30. November
The official website of the Sports Ministry, 'Sportal', was launched today in New Delhi by the Sports Minister Sunil Dutt.
Dutt informed the media that the site would provide valuable information concerning Indian sports and has been designed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
"It will be useful to everyone as people can know more about sports. We will be updating it regularly. This website covers not only Olympic sports, but also other games being played in India."
Though the site is far from complete it is a good start to see the Sports Ministry launching it's own site, but it will have to prove that it keeps track with the latest happenings in Indian sport.
Congratulation from the IndianFootball.Com team on the launch of the site!
>>Go to the SPORTAL Site .

26th Federation Cup - Quarterfinal: Mohun Bagan AC 4-1 JCT Mills - Goals: 1-0,4-1 Roberto Mendes Silva (29',86'), 2-0 Sunil Chetri (44'), 2-1 Jaswinder Singh (64'), 3-1 Dulal Biswas (78').
Record champions Mohun Bagan AC reached the semifinals of the 26th Federation Cup with a 4-1 victory against a below par JCT Mills at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore. But the scoreline doesn't show the strength of Bagan, but rather showed the loopholes in the JCT defence and the weaknesses of JCT's new foreign keeper Ibrahim Ajani Ayoade. Surely Bagan played better than against Indian Bank, but tougher task will be ahead if they want to regain the Federation Cup.
JCT had the first serious look at ball in the 13.minute when Hardeep Singh Gill put Manjit Singh through, but keeper Subrata Pal was there to defuse the chance. In the 29.minute Ibrahim made his first mistake in goal. Bagan's Brazilian striker Roberto Mendes Silva took a long range effort from 22 metres out which slipped through the hands of the JCT keeper. Bagan doubled their lead a minute from the breather, when Sunil Chetri headed in a Tomba Singh cross. Bagan could have even gone with a three goal lead into the break, but Beto, Roberto Mendes Silva's artist name, took a too weak attempt at goal which Ibrahim cleared.
JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh made a couple of changes to strengthen his team and in the 64.minute it looked to have worked as substitute Jaswinder Singh's shot deflected of a defender to beat keeper Subrata Pal. But if one expected the match to become a thriller was made to sit-up when Dulal Biswas scored of a spectacular long-ranger in the 78.minute and sort the issue in Bagan's interest. Beto scored his clubs fourth and his second four minutes from time of a pass from Basudeb Mondal.
MOHUN BAGAN: Subrata Pal, Dulal Biswas, Mehraj Din Wadoo, Noel Wilson, Mehtab Hussain, Basudeb Mondal, Tomba Singh, Ashim Biswas (Rishi Kapoor 37'), Jerry Zirsanga (Renedy Singh 42'), Sunil Chetri (James Agbo Ugwo 41') Roberto Mendes Silva.
JCT: Ibrahim Ajani Ayoade, Jagjit Singh Randhawa, Harpreet Singh, Julius Akpele, Jaspal Singh (KV Dhanesh 55'), Baldeep Singh (Jaswinder Singh 46'), Sukhjinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Bimanyu Bimal Birua, Manjit Singh, Hardeep Singh Gill (Charanjit Kumar 46').
REFEREE: P Bhaskar (Tamil Nadu).

26th Federation Cup - Quarterfinal: East Bengal Club 0-1 Sporting Club de Goa - Goal: 0-1 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (87').
National League champions East Bengal Club were eliminated from the 26th Federation Cup, when they lost by a late goal to Sporting Clube de Goa in a quarterfinal match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore.
History repeated itself in Bangalore tonight as Sporting Clube once again beat the big favourites from Calcutta in a Federation Cup quarterfinals, like they had done on August 19, 2001 in the 24th Federation Cup in Chennai. So East Bengal's curse with the Federation Cup continues, as the Cup eludes the club since 1996, while Subhas Bhowmick as a coach and Baichung Bhutia amongst other players haven't won this Cup so far.
It was another day, another match but just a few weeks ago in the Durand Cup East Bengal had destroyed Sporting Clube de Goa 4-0 with a hattrick from then new striker Earnest Jemeriah. But as said today was another match in which Sporting Clube wanted to prove something.
The most worrying thing for coach Subhas Bhowmick will be that East Bengal didn't really get to penetrate the Sporting Clube defence except a few breakthroughs from Alvito D'Cunha and Paolo Roberto da Silva, but that was it. Sporting Clube controlled affairs had their chances, but wasted too many of them. It was only a issue of when would Sporting Clube score and they just did with three minutes of regulation time to a close. Joseph Pereira got a cross in from the left which beat Sangram Mukherjee in the East Bengal goal, but Sporting Clube's Nigerian captain MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi was there to head the ball in.
Earlier in the 76.minute East Bengal defender Selwyn Fernandes received marching orders for a second bookable offence, depleting his side. Just after the hour mark Baichung Bhutia was brought on, but the Indian captain still making a return from a longer injury layoff couldn't help his team.
EAST BENGAL: Sangram Mukherjee, Syed Rahim Nabi, Selwyn Fernandes, Madhab Das, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Gurpreet Singh (Shylo Malswam Tulunga 55'), Earnest Jeremiah, Douglas da Silva, Climax Lawrence (Chandan Das 75'), Alvito D'Cunha, Paolo Roberto Da Silva (Baichung Bhutia 62').
SPORTING CLUBE: Luis Xavier Barreto, Ajay Diwadkar, Philip Gomes, Nureni Ayodegi, Vincent Pires, Joseph Pereira, Joe Rodrigues (Alvito Rodrigues 82'), Nicholas Rodrigues, Adebayo Adewusi, Nicolau Borges, MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi.
REFEREE: Komaleeswaran Shankar (Tamil Nadu).

29. November
26th Federation Cup - Quarterfinal: Dempo SC 1-0 Churchill Brothers SC - Goal: 1-0 Cristiano Junior (80').
Churchill Brothers SC today faced another derby in the quarterfinals of the 26th Federation Cup, but unlike the earlier one against Vasco, today they lost by a goal against Dempo SC who thereby moved into the semifinals.
When teams play each other so often as local opponents in India do, matches become more like a game of chess as the teams know the strong and weakpoints of the other team. It was no difference today of the Goan derby in Bangalore. That Dempo has the better attack was clear before the match, but the Churchill defence stood it's ground, likewise also the Dempo defence wasn't too worried. What will worry Churchill Brothers' new coach Shabbir Ali is his attack without IM Vijayan as the others didn't hit the target or get close to it except Mohammed Najeeb once.
When it looked like the match was heading for extratime maybe even penalties, an error by an otherwise rock solid Churchill keeper Mark Mascarenhas and the class of Dempo's Brazilian striker Cristiano Junior was enough to see Dempo through. 10 minutes from time, just minutes after he came on, seasoned Mario Soares floated a freekick into the area, where he found Randy Martins Soleye who took an attempt at the goal, the ball was blocked but not collected by keeper Mascarenhas and Cristiano was alert enough to score.
DEMPO: Satish Kumar, Valeriano Rebello, Domnick Noronha, Majekodumni Bolaji, Melwyn Rodrigues, Clifford Miranda, Jose Colaco, Riston Rodrigues, Samir Naik, Randy Soleye Martins, Cristiano Junior.
CHURCHILL: Marc Mascrenhas, Sanjay Parte, Ryan D'Souza, Osmanu Husseini, Subhashish Roy Chowdhary, Bungo Singh, Chandam Chitrasen Singh, Godwin Diego Franco, Ibe Johnson, Paresh Shivalkar (Mohammed Najeeb).
REFEREE: S Suresh (Tamil Nadu).

16th Kohima Royal Gold Cup - Semifinal: George Telegraph SC 2-1 Assam Regimental Centre - Goals: 1-0 MC Francis (38'), 1-1 Sangliana (60'), 2-1 Achinta Saha.

Note-1: The Lal Bahadur Shastri Tournament will be held in New Delhi in December. The kickoff date being either 8, 9 or 10. Hindustan Club will be the only Delhi club in the tournament, which amongst others will also see Tata Football Academy, Bengal Mumbai FC and Titanium XI in action.

28. November
Soccerex 2004 will be held in the next couple of days (Monday/Tuesday) at the Jumierah Beach hotel, Dubai, UAE.
According to the Soccerex organisers, the 2004 event will have an exhibition, conferences, workshops and a gala dinner, as it is the only platform of it's kind giving exhibitors and delegates the opportunity to network with suppliers, manufacturers, key buyers and decision makers within international football. And guess who is not part of this event? Yes, the Indian football franity, once more as Soccerex enters it's eight year, earlier having been held in Cannes, but shifting to Dubai in 2001.
Amongst other things at Soccerex this year FIFA will be using the event to officially unveil their TV and new media strategy post 2006, and taking in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
So no one from the AIFF, state FAs or clubs will be at the biggest business-to-business event in world football, which happens to be held in the Gulf, not too far away from India. Though earlier it was said that at least East Bengal Club would take part, it is also said to be off.
But don't worry, IndianFootball.Com - India's Premier Football Site once again will save the face of Indian football. A very good friend of IndianFootball.Com will be in Dubai for the two days and will in the name of IndianFootball.Com be talking and discussing the state of affairs within Indian football with FIFA, the AFC, regional broadcasters to name only a few. Sadly we ourselfs cannot make it, still Indian football will be represented indirectly in a private, totally independent capacity, but this isn't something new.
Chris and myself (Arunava) have done this last year on December 5 at the 2006 Germany World Cup qualifiers draw in Frankfurt/Main, the only Indian media present but also seen as Indian football ambassadors, though we didn't put us in such a position.
But as we love Indian football, we try to do whatever we can to promote the cause of the great game in India!

