 6-0 Bhutan - Goals: 1-0 Mohamed Nizam (3'), 2-0 Ashraf Luthfy (9'), 3-0,4-0,5-0 Ali Shiyam (22',24',65'), 6-0 Ali Kumer (77').
3.SAFF Cup - Group B: Bangladesh 1-0 Nepal - Goal: 1-0 Alfaz Ahmed (30').

108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group A: Churchill Brothers SC 0-0 Indian Bank
108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group B: Vasco SC 3-1 Calcutta Port Trust

10. January
3.SAFF Cup - Group A: INDIA 1-0 Pakistan - Goal: 0-1 Sarfraz Rasool (50').
Might India go the same way in the SAFF Cup as France did at the World Cup? The similarities are sadly striking Before the tournament started like a prophet India coach Constantine has repeatedly said that India will not be able to stroll through and that in today's football world there aren't any big or small teams, similar to what French coach Roger Lemerre had said in Korea. The numerous similarities continue with the opening matches, with France's 0-1 defeat against Senegal at the World Cup. India had control of the match, had it's chances, just like the French. A total nobody in Sarfraz Rasool scored the winner in the 50.minute for Pakistan, as Papa Bouba Dioup had done for Senegal. Indian superstar Baichung Bhutia was missing from the line-up as did international French superstar Zinedine Zidane. Any further comparisons needed?
The Indian players have themselves to blame for the unneeded defeat against Pakistan in a fast-paced and surcharged Group A encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. The match was a dull affair in the first half but picked-up in the second-half as Sarfraz Rasool scored the decider in the 50.minute. Therefore there was loads of action but mainly confined to the midfield. India's wingers Sameer Naik and Alvito D'Cunha along with the midfield was not able to assert any pressure but the introduction of youngster Subhas Chakraborty on th left flank changed that, with Subhas crossing the ball into the danger zone a number of times. India's best chance to equalise came in the 70.minute when IM Vijayan close range effort from a difficult angle flew across the face of the goal.
But things surrounding the match where also not so nice, rather disturbing. Before the match started the national anthem of Pakistan was played but not the one of India??? The Indian team waited for two minutes but the Indian anthem was not played and then the match started, Indian Chef-de-Mission NK Bhatia lodged a formal protest with the organisers, so we hope it will not happen again, otherwise...
Also weird to hear that the Bangladeshi football fans were supporting Pakistan. Heh ??? Okay we are bitter football rivals with the Bangladeshis but such harsh opposition as reported isn't normal, if the home team isn't playing. Maybe the Bangladeshis have forgotten who helped them to get Independence and from whom. Maybe I should contact our friend George Bush and ask him to send some GIs over to sort this mess out ;-) ...
But I hope the comparison with France ends here and India start scoring goals and winning. This team, even without four regulars, has a lot of potential but a five day preperation camp is just not enough with so many new faces in the team, maybe the AIFF should take the SAFF Cup more seriously. Now Stephen will have to get the team into proper shape, as on Sunday they face Afghanistan, a team which only lost 0-1 against Sri Lanka and have five Germany-based players in the squad, maybe the IFSC-Germany should help out India in the future!
INDIA: Naseem Akhtar, Debjit Ghosh, M Suresh, Roberto Fernandes, Sameer Naik (Subash Chakraborty), Renedy Singh, Jo Paul Ancheri, Shanmugam Venkatesh (Ashim Biswas), Alvito D'Cunha (Jules Aberto), IM Vijayan, Abhishek Yadav.
PAKISTAN: Jaffar Khan, Haroon Yousuf, Sarfraz Rasool, Tanveer Ahmed, Zakir Hussain (Mohammad Saeem), Sazzad Hussain (Khuda Bux), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ayaz Mohammad (Amir Shahead), Qadeer Ahmed, Shahid, Mohammad Amir Khan.

3.SAFF Cup - Group A: Sri Lanka 1-0 Afghanistan - Goal: 1-0 Dudley Lincoln Steinwell (44').