26th Federation Cup - Quarterfinal: Fransa FC 0-3 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 0-1 Gouranga Datta (51'), 0-2 Tarif Ahmed (65'), 0-3 Surojit Bose (86').
At the end of the first quarterfinal match of the 26th Federation Cup Tollygunge Agragami scored a convincing 3-0 victory against Fransa FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore though initially it looked as if it could have gone the other way.
Fransa started off against Tollygunge where they had left off against defending champions Mahindra United, but it didnt yield the result as it had done against the Jeepmen. Fransa controlled the midfield with Jules Alberto Dias being the main architect of the attacks, but Tollygunge sustained the pressure, allowing Fransa not too many chances on goal. Fransa's best chances came of a Jules freekick and a shot from striker Naushad Pari which was saved by Tollygunge keeper Arindam Ghosh.
But that all changed after the breather. Fransa's problems started in the 50.minute when Jules Alberto had to be taken off due to injury it ended Fransa's game as Hardip Singh Saini was no replacement for Jules. Only a minute later Tollygunge took the lead. A shot from Ghanian Suley Musah seemed to be easy prey for Kalyan Chaubey, but the Fransa keeper couldn't keep the ball under control allowing Tollygunge striker Surojit Bose to take a shot but Fransa defenders blocked the shot, only for Gouranga Dutta to score. Tollygunge doubled the lead in the 65.minute when Nigerian Akeem Abul Alem broke free on the left to square the ball with Tarif Ahmed slotting home. Fransa had nothing to loose now, so they went all out to score, but it backfired as Tollygunge sealed the match four minutes from time when a Mohammed Rafique throw-in resulted in a gaol from Surojit Bose.
FRANSA: Kalyan Chaubey, Louis Aniweta, Syed Hussain (Savio Mascarenhas 83'), Sanjeev Kumar Maria, Cresson Antao, Desmond Fernandes, Waikhom Singh, Jules Alberto (Hardeep Singh Saini 50'), Mashangva Genius Zenith, Naushad Pari ( Peter Rodrigues 62'), Sebastiao Endro.
TOLLYGUNGE: Arindam Ghosh, Kabijit Ghosh, Isiaka Awoyemi, Debkumar Sashmal, Soumik Dey, Gouranga Dutta (Mohammed Rafique 85'), Suley Musah, Dinesh Swar, Surojit Bose, Tarif Ahmed (Suman Dutta 70'), Akeem Abul Alem.
REFEREE: P Bhaskar (Tamil Nadu).

Note-1: The Assam Football Association held it's annual general meeting in Kokrajhar today with new men coming in as president and secretary. Assam MLA and former state footballer Hemendra Nath Brahma was elected unopposed as the new president as AFA vice-president Motilal Nunisha withdrew his candidature in favour of Brahma. New secretary is Ankur Dutta who defeated now former secretary Kedar Nath Mour 66-48 in a direct contest after former Assam Olympic Association secretary Munin Nobis also withdrew from the elections.
The AFA now go into the future with a new administration and hopefully things will change for the positive as Assam has a big talent pool which is totally untapped.

27. November
Every year the same story before the start of the National League in India. At the beginning or at least early in the season a date is set for the start of the high profile National League. This year the start was set for early December after the end of the Federation Cup. The whole schedule started being pushed back when the start of the Federation Cup was put off by four days. So the NFL would start in the second week of December, but now the AIFF is saying that the NFL would kickoff only on January 7, 2005 due to unavoidable logistical reasons.
The AIFF secretary informed the media that the main reasons for the postponement being the reservation of air and train ticket as the winter vacations were coming.
Another key reason was the delay were the Local Organising Committees in Calcutta, Goa, Mumbai, Punjab and Kerala. Some were very late to confirm dates and venues of matches, which forced the postponement.
The AIFF hoped to finish the league in the second week of April. But if that is likely has to be questioned as the national team might have some engagements in February 2005. India are said to play three to five friendlies in Pakistan and maybe the SAFF Cup might also be held in February, which would mean three to four weeks might be lost for the NFL.
One will have to wait and see what happens...

26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: JCT Mills 2-1 State Bank of Travancore - Goals: 1-0,2-1 Manjit Singh (7',42'), 1-1 KM Abdul Naushad (21').
JCT Mills rode on the two goals from youngster Manjit Singh to beat State Bank of Travancore 2-1 in a replay of yesterday's abandoned 26th Federation Cup pre-quarterfinal match at the Bangalore Football Stadium. It was a sort of replay of last month's Santosh Trophy final between Kerala and Punjab as many players of both teams had played in that match with the Punjabis getting their revenge for the loss they had suffered in Delhi.
It was demanding on the players after having played 66 minutes yesterday to play a full 90 minutes match today and that showed with the Keralite team as they faded towards the end of the match, which the Punjabis last the full match.
JCT took an early 7.minute lead when Manjit Singh scored of a square pass from Baldeep Singh. But the goal meant that SBT got into the action to get the equaliser. And SBT were successful in the 21.minute when winger Abdul Hakkim sprinted down the right, centered the ball with Ignatious Sylvester missing the ball but Abdul Naushad was there to volley the ball into the goal. JCT had two good chances through striker Hardip Singh Gill, but he missed both of them before Manjit Singh headed in a Bimanyu Bimal Birua cross in the 43.minute. Former TFA boy Bimanyu Bimal Birua had a very good match showing he uses his brains to play football.
JCT: Ibrahim Ajani Ayoade, Jagjit Singh Randhawa, Julius Akpele, KV Dhanesh, Jaspal Singh, Baldeep Singh (Jaswinder Singh 39'), Sukhjinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Bimanyu Bimal Birua, Manjit Singh, Hardeep Singh Gill (Charanjit Kumar 60').
SBT: PV Harshal Rehman, Paul Anthony (Prince Paulose 46'), Abdul Basheer, V Sivakumar, NP Pradeep, KM Abdul Naushad, Lanel Thomas, T Shabir Ali (Abdul Kabeer 79'), MA Abdul Hakkim, Sylvester Ignatious, (Mohammed Aslam 61'), Mohammed Rafi.
REFEREE: S Suresh (Tamil Nadu).

26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Sporting Club de Goa 2-0 Mohammedan Sporting Club - Goals: 1-0 Ajay Diwadkar (28'), 2-0 Alvito Rodrigues (48').
As had been expected from this 26th Federation Cup pre-quarterfinal match Sporting Club de Goa beat Mohammedan Sporting Club rather easily 2-0. Had Sporting Clube scored of their many chances the score could have been much much higher, but it wasn't luckily for former champions Mohammedan Sporting, who in the last edition had reached the final.
Sporting Clube opened the scoring in the 28.minute when Ajay Diwadkar scored off a pass from Joe Rodrigues. Diwadkar was so happy to score a goal that he received a yellow card by referee Sundarraj M Balu for waiving the corner flag to the gallaries. Sporting Clube had more chances to score in the first half but had to wait after the breather to double the lead of Alvito Rodrigues who scored off a long pass from MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi beating Mohammedan Sporting keeper Chinmoy Banerjee to the ball.
SPORTING CLUBE: Luis Barreto, Ajay Diwadkar, Philip Gomes, Nureni Ayodeji, Vincent Pires, Joseph Pereira, Bibiano Fernandes, Joe Rodrigues, Adebayo Adewusi, Alvito Rodrigues, Macpherlin Dudu Omagbemi.
MSC: Chinmoy Banerjee, Abdul Rauf Khan, Ratan Singh, Shakil Ahmad, Naushad Moosa, Bidesh Pal, Shamshi Raza, Amjad Hussain, Mohammed Bin Hassan, .Chukwukeri Henry, Felix Chimaokwu.
REFEREE: Sundarraj Maheswaran Balu (Karnataka).

26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: East Bengal Club 1-0 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - Goal: 1-0 Alvito D'Cunha (84').
National League champions East Bengal Club needed a late goal from Alvito D'Cunha to beat fighting local side Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in the 26th Federation Cup at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
In the last Federation Cup the opening match for East Bengal had also been against HAL but then the Maidan giants had trashed the Bangalore team 5-0, but this time it was totally different. Last time East Bengal were the home team, this time it was HAL, who wanted to prove that they could play in the NFL, had they not messed-up the 2.Division last season.
The HAL defence and midfield played a defence game planning to obstruct East Bengal's creative play with counter attacks as their ploy to score. It worked that East Bengal's midfield was often bottled and couldn't create chances, but the HAL strikers Kenneth Onu and Philip Tarlue meanwhile also didn't see much of the action. But HAL had their chances in the first half, when a Tarlue header was saved by keeper Sangram Mukherjee and Satish Kumar Jr shot only hit the side-netting. East Bengal looked like they hadn't expected such a fight from HAL, especially in the first half.
Things started to change in the second half as East Bengal got more control of the match: But things swing in their favour in the 66.minute with the entry of India captain Baichung Bhutia. Baichung was a constant threat to the HAL goal. He could have won the match himself. First a Baichung header was saved by Satish Kumar on the goalline, then a shot of his hit the goalpost.
But East Bengal had to wait until the 84.minute for the winner. Syed Rahim Nabi got in a cross from the right which Baichung missed in the middle, but Alvito D'Cunha was lurking on the left and hit a fierce shot into the far corner of the goal past HAl keeper Abhra Mondal, who had a strong match.
EAST BENGAL: Sangram Mukherjee, Syed Rahim Nabi, Madhab Das, Selwyn Fernandes, Habibur-Rehman Mondal, Gurpreet Singh, Shylo Malswam Tulunga (Baichung Bhutia 63'), Douglas da Silva, Paolo Roberto da Silva (Climax Lawrence 30'), Alvito D'Cunha, Earnest Jeremiah.
HASC: Abhra Mondal, Satish Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Dayanand, Xavier Vijayakumar, Rajendra Prasad (Akbar Singh 55'), Satish Kumar Jr, J Muralidharan, Jagadeesh Kumar, Kenneth Onu, Philip Tarlue.
REFEREE:: Rizwan-ul-Haq (Delhi).

16th Kohima Royal Gold Cup - Semifinal: Nagaland Police 2-1 Shillong XI

26. November
The weather has come to haunt the 26th Federation Cup in Bangalore after the preparation of the Sree Kanteerava Stadium ground wasn't upo the mark before the start. After rains set in onto the ground after it started it became apparent as the match continued that it was unlikely to be finished today. So 21 minutes into the second half the referee was forced to abandon the match.
The schedule for Saturday now had to be changed looking at the prevailing weather condition with cyclone southeast in Chennai.
As per the new schedule, JCT Mills would face State Bank of Travancore at 13.00 IST at the Bangalore Football Stadium. This would be followed by the Sporting Club de Goa - Mohammedan Sporting Club natch at 15.30 IST also at the Bangalore Football Stadium, except if the ground conditions at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium improve. The evening match would now be played at 18.00 IST between East Bengal Club and local side Hindustan Aeronautics Limited at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Mohun Bagan AC 1-0 Indian Bank - Goal: 1-0 James Agbo Ugwo (38').
Eleven time record champions Mohun Bagan AC made a successful start into the 26th Federation Cup with a lone goal victory against relegated National League side Indian Bank at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore.
The match never rose to any great heights with both sides having their chances. Indian Bank made their intensions clear early on that they wanted to score a goal, but the Bagan defence wasn't too bothered. Bagan midfielder Mehtab Hussain tested Indian Bank captain and keeper Felix Edward with a grounder. The Bankmen from Chennai could have taken the lead in the 36.minute when striker M Sudheesh missed a cross from the left by VK Harish which came through as the Baga defence was caught napping. But it was Bagan who took the lead only two minutes later. Noel Wilson's freekick rebounded of the wall which Jerry Zirsanga shot at the goal but Edward cleared it to a throw-in, but that wasn't far away enough. Bagan's Brazilian striker Roberto Mendes Silva got the ball from the throw-in and he send the ball in sharply for Nigerian striker James Agbo Ugwo, who scored past Edward. This remained the only goal of the match, but the Bankmen could have equalised before and after the breather, but it wasn't to be as Bagan moved into the next round.
MOHUN BAGAN: Subrata Pal, Dulal Biswas, Mehraj Din Wadoo, Noel Wilson, Jerry Zirsanga, Tomba Singh, Basudeb Mondal, Ashim Biswas, Mehtab Hussain, James Agbo Ugwu (Rishi Kapoor 46') Roberto Mendes Silva (Sunil Chetri 59').
INDIAN BANK: Felix Edward, Raveendran, Anthony Noel, D Ravanan, Mike Chinedu Obi, VK Harish, Noah Rozario, Gregory Clarke (Andrew Louis 80'), Ravi Babu (Syed Shabir Pasha 60'), M Sudheesh (KG Joseph 73'), James Singh.
REFEREE:: Deepak Dey (Assam).

26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: JCT Mills 0-0 State Bank of Travancore - (abandoned).
The match JCT Mills Vs State Bank of Travancore had to be abandoned by the referee M Balu after 66 minutes of play due to unplayable ground conditions. At the time the match was goalless.

3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Final: Border Security Force 0-1 Punjab Police - Goal: 0-1 Jaspal Singh (75').
16th Kohima Royal Gold Cup - Quarterfinal: George Telegraph SC - Puliebadze Club

Note-1: State Bank of Travancore just promoted back into the NFL and Kerala's lone entrant into the 9th National League could be playing their home matches away from Thiruvananthapuram. One of the potential options as home venue is said to be Calicut (Kozhikode).

Note-2: The Assam Football Association will be holding it's annual general meeting at Kokrajhar on Sunday and it will be an interesting AGM with contests for the presidents and secretary posts. A lot of names have been making the rounds in the Brahmaputra valley, but now it is clear who will contest for the key positions of Assam football.
For the presidents post the contest will be between Assam MLA Hemendra Nath Brahma and AFA vice-president Dr Motilal Nunisha, with Bramha being favourite as a former state footballer and referee. Pulling out of the race are current president Prabin Gogoi and former PWD minister Sarat Barkotoky.
The election for secretary meanwhile will be a three-way race. Current secretary Kedar Nath Mour will have to face Assam government appointed adviser for preparation of team for 33rd National Games and AFA vice-president Ankur Dutta, and also former Assam Olympic Association secretary Munin Nabis.

Note-3: The 48th All-India Sir Churachand Singh KCSICBE Memorial Football Tournament kicked-off in Imphal today. 14 teams from across Manipur are taking part in the prestigious tournament organised by All-Manipur Football Association. The teams have been divided into 4 groups.

25. November
26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Dempo SC 3-1 EverReady Sports Association - Goals: 1-0,2-1 Randy Martins Soleye (2',76'), 1-1 Jayanta Sen (58'), 3-1 Cristiano Junior (79').
Dempo SC made an winning start into the 26th Federation Cup with a 3-1 victory against 2.Division NFL side EverReady SA from Calcutta at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore to enter the quarterfinals. EverReady made Dempo to fight hard in the match initially but when EverReady themselves went for more, the Goans proved the potential in it's team to win the match in the end with ease.
Dempo took an early 2.minute lead when new Brazilian striker Cristiano Junior squared the ball for his Nigerian partner upfront Randy Martins Soleye to slot home past EverReady keeper Amit Singha Roy. EverReady could have soon equalised but Liberian striker Eugene Jlah Gray headed over the crossbar a good cross from Sheikh Sanjeeb. EverReady even had further chances to equalise in the first half but all chances were left unused.
Dempo's new forward duo of Martins and Junior, who last season was East Bengal's NFL top scorer, was always a threat to the EverReady goal. Dempo could have doubled the lead in the 54.minute of a Riston Rodrigues shot but it came of the post only two minutes later Martins should have scored of a pass from Junior but Singha Roy was there. If you don't score of your chances you are punished and that happened to Dempo as EverReady equalised the very next minute. Gray got with the ball into the area but Nigerian Emmanuel Thomas Oshogwe couldn't control the ball giving Dempo keeper Satish Kumar a chance to clear the ball, but the ball only went as far as Jayanta Sen who made no mistake and shot home. Thereafter both sides went out for the winner, but it was an individual attempt by Martins which got Dempo the lead in the 76.minute when he scored past Singha Roy. Dempo sealed the match only three minutes later, when Cristiano Junior scored of a freekick with Singha Roy making a mistake not to collect or clear the ball. The match was out of reach for EverReady though they had some chances before the referee blew the final whistle.
DEMPO: VP Satish Kumar, Valeriano Rebello, Majekodumni Bolaji, Stanley Colaco, Samir Naik, Clifford Miranda, Melvin Rodrigues, Riston Rodrigues (RC Prakash 86'), Jose Colaco (Mario Soares 88'), Ranty Martins Soleye, Cristiano Junior.
EVERREADY: Amit Singha Roy, Rajib Ahmed, Tapan Giri, Anupam Sarkar, Bimal Sarkar, Sheikh Sanjib, Jayanta Sen (Joydeep Bose 86'), Sankha Roy Choudhury (Manoj Joshi 50'), Satyajit Bose (Surajit Chakraborty 80'), Eugene Jlah Gray, Emmanual Thomas Oshogwe.
REFEREE: Saji Kurian (Kerala).

26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Churchill Brothers SC 0-0,8-7 Vasco SC [penalties] - Goals: none.
In a pre-quarterfinal match of the 26th Federation Cup Churchill Brothers SC beat Goan rivals Vasco SC 8-7 in a thrilling penalty shootout after 120 goalless minutes in an evening match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore. The match never rose to great heights as it was a derby away from home for teams who know each other well.
The match really came alive in the penalty shootout where Churchill Brother keeper and Bangalore lad Mark Mascarenhas turned out hero for his team when he saved two penalties. Mark saved the first shoot by Vasco's Dennis Cabral, but the others - Menino Fernandes, Kamal Thapa, Satish Minz and Rogerio Ramos Da Solio - all scored. For Churchill Bros Roque Baretto, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Osumanu Husseini and Lolendra Singh all converted their kicks but Bungo Singh's shot wide. Now the shootout at 4-4 went into sudden death, meaning if anyone of the two shooters misses the other team wins. Sushanth Mathew, Vinu Jose and Anthony Pereira all were on target for Vasco, while Paresh Shivalkar, Ibe Johnson and Ryan D'Souza all scored for Churchill Bros. Then Mark Mascarenhas made his second save blocking a weak Anthony Fernandes shot with his feet. Youngster Chitrasen Chandam Singh made no mistake to score Churchill's eight goal and seal the match for his team, who moved into the quarterfinals.
CHURCHILL: Mark Mascarenhas, Sanjay Parte, Ryan D'Souza, Osumanu Husseini, Subhashish Roy Choudhury, Lolendro Singh, Bungo Singh, Chitrasen Chandam Singh, James Singh (Roque Baretto 88'), Ibe Johnson, Mohammed Najeeb (Vanlal Rova 59', Paresh Shivalkar 116').
VASCO: Rogerio Ramos Da Solio, Seby Dias, Angelo Colaco, Kamal Thapa, Satish Minz, Susanth Mathew, Menino Fernandes, Dennis Cabral, K Anees (Krishnan Ajayan), Anthony Pereira, K Aseem (Vinu Jose 88').
REFEREE: Komaleeswaran Shankar (Tamil Nadu).

16th Kohima Royal Gold Cup - Quarterfinal: Nagaland Police 1-0 Kuki FC - Goal: 1-0 Vizoru (21').

Note-1: India first only goalkeeper's academy will be set-up in Calcutta as a joint project between the IFA and the Bengal Football Academy. The academy will be launched in January 2005 at the Kishore Bharati Stadium, Santoshpur in southern Calcutta with former INDIA international goalkeepers Atanu Bhattacharya and Hemanta Dora as coaches.

Note-2: Sashi Das passed away at his residence in Calcutta today. He was 81. Sashi Das used to play for then famous Bhowanipore Club in the 1940s and 50s. He had also represented Bengal in the Santosh Trophy.