115.Durand Cup - Final: East Bengal Club 3-0 Army XI - Goals: 1-0 Mike Okoro (67'), 2-0 Kalia Kulothungan (72'), 3-0 Douglas da Silva (7').
Three goals in 10 minutes in the middle of the second-half seeled the match in East Bengal's favour to give them their 15th Durand Cup title! The goals were scored by "Man of the Tournament" Nigerian Mike Okoro, substitute Kalia Kulothungan and a penalty from Brazilian Douglas da Silva.
EAST BENGAL: VP Satish Kumar, Surya Bikash Chakraborty, Arun Malhotra, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Raju Singh, Malsamw Tulunga, Chandan Das (Tushar Rakshit), Douglas da Silva, Sasthi Duley, Trijit Das (Kaustav Ghosh, Kalia Kulothungan), Mike Okoro.
ARMY XI: Abun Gobi Singh, S Ramesh, Ignatius, L Angam, Johny Gangmei, Saroj Gurung, Irudayaraj, Bikash Gurung, Pradip Debnath, Raghu Kumar, Preetam Bahadur.

Note-1: The Draw Ceremony for the AFC Women's Championship 2003 will be held on January 18, 2003 at the Raddisson Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. The AFC Women's Championship will be held in Thailand from April 19-May 2. Countries that have confirmed participation are Uzbekistan, China, Taiwan, defending champions North Korea, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The Draw Ceremony will have teams drawn into three groups. Two of the groups will have five teams and the other four. The winners of the groups will qualify for the semis along with the second best placed team. The two finalists from the AFC Women's Championship will clinch automatic berths for the FIFA Women's World Cup to be hosted by China from September 24-October 11. The third placed team from the AFC Women's Championship will meet a side from the North American Football Confederation in a home and away play-off.

9. January
indianfootball.com SAFF Cup preview: So at long last the 3rd SAFF Cup will kickoff tomorrow at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The 11-day event being organised by the Bangladesh Football Federation had to be postponed twice in the last 15 months, as it was postponed in October 2001 as India was busy with it's domestic season, while in January/February 2002 the tournament had to be postponed again due to internal struggles within the BFF, forcing FIFA even to ban the BFF for quite some time. Now the BFF has got itself reorganised and has been working hard to organise south Asian football's show piece event, which will be featuring all eight national teams of the south Asian region for the first time in the tournaments history. War-torn Afghanistan and the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan will be making their debut at the SAFF Cup, with especially the inclusion of Afghanistan having drawn worldwide attention. It will be Afghanistan's second tournament after the end of the Taliban rule and interesting to note will be that four or five foreign-based player will be in the squad, some even from lower division German clubs, like Najib Naderi from fourth division Altona 93 Hamburg.
The tournament will be declared open by the Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in a 45-minute opening ceremony before India face rivals Pakistan in the inaugural match.
So what can we expect from the India team? Anything else than the defence and a hattrick of the SAFF Cup title, won earlier in 1997 in Kathmandu, Nepal and 1999 in Goa, India, would come as a surprise. India is on paper and regarding it's form the strongest team in the south Asian region, even though the team misses a number of regulars due to injuries. The biggest absentee from the Indian team and from the tournament will be India captain and south Asian football icon Baichung Bhutia, who had a calf-muscle injury in mid-December and until a few days ago had his leg cast in plaster. Also missing will be "Indian Player of the Year 2002" defender Deepak Mondal, as well as his partner in defence Mahesh Gawli and medio Tomba Singh. All four were first-eleven regulars at the LG Cup in Vietnam, in the matches against Jamaica in England and the Busan Asian Games. Still national coach Stephen Constantine has been able to put a good squad together combining youth and experience. The team will be lead by Mahindra United stopper Debjit Ghosh, with players like veteran striker IM Vijayan and defender Roberto Fernandes back in the team, while talented under-20 players Ashim Biswas and Subhas Chakraborty get their first international call-ups for India.
And who could be India's toughest opponents for the title? The numero uno rival for the title should be the hosts Bangladesh, whose Austrian coach George Kottan hopes to at least reach the finals. Any other team winning the SAFF Cup, be it Sri Lanka, Nepal or Maldives would be a major upset, though these teams are in the running for a semifinal spot, while Afghanistan and Bhutan are happy to take part!
So let the action begin...

108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group A: Tollygunge Agragami 0-1 Indian Bank
108.IFA-Shield - Quarterfinal - Group B: Vasco SC 0-0 Tata Football Academy

Note-1: The 3rd SAFF Cup could be the last one in it's current format, as the AFC is contemplating to push four new nations into the South Asian zone. It is likely that four former Central Asian Soviet States - Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan - will become members of the SAFF region as a part of AFC's new vision to develop the game in the continent. AFC president Mohammed Bin Hammam Al Abdullah informed this at a press conference in Dhaka were he further said, "I want to divide the Asian continent in four zones. So we have to divert teams from different parts. Inclusion of stronger soccer countries like Uzbekistan will develop the skill of understrength teams in South Asia."