24. November
26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Mahindra United 2-3 Fransa FC - Goals: 0-1 Sebastian Endro (4'), 1-1,2-2 Abhishek Yadav (43',76'), 1-2 Jules Alberto Dias (74'), 2-3 Peter Rodrigues (80').
Defending champions Mahindra United were beaten 3-2 in the opening match of the 26th Federation Cup by Goans Fransa FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore. And the man of the match is someone well known to the Mumbai side - Jules Alberto Dias, a player the Jeepmen thought at the end of the last season not good enough for them and released him therefore. Jules had actually retired from football this summer before taking the offer from Fransa to play for them a few weeks ago. And he had something to prove today against his old team, which he did in style. The venue, the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, also holds fond memories for Jules as he had scored the winner against the UAE in a 2002 World Cup qualifier on April 8, 2001. For Jules' club, Fransa, it was their biggest win on the national stage, where they haven't been for too long yet.
This was the first match for Mahindra United on the national stage this season and it showed as the team looked rusty, had a lot of ball possession but couldn't do anything with that advantage. They didn't look like a team that opponents need to worry about and coach Syed Nayeemuddin has a lot of work to do ahead of the National League.
Fransa took an early 4.minute lead when Jules found Sebastian Endro free on the right, Endro went past defenders Odartey Lawson and Debabrata Roy and shot into the goal past keeper Naseem Akhtar. Naseem then made a good save of a Jules shot, but otherwise it wasn't a too good performance by the keeper. Mahindra equalised two minutes from halftime, when Abhishek Yadav was free on the left played a one-two with his captain Khalid Jamil and shot past Fransa keeper Kalyan Chaubey. Mahindra came out of the lemon break with intentions to built on the goal. It seemed to work as Surkumar Singh overlaped a number of times on the right, but his foray's didn't prove useful. Jules Alberto came back into the action in the 74.minute when he curled a freekick past Naseem to restore the lead for Fransa, but the joy was shortlived as Abhishek equalised just two minutes later with a header of a cross from the right from substitute Steven Dias. But Fransa would have the last laugh. Mohun Bagan discard Sanjeev Kumar Maria came on and in the 80.minute he took a freekick which reached Peter Rodrigues at the far end to head in the winner in a six minute three goal blitz.
The tournament had just started, but the Federation Cup had after it's first 90 minutes it's first upset.
MAHINDRA: Naseem Akhtar, Surkumar Singh, Covan Lawrence, Odartey Lawson, Debabrata Roy, Khalid Jamil (Dipendu Biswas 84'), Khalid Siddique (Steven Dias 29'), Shanmugam Venkatesh, Jatin Singh Bisht, Abhishek Yadav, Charles Asamoah.
FRANSA: Kalyan Chaubey: Louis Aniweta, Syed Hussain, Ambalath Suliaman Firoze (Sanjeev Kumar Maria 70'), Cresson Antao, Waikhom Singh, Desmond Fernandes, Jules Alberto Dias, Mashangva Genius Zenith, Naushad Pari (Peter Rodrigues 65'), Sebastiao Endro.
REFEREE:

26th Federation Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Tollygunge Agragami 1-1,4-1 Salgaocar SC [penalties] - Goals: 1-0 Surajit Bose (27'), 1-1 Bello Rasaq (75').
In the second upset on the opening day of the 26th Federation Cup Calcutta's Tollygunge Agragami beat former champions Salgaocar SC 5-2 in a penalty shootout in an floodlit evening match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore. But Salgaocar have only themselves to blame as they missed numerous chances throughout the match.
Tollygunge took the lead in the 27.minute when Surajit Bose headed in a cross from Kabijit Khotel. Salgaocar equalised in the 75.minute through a shot Nigerian defender Bello Rasaq of a rebound of a Marcos Pereira header.
Extratime didn't yield any result, so it had to go into a penalty shootout. While Tarif Ahmed, Suley Musah, Akeem Abul Alem and Suman Datta all scored for Tollygunge against reserve keeper Gumpe Rime; Salgaocar started badly with Marcos hitting the crossbar and Bello's shot being saved by Arindam Ghosh. Only youngster Bernard Pires scored for the Goans of the spot.
TOLLYGUNGE: Arindam Ghosh, Kabijit Khotel, Isiaka Awoyemi, Debkumar Sashmal, Saumik Dey, Gauranga Dutta (Suman Dutta 65'), Suley Musah, Dinesh Swar (Mohammed Rafique 115'), Surajit Bose (Chinmoy Sarkar 52'), Tarif Ahme, Akeem Abul Alem.
SALGAOCAR: Juje Siddi (Gumpe Rime 117'), Remus Gomes (Bernard Pires 93'), Roberto Fernandes, Prashant Jaggi, Bello Rasaq, Jyothi Kumar, Micky Fernandes, Rocus Lamare, Samson Singh (Freddy Mascarenhas 69'), Felix Ibrebru, Marcos Pereira.
REFEREE:

3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Semifinal: Border Security Force 3-0 Simla Youngs
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Semifinal: Punjab Police 1-0 JCT Academy - Goal: 1-0 Gurpreet Singh (73').

U18 Goa Cup: Salgaocar SC 2-1 Dempo SC - Goals: 1-0,2-1 Luiza Colaco (33',89'), 1-1 Clifton Gonsalves.
U18 Goa Cup: Sesa Football Academy 5-1 SAI Hostel - Goals:
U18 Goa Cup: Churchill Brothers SC 10-2 Fransa FC - Goals: 0-1 Roston Colaco (1'), 1-1,4-1,5-2,6-2,7-2 Cajitan Mascarenhas (28',42',52',56',63'), 2-1,3-1,8-2 Franky Martins (34',38',?'), 4-2 Aliston Leitao, 9-2 Roger Gonsalves, 10-2 Quelson Alemao.
U18 Goa Cup: Vasco SC 3-0 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: 1-0 Pawan Kumar (2'), 2-0,3-0 Selvin Pereira (10',75').
After the last day of action in the inaugural GFA U18 Cup the Salgaocar Juniors won the title ahead of the Sesa Football Academy!

23. November
Note-1: Finally the 26th Federation Cup kicks-off tomorrow in Bangalore with India's 16 top teams eyeing the title in the knockout tournament, where you cannot be complacent or play for scores. The only aim is to win, whatever it takes.
But all preparations don't seem to have gone well as AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco was doing the final inspections ahead of the two week long extravaganza. He said: "I am not satisfied with the preparation of the ground as it may not last for the 15 matches scheduled to be played from tomorrow. We may think of shifting the venue if the ground prepared especially for the mega event wears out after playing a few matches. However, it is left to match commissioner MG Suvarna to take a decision. The only satisfaction was that the Bangalore Football Ground would be available."
Already the tournament dates had been pushed back by four days to give the organising Karnataka State Football Association more time to prepare the ground, but it seems to not having been enough. But rather the question should be asked if any ground in India would hold for a 16 team knockout tournament. Across India the problem of worsening grounds is an issue when the final rounds are around.
The tournaments opening match will be between defending champions Mahindra United, who are also amongst the favourites this time round, and new kids on the block Fransa FC. For Mahindra and Fransa it will be the first official match under their new coaches. Football's only Dronacharya award winner Syed Nayeemuddin has taken over at Mahindra a few weeks ago and has put his boys under rigorous physical training to be in top shape for the tournament and the upcoming NFL. All players are said to be fit except Mahesh Gawli who has jaundice. At Fransa former India international Norbert Gonsalves has taken over and the club has been most active in signing players in the second Inter-State Transfer period. With well known players like Jules Alberto, Hardip Singh Saini and Anit Ghosh amongst others signing for the Goans. If the team has the calibre to beat a Mahindra will be seen tomorrow.
The evening match of the first day will be between Calcutta darkhorses Tollygunge Agragami and Goans Salgaocar SC. Tollygunge had a indifferent start to the Calcutta season but have over the month's developed into a young, fighting unit with players like Gouranga Datta catching the eye. If they can upset Salgaocar will have to be seen as Salgaocar have lost the best Indian midfield this summer and had to replace players like Tomba Singh, Dharamjit Singh and Jatin Singh Bisht with youngsters. If they are ready for the national scene will have to be seen.
So lets the action begin, then football is such a great game that the outcome cannot be predicted correctly in a knockout tournament. We hope for fans at the ground for good football and interesting matches!

Note-2: For Sasthi Duley and Dipankar Roy all seems to be ending well. A Calcutta High Court division bench today decided to relax the condition of bail for the two. No longer was there a need to meet the investigating officer in the providing shelter to criminal 'hatkata' Dilip.

22. November
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group A: Punjab Police 0-0 Punjab State Electricity Board - Goals: none.
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group A: Jammu&Kashmir Bank 1-3 Simla Youngs - Goals: 1-0 Musibao Adebayo (14'), 1-1 Hitender Singh, 1-2,1-3 Dharmender Kharola.

Note-1: The recently amended AIFF constitution came into effect today after an AIFF Special General body meeting two weeks ago ratified the changes. The changes according to the AIFF are in line with the statutes of FIFA and the AFC, and would help the AIFF become more professional and also accountable for it's work.
If this is all true will have to be seen...

Note-2: The 26th Federation Cup (the Indian version of the English FA-Cup) will be played at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore from wednesday until December 5. The final could be pushed back a day to ensure live TV coverage.
At a press conference in Bangalore the Karnataka State Football Association president AR Khaleel informed the media that in the pre-quarterfinal stage two matches would be held a day with the first match having a kickoff at 13.30 IST, while the second match would be a floodlight evening match.
The tournament would start with a match between defending Fed Cup champions Mahindra United and promoted National League side Fransa FC from Goa on wednesday.
So far no sponsors had been finalised for the tournament, which has an approximate budget of Rs 6,5 million. The knockout tournament carries a total prize money of Rs. 1,985 million of which the Karnataka government would contribute Rs 1 million. The champions would get Rs 1 million, while the runners-up would be richer by Rs 600,000. The semifinalists would get Rs 50,000 each while the quarterfinalists Rs 20,000 each. The fair play award carries a prize money of Rs 25,000.
The tournament will be supervised by 10 Indian FIFA referees, while MG Suvarna, AIFF referees board secretary, will be the match commissioner.
The ticket pricing has been kept low to allow crowds to attend. For pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal matches fans would have to pay Rs 10, 20 and 30 per match, while for semifinals and final the tickets would be a bit costlier at Rs. 15, 30 and 45.

21. November
Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal Club 3-0 Mohammedan Sporting Club - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Shylo Malswam Tulunga (12',35'), 3-0 Paolo Roberto da Silva (65').
East Bengal Club today won a record 30th Calcutta Super Division, also their third in a row!!!

3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group B: Border Security Force 0-0 Hindustan Club - Goals: none.
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group B: Rail Coach Factory 1-3 JCT Academy - Goals: 1-0 Manjinder Singh (5'), 1-1 Pradip Singh, 1-2 Hardeep Singh, 1-3 Amarjit Singh.

20. November
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Final: Cabral SC 1-1,4-5 Vasco SC - Goals: 1-0 Joseph Toochukwu Ogor (72'), 1-1 K Aseem (90+').
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group A: Punjab Police 2-0 Simla Youngs - Goals: 1-0 Gurjeet Singh (40'), 2-0 Amarjeet Singh (46').
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group A: Jammu&Kashmir Bank 3-1 Punjab State Electricity Board

Note-1: At the AFC Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on December 6/7 decisions will be taken on the international calendar for football in South Asia in 2005.
The South Asian Football Federation is favouring that the next SAFF Cup would be hosted by Pakistan, but a final decision would only be taken at that meeting. The other question remaining open is when in 2005 the eight nation tournament would be played, either in February or later in the year.
It looks sure that the Indian national team will be visiting Pakistan for three international friendlies as has been agreed on by the AIFF and their Pakistani counterparts, the PFF, earlier. But now the PFF wants the number of matches increased to five so that matches could be held in the state capital's of Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta. This would be discussed in Kuala Lumpur.

19. November
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group B: Border Security Force 3-1 JCT Academy - Goals: 1-0 Raghuvir Singh (30'), 2-0 Samrat Choudhury (43'), 3-0 Gurjit Singh Atwal (73'), 3-1 Amandeep Singh (87').
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group B: Rail Coach Factory 2-1 Hindustan Club - Goals: 1-0 Manjinder Singh (33'), 1-1 Nageshwar Rao (40'), 2-1 Manjit Singh (61').

Note-1: Might we soon see the Bulgarian national team in India?
This might be one of the result of talks between Indian Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Sunil Dutt and the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria, Feym Tschaushew in New Delhi today.
While Bulgaria has offered training and coaching facilities for Indian sportspersons in weightlifting, gymnastic, shooting and rowing, they have asked for Indian expertise in hockey and badminton.
Amongst other sporting topics discussed, Mr. Dutt asked the Bulgarian national team or club sides to visit India to play friendly matches and/or take part in tournaments.
If anything comes out of this will have to be seen, but it is good to see the Sports Minister showing interest in football.

Note-2: Renedy Singh is back at Mohun Bagan AC. Renedy signed for his former club last night, the best available option for the rest of the 2004/05 season for the Indian international. Bagan meanwhile get their former captain back and can strengthen their midfield.
Meanwhile Renedy's cousin brother Gouramangi Moirangtem Singh has finally left Bagan. Mangi has gone on loan to Dempo SC for whom he wanted to sign anyway at the beginning of the season but wasn't allowed to by Bagan and his own mistake
Bagan is also looking to get some more foreigners on trials ahead of the Federation Cup and National League after having won no trophy so far. Even coach Subrata Bhattacharjee has come in for criticism, but he has been kept in control of affairs.

Note-3: Dempo SC and Mormogao Port Trust SC have both been slapped a fine of Rs. 5,000 each by the Goa FA for not participating in the ongoing 6th Goa Governor's Cup. The clubs were lucky to get away with such a small fine with even a ban possible, but the GFA rightly understood that a ban would only harm Goan football as a whole so didn't take that decision.
Dempo had pulled out days before their first match due to injury to numerous players, but MPT didn't give an official reason behind pulling out.

Note-4: East Bengal Club has penalised midfielders Dipankar Roy and Sasthi Duley for leaving the team during the Durand Cup in Delhi earlier this month. An executive meeting decided to hand the players a pay-cut from their salary as punishment after the players had received a show-cause notice earlier. What makes the issue look awkward and weird is that both players had to leave Delhi urgently for a criminal case against them in Calcutta as we have reported earlier. The club afterwards even said they dealt in the issue leniently with the players.

Note-5: The 3rd Kanchanjunga Gold Cup will be played in Geyzing in the West District of Sikkim from November 24 to December 5. The tournament will be once more organised by the West District Sports Association of Sikkim.
Amongst the 14 participating teams will be the under-19 sides of Calcutta clubs - East Bengal Club, EverReady SA and Mohammedan Sporting. Other participating teams are - George Telegraph SC, Calcutta; Durgapur Steel Plant; IISCO, Burdwan; Nepal XI; Muslim Football Academy; UKFC, Korseong; United Sikkim Sporting Club, Gangtok; West Sikkim Football Association, Geyzing and South District Football Association, Namchi.

18. November
The IndianFootball.Com Team would like to thank all for your mails of support and compliments on our crossing the 400.000 HITs barrier!!!
We really appreciate your support and hope to keep you uptodate with happenings in Indian football as we have been doing since 1998, though it isn't always to do so with the Editors-in-Chiefs living in Germany. But the struggle to improve Indian football will continue, be it only on the net...
Also we would like to use this opportunity to thank all those of you, who help in our work by sending us infos, schedules and scores!
Anyone can help us with useful infos...

Calcutta Super Division: Mohun Bagan AC 0-1 EverReady Sports Association - Goal: 0-1 Eugene Gray (36').
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Semifinal: Churchill Brothers SC 0-0,3-5 Cabral SC [penalties] - Goals: none.
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group A: Simla Youngs - Punjab State Electricity Board
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group A: Jammu&Kashmir Bank - Punjab Police

Note-1: Here some latest news, infos and rumours from Calcutta:
- Mohun Bagan seem to have developed a complex against EverReady SA. Bagan have lost more matches against the red-and-white in the last couple of seasons than against any other team. And this brings a potentially great finish to the Calcutta Super Division, whenever it ends after the Federation Cup. But only if East Bengal doesn't beat Mohammedan Sporting on Sunday. If they do, East Bengal retain their title, otherwise they face EverReady for a sort of playoff final in their last match with even Mohun Bagan having a chance under the current scenario. East Bengal lead the table with 36 points from 16 matches followed by Mohun Bagan and EverReady both on 35 points from 17 matches.
- India captain Baichung Bhutia and stand-in captain Deepak Kumar Mondal are likely to be back in action for their club East Bengal Club next week in the 26th Federation Cup in Bangalore. Both players went through a medical check-up after being back in training. Especially Baichung's return to action is expected after nearly three month's on the sidelines.
- Were will Renedy Singh play in the upcoming National League? Renedy signed for 2.Division NFL Calcutta side EverReady SA at the beginning of the season with the aim to switch over to East Bengal in the second transfer period, but now the NFL champions don't seem to interested as they have enough midfielders. With the second window for Inter-State Transfers also closed, Renedy cannot get transferred to other NFL sides. His only NFL option seems to be his former club Mohun Bagan. Bagan also seem to be interested to strengthen their midfield with their former captain, so lets see what happens.

17. November
2006 World Cup Qualifiers - Asia Zone - Group 3 - Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat: Oman 0-0 INDIA - Goals: none.
INDIA earned a hard-fought goalless draw against Oman at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat in their sixth and last 2006 World Cup Qualification match in Group 3 of the Asian Zone. INDIA ended their campaign on four points from six matches, in third position behind group winners Japan and second-placed Oman with Singapore finishing fourth and bottom of the group.
In an inconsequential match, Oman had a more of the chances though INDIA could have also scored of their few chances. But it was clear from the onset that especially Oman were going through the motion, something their coach Milan Macala wanted to avoid ahead of other commitments in the coming weeks.
INDIA had their best chance in the 31.minute through striker Ashim Biswas when he lobbed the ball over Omani keeper Ali Al Habsi, who plays his club football in Norway, but the keeper cleared the danger for the expense of a corner. Oman's best chance came of Ahmed Hadid in the 38.minute, when his shot came of the glove of Sangram Mukherjee and defender Habibur Rehman Mondal cleared the ball on the goalline.
Sangram Mukherjee, one of the main culprits in the 1-5 defeat against Oman with two blunders, had an outstanding outing in the INDIA goal, denying the Omanis on a number of occasions. Also the young and inexperienced defensive line of Vinu Jose, Habibur Rehman Mondal and Sameer Naik stood their ground.
INDIA coach Stephen Constantine told the media after the match that the defensive strategy he had prepared for his young team had worked well against the strong Omanis.
INDIA: 1-Sangram Mukherjee, 3-Vinu Jose, 2-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 16-Sameer Naik, 17-Syed Rahim Nabi, 7-Tomba Singh (14-Jerry Zirsanga), 5-Climax Lawrence, 11-Jatin Singh Bisht (19-Rocus Lamare), 13-Debabrata Roy, 9-Abhishek Yadav, 12-Ashim Biswas (10-Alvito D'Cunha).

6th Goa Governor's Cup - Semifinal: Fransa FC 0-1 Vasco SC - Goal: 0-1 K Aseem (78').
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group B: JCT Academy 0-0 Hindustan Club - Goals: none.
3rd Lt. Governor's Cup - Group B: Border Security Force 1-0 Rail Coach Factory - Goal: 1-0 Deepak Kumar (42').

Note-1: The Calcutta Super Division Super Six tie between East Bengal Club and Mohammedan Sporting Club will now be held on coming Sunday afternoon at the Saltlake Stadium instead of Saturday early evening as had been announced earlier.

Note-2: The Assam FA will hold it's general body meeting on November 28 in Kokrajhar. And the meeting is set to become an interesting AGM for elections to key posts.
The post of secretary will be hard fought between current secretary Kedar Nath Mour and vice-president Ankur Dutta. Mour, a former AIFF secretary, and Dutta have been having differences over the last few month's on a number of issues, so Dutta is trying to replace Mour.
The presidents post could also be in for voting as numerous names are making the rounds for the post, amongst them Heman Bramha, an Assam MLA, and former Assam PWD Minister Sarat Barkotoky.

Note-1:

16. November
IndianFootball.Com, India's Premier Football Website, has crossed the 400.000 HITs barrier !!!
IndianFootball.Com was launched on April 10, 1998 by Arunava Chaudhuri and since then our team has grown to be a now seven members strong, to bring the latest on Indian football - scores and news.
We only started with the counter on the site in 1999 and we had crossed the 100.000 barrier on May 9, 2002, the 200.000 barrier on July 18, 2003 and the 300.000 barrier on March 29, 2004. So we have been reaching the following 100.000 HITs faster and fast. Sadly we have to add that the counter hasn't always worked, so we actually will have crossed the 400.000 HITs mark a few days ago.
Right from the start until today, IndianFootball.Com is the only site, which tries to look at as many aspects as possible in Indian football, which are quite diversified, and are getting more as the game progress' in India.
IndianFootball.Com is India's Premier Football Website and the success of the site also proves for us that our hard work and dedication pays off with the return of the visitors/users in search of Indian football news and results. And we happily see that we are getting more and more HITs!

Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal Club 4-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 1-0,2-0,3-0 Paolo Roberto da Silva (45',60',90'), 4-0 Dipankar Roy (90+').
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Quarterfinal: Salgaocar SC 1-2 Cabral SC - Goals: 0-1 Wilfred Gomes (21'), 0-2 Assis D'Souza (72'), 1-2 Samson Singh (73').