Note-2: Assam's best goalkeeper of all time, Prafulla Hazarika passed away in Guwahati early morning today due to a heart attack. Hazarika will be most remembered for a great performance against Bengal in a Santosh Trophy match at the Berhampur, Orissa in 1963, which resulted in Assam's only-ever victory against Bengal.

8. January
115.Durand Cup - Semifinal: East Bengal Club 1-0 Salgaocar SC - Goal: 1-0 Mike Okoro (79').

Note-1: The Indian national team left via a Bangladesh Biman flight for Dhaka to take part in the SAFF Cup but back home a controversy might be in the making. Mohun Bagan coach and former international defender Subrata Bhattacharjee questioned national coach Stephen Constantine why he dropped Basudeb Mondal and kept veteran IM Vijayan in the squad. Subrata asked "How the foreign coach determined in three days that Mondal was unfit and why was his consistency in the National Football League not taken into consideration?" Bhattacharjee asked. I think we should all leave it to Stephen to choose and leave out players, whom he feels should be part of the team. Interesting to note is that while Subrata questioned IM Vijayan's inclusion, Baichung said the exact opposite, as he felt that IM could lead the youngster upfront through his experience, which I agree with, as the young talented strikers, Alvito, Abhishek and Ashim need someone to show them the way!

Note-2: In some coaching news, 19 football coaches from the Northeast states are participating in the 15-day coaching camp at the Sports Hostel of the Khuman Lampak complex, Imphal. The camp for the AFC-C Coaching licence, which began on Sunday, has been organised by the All-Manipur Football Association under the auspices of AFC.

7. January
115.Durand Cup - Semifinal: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-1,3-5 Army XI [after penalties] - Goals: 1-0 Dipendu Biswas (87'), 1-1 Saronj Gurung (90+').

Note-1: Delhi Soccer Association secretary NK Bhatia has been appointed manager and Chef-de-Mission of the Indian national team to the SAFF Cup. The Indian team is leaving Calcutta tomorrow for Dhaka on an evening flight.
Today, the day before leaving for Dhaka, the Indian team got a visit from regular captain Baichung Bhutia, who wished the team all the best and hoped that the boys would defend the title and hand India a hattrick of SAFF Cup titles!

Note-2: In India experts say that Cricket is the most professionally organised game in India but the new FICCI president AC Muttiah, a former BCCI president, things otherwise at the moment.
Concerned over deterioration in Indian cricket, FICCI warned that if the Cricket Board did not put its act together, football would overtake cricket in India to lure away sponsors. "Football may overtake cricket... the present condition of Indian cricket is a matter of concern... If things are allowed to continue sponsors may look for other sports," new President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry AC Muthiah told PTI in Delhi. Muthiah, the former chief of Board of Control for Cricket in India, castigated the functioning of the governing body saying that "lack of professional approach is killing Indian cricket."
I fear, if Muttiah says Cricket administrators lack the professional approach, what about other sports? At least Cricket has been marketed professional of the last decade and more, taking sponsors and well-wishers out of football and other sports.

Note-3: The IFA-Shield will be an eight-team affair. It was confirmed in Calcutta by IFA secretary Ranjit Gupta that the Tata Football Academy from Jamshedpur are an eleventh addition to the tournament, replacing JCT Mills in Group B, who had pulled out earlier. Except the addition of TFA to Group B, otherwise the draw remains the same.

Note-4: Tollygunge Agragami have at long last found a replacement for their former sponsors Manaksia, in the courier company "DTDC". At a press conference in Calcutta today the new partnership was announced, after Tollygunge have been playing with the DTDC in their last two National League matches. "We will support the club for promotion of football and if possible we will ensure that the talented players get job in the company to continue their sporting careers," Mr Chakraborty, the Company chairman and managing director said. No sum for the sponsorship was disclosed.