15. November
Jharkhand Foundation Day celebrations - Ranchi: Rest of Jharkhand XI 0-2 Tata Football Academy - Goals: 0-1 Bimal Minz (2'), 0-2 Parminder Singh (63').

Note-1: The first list of Inter-State Transfers in the Second Transfer Window of the Indian Football season were released today by the AIFF.
21 transfers have been cleared with Fransa FC being the biggest gainers with six players joining the Goans - Hardip Singh Saini, Sanjeev Kumar Maria (both Mohun Bagan AC), Syed Hussein (East Bengal Club), Jules Alberto Dias (Mahindra United), Anit Kumar Ghosh (Mohammedan Sporting Club), Narshiman Balaji (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) - four former Indian internationals amongst them. So Fransa are strengthening their team after a not so good finish in the Goa Pro league.
JCT Mills were the biggest losers as IM Vijayan left for Goans Churchill Brothers SC and Jo Paul Ancheri left for Mohun Bagan AC. Mohun Bagan also got Niyaz Rahaman cleared from Fransa FC. Another player joining the Maidan club T Roopesh also from Fransa FC has not been cleared yet according to the list, though Roopesh has been part of the Bagan Durand Cup squad.
Talented Delhi state goalkeeper Vinay Singh got transferred from Delhi's Simla Youngs to Churchill Brothers SC.
There were also some non-National League transfers.

14. November
East Bengal midfielder Climax Lawrence has been named captain for the last and inconsequential 2006 World Cup qualifier against Oman on November 17 in Muscat. Climax is the fifth INDIA captain in the last few month's as last stand-in captain Deepak Mondal was injured in the Durand Cup semifinals earlier this week. Besides Deepak also out of the final squad of 17 players is RC Prakash also not fully fit. Coming new into the team are youngsters Rocus Lamare from Salgaocar SC and East Bengal Club utility man Syed Rahim Nabi.
Once more missing are a lot of regulars - captain Baichung Bhutia, Renedy Singh, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Mahesh Gawli and Sandip Nandy, so chief coach Stephen Constantine has to rely on a young team. Rajinder Gupta from Himachal Pradesh has been named manager. The team leaves for Muscat on Monday.
SQUAD: GK: Sangram Mukherjee (East Bengal), Prasanta Dora (Mohun Bagan). DF: Habibur Rehman Mondal (East Bengal), Sameer Naik (Dempo), Vinu Jose (Vasco), Gurjinder Singh (Tata Football Academy); MF: Climax Lawrence, Alvito D'Cunha, Syed Rahim Nabi (all East Bengal), Debabrata Roy, Jatin Singh Bisht (both Mahindra United), Jerry Zirsanga, Tomba Singh (both Mohun Bagan), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar SC). FW: Abhishek Yadav (Mahindra United), Ashim Biswas (Mohun Bagan), Vimal Periyar (Tata Football Academy). Coach: Stephen Constantine; Manager: Rajinder Gupta.

6th Goa Governor's Cup - Quarterfinal: Sporting Club de Goa 0-2 Vasco Sports Club - Goals: 0-1 Avinash Thapa (51'), 0-2 K Aseem (90').
3rd Jwhwlao Swmbla Basumatary Gold Cup - Final: Oil India Limited 1-1,3-1 SAI, Guwahati [penalties] - Goals: 1-0 Bhim Kanta Sonowal (80'), 1-1 Tinku Handique (83').

13. November
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Quarterfinal: Churchill Brothers SC - Corps of Signals

12. November
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Quarterfinal: Fransa Football Club 2-1 Benny
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Salgaocar Sports Club 6-0 Raitura Sports Club - Goals: 1-0 Marcos Pereira (12'), 2-0 Jerose Oliveira (17'), 3-0,5-0 Francis Andrade (30',66'), 4-0 Bernard Pires (53'), 6-0 Freddy Mascarenhas (66').

11. November
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Sporting Clube de Goa 5-1 Napoli SC - Goals: 0-1 Olen Vaz (23'), 1-1 Nicolas Borges (50'), 2-1,3-1 Alvito Rodriogues (57',68'), 4-1,5-1 Adebayo Adewusi (74',89').
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Goa Police 1-4 Benny
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Fransa Football Club 2-0 Raia Sporting Club

Note-1: Exclusive interview with Stephen Constantine online... click here to read

Note-2: National coach Stephen Constantine informed IndianFootball.Com that Deepak Kumar Mondal will not be able to play for INDIA in our last 2006 World Cup qualifier due to an injury suffered in the semifinals of the 117th Durand Cup. Deepak who had captained INDIA in the win in the friendly against Kuwait last week is a major loss to the INDIAN team.

10. November

The latest FIFA World Rankings were released today with INDIA slipping in the rankings by two places to 140th among 205 ranked nations. In Asia INDIA is now ranked 28th.
INDIA lost two places in the rankings due to other teams around INDIA doing well in the matches last month.

117th Durand Cup 2004 - Final: Mohun Bagan AC 1-2 East Bengal Club - Goals: 0-1,1-2 Chandas Das (24',90'+), 1-1 Douglas Da Silva (76', og).
East Bengal Club won the 117th Durand Cup final against archrivals Mohun Bagan AC 2-1 with the winner coming in injury time to win their 16th title in 26 finals, equaling the mark of their archrivals.
East Bengal started the match slowly, while Bagan kicked off well and dominated the midfield. In the 22.minute, East Bengal came close to a chance after Douglas da Silva almost scored from an corner. Two minutes later Alvito D'Cunha was fouled inside the box by Basudeb Mondal. Chandan Das stepped up and easily converted the penalty to give East Bengal the lead and control of the match. Bagan's best chance was missed by Dharamjit Singh, who failed a sitter in the 32.minute. On the other hand, East Bengal once again came close to scoring with a Douglas da Silva header just going wide.
Mohun Bagan started the second half well dominating the midfield. Bagan increased the pressure and created chances for Sunil Chetri and Ashim Biswas, which were saved by Rajat Ghosh Dastidar with some excellent saves. Indian international Jerry Zirsanga also came close to equalise, but was denied by Ghosh Dastidar.
However Mohun Bagan got a lift after Madhab Das was sent off in 75.minutes for two yellow cards. A minute later, disaster struck for East Bengal, as Douglas da Silva headed in a Noel Wilson freekick into his teams own goal.
When the match seemed like going into extra time, Chandan Das pulled out a great finish to slot East Bengal infront in injury time. A well forwarded move involving Earnest Jeremiah and Climax Lawrence, who spotted Das' run led to the goal. The injury time goal finished off the match as East Bengal became the champions of the 117th Durand Cup 2004.
MOHUN BAGAN: Subroto Pal, Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda (40' Tomba Singh), Manitombi Singh, Dulal Biswas, Basudeb Mondal, Mehtab Hussain, Noel Wilson, Sunil Chetri, Dharamjit Singh (66' Jerry Zirsanga), James Agbo Ugwo (40' Ashim Biswas).
EAST BENGAL: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Madhab Das, Debjit Ghosh, Selwyn Fernandes (52' Climax Lawrence), Habibur Rehman Rahman, Akshay Das (85' Bijen Singh), Douglas da Silva, Chandan Das, Shylo Malswam Tulunga, Alvito D'Cunha, Earnest Jeremiah.

6th Goa Governor's Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Cabral Sports Club 3-2 YBT

9. November
6th Goa Governor's Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Vasco SC 3-0 Velsao Pale SC - Goals: 1-0 Alex Ambrose (16'), 2-0 Anthony Pereira (25'), 3-0 K Aseem (33').

Note-1: A PTI report: East Bengal footballers Sasthi Duley and Dipankar Roy, who were arrested for conspiracy in providing shelter to an alleged multiple murder-accused, were granted bail by the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday. A division bench, presided by Justice Nure Alam Chowdhury, directed the footballers to appear before the investigating officer once a week.
The bench observed that since the investigating officer has not expressed further need to interrogate the two players at this juncture, bail is being granted to them.
The two footballers were arrested on November 2 by the Kolkata Police after alleged multiple murder accused 'Hathkata' Dilip -- so known because of a severed hand -- was arrested from the village home of Duley in Hoogly district. Dipankar reportedly had persuaded Sasthi to give shelter to the anti-social who is also allegedly accused in several abductions and criminal cases.
Appearing for Duley and Roy, advocate Joymalya Bagchi submitted that that the charges against the duo were bailable and the lower court had sent them to judicial custody despite the prosecution not opposing their bail plea. He further submitted that as Duley and Roy are sportspersons of repute and would not abscond and had also cooperated with the investigating officers, they should be granted bail. Bagchi also stated that Roy's sister is due to get married shortly and his presence is necessary at the marriage ceremony.
Sub-divisional judicial magistrate at Barrackpore, Gopal Karmakar, had remanded the two footballers, who were arrested on November 2, to judicial custody on Sunday.

Note-2: As had been expected Mohammedan Sporting Club officials decided today to get rid of coach Mridul Banerjee and Biswajit Bhattacharjee is set to replace him ahead of the upcoming Federation Cup.
With Mridulda having tried his best with the players made available to him this season, it will be difficult for the new coach or any other coach to get better results for Sporting, then those they have got so far.

8. November
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Semifinal: East Bengal Club 1-0 JCT Mills - Goal: 1-0 Syed Rahim Nabi (72').
EAST BENGAL: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Madhab Das, Deepak Kumar Mondal (Debjit Ghosh), Selwyn Fernandes, Habibur Rehman Rahman (Akshay Das), Douglas da Silva, Chandan Das, Syed Rahim Nabi, Shylo Malswam Tulunga, Alvito D'Cunha, Earnest Jeremiah.
JCT: Ajani Ibrahim, Jaspal Singh, Julius Akpele, Harpreet Singh, Jagjit Singh Randhawa, Baldeep Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Bimanyu Bimal Birua, Sukhwinder Singh, Harvinder Singh (Hardeep Singh Gill, Jaswinder Singh), Manjit Singh.