6. January
National coach Stephen Constantine announced the final squad of 20 players for the SAFF Cup at the training camp in Calcutta today, omitting Basudeb Mondal, Sandip Nandy and RC Prakash. While Sandip Nandy and Prakash had to opt out due to an injury, which the two suffered when they clashed in training, Basudeb Mondal was not considered due to bad a fitness level as Stephen explained. Technically Basudeb was surely a good player but in the fitness test, Basedeb came last of all probables. Stephen was also happy not very happy that he only had five/six days for the camp and avioded a confrontation with the clubs by not demanding the release of Arun Malhotra and Covan Lawrence for the camp.
INDIA: Goalkeeper: Naseem Akhtar (Mahindra United), Rajat Ghosh Dastidar (Mohun Bagan), Virender Singh (Punjab Police); Defender: Roberto Fernandes (Salgaocar), Selwyn Fernandes (Vasco), Debjit Ghosh (Mahindra United), Samir Naik (Dempo), M Suresh (East Bengal); Midfielder: Jules Alberto (Vasco), Jo Paul Ancheri (JCT), Subhash Chakraborty (East Bengal), Abhay Kumar (Vasco), Climax Lawrence (Salgaocar), Renedy Singh (Mohun Bagan), Shanmugam Venkatesh (East Bengal); Striker: Ashim Biswas (Tollygunge Agragami), Alvito D'Cunha (East Bengal), Harvinder Singh Jr (JCT), IM Vijayan (JCT), Abhishek Yadav (Mahindra United); Coach: Stephen Constantine; Assistant Coach: Aloke Mukherjee; Technical Director: Sukhwinder Singh.

115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group B: East Bengal Club 0-1 MEG, Bangalore
115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group D: Salgaocar SC 3-0 Assam Regimental Centre

5. January
115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group A: JCT Mills 0-1 Mohammedan Sporting Club
115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group C: Vasco SC 3-0 Indian Telephone Industries

Note-1: Goan Arjuna Awardee Bruno Coutinho is changing careers, from footballer to football coach. Bruno, who switched over to Vasco from Salgaocar in the summer will be the new coach of Fransa FC for their 2.Division National League campaign. Bruno will start to coach the Fransa boys tomorrow. By taking-up the asignment as coach, Bruno ends his 14 year playing career without even having played a competitive game for Vasco, after getting injured earlier in the season.
We from indianfootball.com wish Bruno, one of India's football stars in the 90s, best of luck as a coach!

4. January
115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group B: East Bengal Club 4-0 Air-India
115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group D: Salgaocar 2-0 Punjab State Electricity Board

Note-1: The problem surrounding Arun Malhotra's call-up to the national camp has died-out. National coach Stephen Constantine informed that it is now too late to make any more inclusions to the probables, so Arun Malhotra and Covan Lawrence would not be included at the probables camp. Stephen was unhappy that the interests of the national team are not placed above club and personal in India. Already weakened by the absence of a number of regulars, India loose two more players...

Note-2: At the Durand Cup tomorrow Cricket legend Kapil Dev will lead a team of Celebrities against a Confederation of Indian Industry XI in a 30-minute exhibition match. Good to see such an exhibition match being held, which helps Indian football.

3. January
7th National League - Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited 1-2 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 0-1 Moses Owira (32'), 0-2 Akeem Abul Alem (70'), 1-2 Jagadish Kumar (90+').
Tollygunge Agragami won 2-1 away against Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in a National League match at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Tollygunge without coach Aloke Mukherjee and striker Ashim Biswas, who both are at the India camp for the SAFF Cup in Calcutta, controlled most of the match, especially the midfield and went into the lead in the 32.minute when Kenyan striker Moses Owira headed in a cross from medio Mehtab Hussein. Tollygunge consolidated the lead in the 70.minute through a penalty taken by Nigerian Akeem Abul Alem, when HAL keeper Mark Mascarenhas tripped Sujoy Datta. HAL were only able to get a goal back, also through a penalty, scored by Jagadish Kumar in injury time after the referee saw Debkumar Sashmal handling the ball, which no one else saw.
HAL: Mark Mascarenhas (Subhash Kumar), Mehraj Din Wadoo, S Paramesh, Obinna Winners, Gift Rai Khan, Rajendra Prasad, Satish Kumar, Kenneth Onu, Dayanand, Ishfaq Ahmed (Jagadish Kumar), Raja Baliev Nurlan (Mahendra Mani).
TOLLYGUNGE: Arindam Ghosh, Amitava Chandra, Sujit Neogi, Debkumar Sasmal, Dipayan Majumdar, Mehtab Hussain (Laltu Das, Uttam Debnath), Isiaka Awoyemi, Sandip Das, Moses N Owira.