Note-1: Yesterday the news had come out that INDIA had been approached by FIFA and/or the Asian Football Confederation to put in a bid for the 2007 FIFA U17 World Cup.
IndianFootball.Com cross-checked with FIFA Headquarters in Zurich and according to FIFA so far the associations of Qatar, the Korean Republic, the USA, Turkey and Israel have expressed their interest and willingness to host the 2007 event.
As per infos from the FIFA Competitions Department no such declaration of interest has been received from India. However, the deadline is until 1 December 2004 and the AIFF may well submit such a declaration until then.
If the AIFF had been approached by any FIFA officials to put in a bid could not be answered as unknown.

Note-2: Some of you have been asking us, when will the Calcutta Super Division 2004 finally end?
We still can't answer you that, but we have the schedule for the next three "Super Six" matches with the two last matches remaining until the league finally ends, nearly six month's after it started with little to no interest remaining amongst fans and the media as the league had too many breaks this season.
Defending champions East Bengal Club face Tollygunge Agragami on November 16 at either the Saltlake Stadium or in Kalyani. Archrivals Mohun Bagan AC take on EverReady Sports Association against whom they have lost their last four matches on November at the Kalyani Stadium, while on November 20 East Bengal Club face Mohammedan Sporting in a floodlit match at the Saltlake Stadium.
The remaining matches East Bengal Club Vs EverReady Sports Association and Mohun Bagan AC Vs Tollygunge Agragami would be held after the Federation Cup or if possible earlier, if the sides are out of the competition.

Note-3: The Goan football enthusiatics of Bahrain will get an opportunity to watch their own footballers at the Al Qadisiya Football grounds during the Eid holidays. Goa has many players based in Bahrain who have donned colours for popular clubs like Salgaocar, Vasco, Dempo, etc. These and many of the footballers who excelled in the now defunct Bahrain Expatriate Football league, will be seen in action at Bahrain Goans Six-a-side Soccer tournament on November 14. AVC Kuwait, Rolling Youth Doha and two teams of Goan Boys of Qatar have responded positively to the invitation extended to them to participate in this tournament. The confirmation of these teams, has made headlines in the camps of the Bahrain based teams and a fierce competition for supremacy is on the cards. The tournament is open to any Goan teams and players of Indian nationality are eligible to play. Teams will be divided into four groups with preliminary rounds being played on a league basis, with the two top teams from each group qualifying for the knock out stage.
An exhibition match between North Goa Juniors and South Goa Juniors for boys under-15 years will be held on the sidelines of the tournament to mark the Indian children's day. The tournament is sponsored by Konkan Singers Club and co-sponsored by Nonoo Exchange, Gulf Computer Services, Union Press, Basma, OTSC and Al Jazira Super Markets. For more information please contact Vincent D'Costa on Mobile 39672776 or Hilary Sanchez on Mobile 39678211.

7. November
In a major step forward in professionalising the administration of the AIFF keeping in line with guidelines of FIFA and the AFC, and the recommendations made under the Vision India programme; the AIFF amended it's constitution today at a special AIFF General Body in New Delhi.
This was voiced by the AIFF president while going through the constitution, "The amendments in the AIFF constitution are in line with the direction of FIFA and Asian Football Confederation and are intended to make it more professional manner and carry forward their programmes under the Vision India Project professionally."
Some states brought forward amendmends with those of Kerala, Karnataka and Assam being accepted, but those of WIFA (Maharashtra) and Uttar Pradesh being rejected or withdrawn.
The new constitution would only be circulated among the media (so hopefully also with IndianFootball.Com) tomorrow, but the AIFF president further informed that it would come into effect on November 22.
On that day we will announce the dates for the election for new office bearers" he said adding "the elections will be held for the post of President, treasurer and executive commitee members."
As per the new constitution, the president will be the most powerful man in the AIFF with him having sweeping powers like his FIFA and AFC counterparts. There would be a new position of general secretary, no longer to be elected like the former honorary secretary, but rather appointed by the executive committee after being chosen by of the president. The new general secretary would head the AIFF secretariat, which would in future be based at the new being-built Football House, and he would be accountable to the executive committee. Only the president and the treasurer would now be voted into their positions. With the new executive committee having 19 elected members, two from each of the five zones (North, East, NorthEast, South, West) plus a representative each from the Services, Railways and Women's federation, five vice-presidents plus the president and treasurer.
The constitution would come into effect on November 22, the day when also the next date for elections will be announced.

117th Durand Cup 2004 - Semifinal: Salgaocar SC 0-0,4-5 Mohun Bagan AC [penalties] - Goals: none.
SALGAOCAR: Juje Siddi, Remus Gomes, Roberto Fernandes, Bento Vaz, Bello Rasaq, Rocus Lamare, Bernard Pires (Samson Singh), Bhuvan Krishna Joshi (Freddy Mascarenhas), Micky Fernandes, A Jothi Kumar, Felix Ibrebru.
MOHUN BAGAN: Subrata Pal, Manitombi Singh, Mehraj Din Wadao (T Roopesh), Dulal Biswas, Rishi Kapoor, Mehtab Hussain, Basudeb Mondal, Noel Wilson (Tomba Singh), Dharamjit Singh, Sunil Chetri, James Agbo Ugwo (Jerry Zirsanga)

26th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup - Final: EverReady Sports Association 1-1,4-2 All-Nepal Football Association XI [penalties] - Goals: 0-1 Pradip Mahajan (19'), 1-1 Thomas Oshogwe (29').
Calcutta's EverReady Sports Association won the final of the 26th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup, their first title outside Bengal.

Note-1: A FIFA World Cup in INDIA??? And that in three years time?
No, we aren't talking or dreaming about the FIFA World Cup for international 'A' sides (seniors) to be held in India, but rather the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup and as per information released by AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi at a press conference, the AIFF is considering to put in a bid to host the 2007 FIFA U17 World Cup.
Das Munshi said, "FIFA had asked India to consider a bid for hosting the 2007 Under-17 World Cup and we asked the central government to give the necessary clearance for the AIFF to submit its bid.". Das Munshi added that the AIFF would have to wait for a clearance from the Government of India and then it could put a bid together with the last date of entry being December 31, 2004.

Note-2: The 26th Federation Cup will be played from November 24 in Bangalore, Karnataka. The date for the final hasn't been fixed yet with December 5 or 6 as options. 16 teams, the 12 National League and four best 2.Division NFL, would be seen in action in the knockout format. The opening match of the Fed Cup would be between title holders Mahindra United and NFL promoted Fransa FC from Goa.
The start of the Fed Cup has been delayed by four days due to preparatory work, especially the ground, which needs to be carried out at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Due to this the start of the 9th National League would be delayed by at least a week to ten days from it's original first week of December kickoff.
>>Go to the 26th Federation Cup schedule .

Note-3: After a not so successful season so far Mohammedan Sporting Club are looking at options to strengthen their team ahead of the tough engagements ahead of the Federation Cup and 2.Division National League. Amongst the points of discussion are the future of coach Mridul Banerjee, who might be replaced soon.
On the players front Sporting are looking to take onboard East Bengal Club discard Louis Aniweta after having failed to sign Suley Musah earlier.

Note-4: An UNI report: A Calcutta court today rejected bail petitions filed on behalf of international footballers Sasthi Duley and Dipankar Roy and remanded them to judicial custody till November 16. Sub-divisonal District Judicial Magistrate Gopal Chandra Karmakar remanded the two East Bengal club players, who have been in police custody for last five days. Advocate Jaymalya Bagchi appeared for the accused, praying for bail. Both the accused were involved in allegedly harbouring the 'hathkata' Dilip, prime accused in a twin murder case.

6. November
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group B: East Bengal Club 4-0 Sporting Club de Goa - Goals: 1-0,2-0,4-0 Earnest Jeremiah (38',42',76'), 3-0 Chandan Das (66').
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group D: Dempo SC 1-1 JCT Mills - Goals: 0-1 Harvinder Singh (10'), 1-1 Majekodunmi Bolaji (89').

5. November
International Friendly - Kuwait City: Kuwait 2-3 INDIA - Goals: 1-0 Fahed Al Fahed (35') 1-1 Tomba Singh (48'), 2-1 Bashar Abdullah (54'), 2-2 Jerry Zirsanga (64'), 2-3 Abhishek Yadav (75').
India earned a hard fought victory away against mighty Kuwait in front of a small crowd in Kuwait City. The Indians recorded a 3-2 victory against the 2004 Asian Cup participants and potential finalists of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, although fielding a very young team due to injuries to several key players including captain Baichung Bhutia. Chief coach Stephen Constantine gave the youngsters much-needed exposure, wanting to built a young team for the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
Kuwait faced a tough task in the first 20 minutes as the Indians dominated the match and were in control of affairs. Mahindra United forward Abhishek Yadav missed a chance to give India the lead, when he headed the ball over the top bar. Young defender Habibur Rehman Mondal impressed with several good runs into the Kuwaiti half and setup several good moves for the Indian attack comprising of Yadav and Ashim Biswas.
But the Arabs were able to settle down and found their rhythm while the match progressed and started to take control of proceedings. The Indian four-men defence was mostly able to stop the Kuwaitis, but if they got through goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee was there, impressing with several superb saves.
Kuwait was able to break through successfully in the 35.minute when a cross found a unmarked striker who made no mistake and converted the chance.
After changing sides India got back into the game quickly and equalised with a Tomba Singh volley in the 48.minute, after a good run by Sameer Naik down the right and perfect cross. But only six minutes later Kuwait once again found the target and produced some scare to the scarce number of Indian fans in the stadium.
Although going down once again, India started to increase pressure and was rewarded by substitute Jerry Zirsanga, who levelled the score in the 64.minute breaking through on the right and slotting home past the keeper. Boasted by the equaliser India tried to go for the kill and score the winner, which would be a major boast in their confidence ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Oman.
Pulled back into their own half, the Kuwaitis conceded a third goal in the 75.minute when much-criticised Abhishek Yadav headed in a cross by substitute Alvito D'Cunha.
In the last quarter Kuwait built-up the pressure to equalise but the Indian defence sustained the pressure, only allowing a last run in the final minutes, but the Kuwaitis missed two clear chances. Inbetween youngster Jerry Zirsanga had a chance to ensure Indian victory through a counter-attack when he received a opening pass from Tomba Singh from the left, but he couldn't beat the keeper.
India: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 3-Vinu Jose, 17-Deepak Kumar Mondal, 2-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 16-Sameer Naik; 7-Tomba Singh, 5-Climax Lawrence, Jatin Singh Bisht (46' 14-Jerry Zirsanga), 13-Debabrata Roy; 9-Abhishek Yadav, 12-Ashim Biswas (46' 10-Alvito D'Cunha).