115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group A: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-1 Tata Football Academy
115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group C: Vasco SC 0-1 Army XI

Note-1: East Bengal defender Arun Malhotra called-up as replacement for teammate Deepak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli to the SAFF Cup camp in Calcutta, might not be able to join the camp at all. Malhotra is at the moment in Delhi with his club and as East Bengal already miss Mondal and probable M Suresh, they are rather reluctant to release him. Malhotra might only be able to join the camp on January 6, like too late for national coach, who is a strict disciplinarian and likes his boys to arrive at the camp on time. Today IM Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri, Shanmugam Venkatesh Basudeb Mondal joined the camp.

Note-2: The IFA is trying to reschedule the final of the IFA-Shield by a day and hold it on January 21, as both semifinals are scheduled for January 19. But the IFA might have a problem with the Calcutta Police, as the President of India will be in Calcutta on that day, so the Police might not be able to station enough policemen at the Saltlake Stadium.

2. January
indianfootball.com would like to announce the launch of the new Sports-India.com Forum, which from now is our forum/message board for indianfootball.com together with TennisIndia.Org and Sports-India.com . The new forum has a number of useful features and to post messages you will have to register. So enjoy the new forum!!!
Dhruv from Montreal, Canada, had been coding up the forum for us over the last few days in a new format .. He also got Jay from the US who had been running an Indian tennis site similar to indianfootball.com for a while, to bring in his tennis forum page also - and thus he started a site called www.sports-india.com .. Now there is one place where the sports fans can go to talk about football and tennis (dhruv, jay, and I are all sports nuts, so to say, and all of us are sick of Indian sports sites which talk only cricket ;-)).. To enter click here .

Note-1: Mahindra United stopper Debjit Ghosh has been named as India captain for the upcoming SAFF Cup in the absence of regular captain Baichung Bhutia. Debjit was very very happy to have been named captain and said he had a good team with a clutch of talented youngsters but the competition would be tough.
But otherwise it was not so good a start for the camp in Calcutta. Three regulars, defenders "Indian footballer of the Year" Deepak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli, and medio Tomba Singh had to be released due to injury. They were replaced by Arun Malhotra, Covan Lawrence and seasoned Basudeb Mondal. Meanwhile IM Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri and Shanmugam Venkatesh are yet to report at the camp, while Peter Siddique didn't turn-up due to a fractured nose, pulling out of the camp. Also national coach Stephen Constantine wasn't happy with the fitness level of the players, adding to the numerous pullouts due to injury.
The press was also informed today that John Barridge, former goalkeeper of Newcastle United and Aston Villa, is set to come down to India in May to offer tips to the 'keepers.

115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group B: Air-India 1-0 MEG, Bangalore
115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group D: Assam Regimental Centre 1-1 Punjab State Electricity Board

Note-2: Now to something weird: Mohun Bagan today clarified that Pukhrambam Surchand Singh, a footballer from Manipur, who was sentenced to 14 years rigorous imprisonment by a Thane Court for possessing heroin, had never played for them. "He was never on our rolls," Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra informed. According to prosecution in the case, the 30-year old Manipur state player, had played for Mohan Bagan, and had misused his identity card and smuggled the drug into Mumbai. "No player by that name has been turned out for us. If he has at all shown any identity card to prove his association with us, then that must be a forgery," he said.

1. January

115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group A: JCT Mills 2-0 Tata Football Academy
115.Durand Cup - Quarterfinal - Group C: Indian Telephone Industries 2-2 Army XI

Note-1: Indian national coach Stephen Constantine arrived in Calcutta today, ahead of the start of the SAFF Cup probables camp at the SAI Eastern Centre, Calcutta. Stephen was happy with the facilities after having a look at them and also informed that any player failing to report tomorrow at the camp, will not be considered for selection.

Note-2: JCT Mills will not take part in the IFA-Shield, reducing the tournament to a seven team affair. The IFA informed that the JCT officials were not happy with the terms and conditions. Group B will now be a three team affair, with Mohammedan Sporting, Calcutta Port Trust and Vasco SC fighting for the two semifinal spots from the Group.
The IFA-Shield will kick-off on January 9 with Tollygunge Agragami facing Indian Bank.

Note-3: Injured Baichung Bhutia is happy that IM Vijayan is in the probables list for the SAFF Cup, saying the veteran forward was still capable of delivering goods upfront for the national side. "Vijayan's inclusion will strengthen the side... he is still the best in the country when it comes to scoring goals from half chances," Baichung said. Baichung further added the services of the lanky Vijayan were required as "experience is vital for success in international matches".