117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group A: Salgaocar SC 1-0 Air-India - Goal: 1-0 Bhuvan Krishna Joshi (77').
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group C: Mohun Bagan AC 3-1 State Bank of Travancore - Goals: 0-1 MA Abdul Hakeem (28'), 1-1 Noel Wilson (45+'), 2-1 Mehtab Hussain (58'), 3-1 Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda (85').
26th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup - Semifinal: EverReady Sports Association 3-0 Oil India Limited, Duliajan - Goals: 1-0 Thomas Oshogwe (33'), 2-0,3-0 Eugene Gray.

Note-1: Good news for football fans in India. Doordarshan will be showing the semifinals and final of the ongoing 117th Durand Cup live on November 7, 8 and 10. The matches would be shown from 14.30 IST.

4. November
As you might have seen on IndianFootball.Com, India's Premier Football Site, in the last few days there has been a new link to something really special we can offer to our site visitors. And we are offering this special service jointly with the FA, the governing body of football in England. The FA has chosen us at IndianFootball.Com as their online partner for India.
The FA Learning has an online qualification - Psychology for Soccer Level 1 programme, which anyone can participate in, anywhere in the world.
This pioneering project is the first of its kind to be provided by any Football Governing Body and is available to anyone with access to the internet. There are no additional requirements to take part other than an interest in learning more about the subject and an email address!
The course is aimed at coaches, parents and teachers of 7-12 year olds looking to gain an introduction to psychology and understand the needs of players. Featuring modules based on 'true to life' player, coach and parent scenarios, combined with audio and video technology, the course is a comprehensive, interactive learning experience.
Within the 5 modules, there are over 20 sessions totaling over 8 hours worth of content. Including the use of discussion forums, resource area and the course tasks, we anticipate the course will take on average 20 hours to complete.
Psychology for Soccer Level 1 offers a flexible online learning solution, interaction and support from tutors and students and a host of additional benefits and features.
Especially in a country like ours, such a programme is of interest as youth coaching is in it's infancy in India, so utilise such a programme to become a better coach and understand your kids better.
>>Go to the the FA Learning Programme .

117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group B: East Bengal Club 3-1 Army XI - Goals: 0-1 L Angam Sangai (24'), 1-1,1-3 Paolo Roberto da Silva (46',70'), 1-2 Chandan Das (63').
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group D: Tata Football Academy 1-2 Dempo SC - Goals: 0-1 Johnny D'Cruz (56'), 0-2 Randy Martin Soleye (61'), 1-2 PC Lalam Puia (71').
26th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup - Semifinal: South District FA, Namchi 0-5 All-Nepal Football Association XI

Note-1: Priya Ranjan Das Munshi was in Karnataka today in his twin role as Union Minister for Water Resources and AIFF president.
On the football side of things he was in the Karnataka capital Bangalore to have a look at the preparations for the Federation Cup will be held their from November 20 to 30. The preparations seem to be going on fine with the Karnataka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh today also agreeing to provide the Rs 1 million prize money for the Fed Cup.
Meanwhile after quite sometime the issue of the National Football Academy came up in discussions, which was and still is supposed to come-up at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Depending on clearance from the Karnataka state government the project would go ahead with certain funds coming from FIFA.

Note-2: The 6th Goa Governor's Cup will kickoff on November 9 with Vasco SC taking on Velsao Pale SC at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. In total 15 teams will be taking part in the tournament with MPT pulling out due to too many injuries. The champions would get Rs. 75,000, while the runners-up Rs. 50,000 as prize money, but when the final would be held is unsure at the moment as the further schedule of the tournament would depend on the progress of the Goan clubs in the Durand Cup and Federation Cup.
As the Goa FA secretary Savio Messias informed the media this year there was no other slot than this open in the Indian football calendar to hold the Goa Governor's Cup. For the bigger clubs it would be preparation for the National League, while for the first division clubs a chance to face tougher opposition.
>>Go to the 6th Goa Governor Cup schedule .

Note-3: A lot has been said and written about the involvement of East Bengal players Sasthi Duley and Dipankar Roy in harbouring a criminal away from the police. The image of the concerned players, their club, their sponsors, the whole game on the Calcutta Maidan has come under fire from the media. A normal happening in the media world we live in today, but do the people really want to know the real story behind all this? What do you think about people, who where your colleague/friends just a while ago?
What happened today at the East Bengal Club tent showed that certain people at least have character. At a press conference East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick and India captain Baichung Bhutia showed their support in public for Sasthi and Dipankar, two players who are like sons and friends to them. Both Bhowmick and Baichung made it clear that they will stand by the two, though they seem have made a mistake and not treat them like antisocials or criminals as some were treating them. If needed the team would ask the West Bengal Chief Minister to look into their case with symphathy.
East Bengal Club meanwhile made it clear that they will "not interfere with the process of law" and that the two should be given their punishment, if found guilty, but they have behaved on and off the field and have always been loyal to the club.
Great to see such support for the two, but if they committed any mistakes they need to be punished, but they need to be treated fairly, which under such media hype is close to impossible.

3. November
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group A: Salgaocar SC 2-2 Border Security Force - Goals: 1-0 Samson Singh (36', 1-1 Santosh Shetty (45'), 1-2 PH Boy Singh (62'), 2-2 A Jyothi Kumar (75').
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group C: Mohun Bagan AC 5-0 Assam Rifles - Goals: 1-0,4-0 Sunil Chetri (17',41'), 2-0 Mehtab Hussein (20'), 3-0 Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda (36'), 5-0 Dharamjit Singh (82').
26th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup - Quarterfinal: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-1 Oil India Limited, Duliajan - Goal: 0-1 Manoj Gogoi (40').

All-India Inter-University Football Championship - Amaravati, Maharashtra - Final: Kerala 0-0,4-3 Bangalore [penalties]
All-India Inter-University Football Championship - Amaravati, Maharashtra - 3rd Place: GNDU, Amritsar 2-1 Calicut

Note-1: After it looked like Earnest Jeremiah would have to remain with 2.Division National League side EverReady SA for the rest of the season, Jeremiah was released by the club and is now free to join National League champions East Bengal Club for the rest of the season. If the signing goes about without a problem, then Jeremiah will be send to Delhi to strengthen the East Bengal squad there.

2. November
Yesterday evening the final squad of 17 players were named for the international friendly against Kuwait on November 5 in Kuwait City. Defender Deepak Kumar Mondal is the new captain in the absence of regular captain Baichung Bhutia and last stand-in captains Debjit Ghosh (who has retired by now) and Shanmugam Venkatesh (also injured).
The team will leave for Kuwait early today to get acclimatised ahead of the match.
SQUAD: GK: Sangram Mukherjee (East Bengal), Prasanta Dora (Mohun Bagan). DF: Deepak Kumar Mondal [Captain], Habibur Rehman Mondal (both East Bengal), Sameer Naik (Dempo), Vinu Jose (Vasco), Gurjinder Singh (Tata Football Academy); MF: Climax Lawrence, Alvito D'Cunha (both East Bengal), Debabrata Roy, Jatin Singh Bisht (both Mahindra United), Jerry Zirsanga, Tomba Singh (both Mohun Bagan). FW: RC Prakash (Dempo), Abhishek Yadav (Mahindra United), Ashim Biswas (Mohun Bagan), Vimal Periyar (Tata Football Academy). Coach: Stephen Constantine.

117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group B: Army XI 0-1 Sporting Club de Goa - Goal: 0-1 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (65').
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group D: JCT Mills 2-0 Tata Football Academy - Goals: 1-0 Manjit Singh (73'), 2-0 Hardip Singh Gill (90+').
26th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup - Quarterfinal: Sikkim Police beat All-Nepal Football Association XI

All-India Inter-University Football Championship - Amaravati, Maharashtra - Semifinal: Kerala 4-3 Calicut
All-India Inter-University Football Championship - Amaravati, Maharashtra - Semifinal: Bangalore 2-1 GNDU, Amritsar

Note-1: The Santosh Trophy winning Kerala state football team today called on the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his Delhi residence. Singh was gifted a football with all player autographs, after he had been introduced to the players and officials. In return the Kerala team got momentos from the Prime Minister.

Note-2: An UNI report: International footballers Sasthi Duley and Dipankar Roy were today remanded to police custody for five days by a subdivisional court after they were arrested for allegedly giving shelter to notorious criminal Hathkata Dilip, who is the prime accused in a twin murder case.
Both the players were implicated under Sec 216 and 120 (B) with Sec 302 under IPC for being involved with the prime accused Dilip Banerjee alias Hathkata Dilip in the East BidhanNagar twin murder case at Nayapatti in Rajarhat near SaltLake here. Police alleged that Sasthi had given shelter to absconder Dilip at his residence.
SDJM in-charge, Barrackpore, Arup Kumar Ghosh, ordered that the two East Bengal footballers be kept in police custody for the next five days before being produced before the court again on November 7. Earlier, Superintendent of Police (North) Praveen Kumar here said the two footballers were arrested and would be produced before the court in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the club after trying to shelter the two players till noon yesterday has slowly drifted away. "We will not side with any criminal. Law will take its own course," club Secretary Kalyan Majumdar said.

1. November
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group A: Air-India 2-1 Border Security Force - Goals: 0-1 J Joseph (10'), 1-1 Ibrahim Tijani (38'), 2-1 Peter Gyeisei (44').
117th Durand Cup 2004 - Quarterfinal League - Group C: Assam Rifles 1-3 State Bank of Travancore - Goals: 0-1,0-2 Mohammed Rafi (8',231'), 1-2 Akum Ao (32'), 1-3 Anil Kumar (85').
26th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup - Quarterfinal: EverReady Sports Association 2-0 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 1-0 Sheikh Sanjib (68'), 2-0 Eugene Gray (79').

Note-1: Today is Kerala Day and yesterday the Kerala state football team gave the proper gift to the state by winning the Santosh Trophy for the fifth time in it's 59th edition.
The Kerala government yesterday announced a cash prize of Rs 50,000 to each team member, the coach and the manager .
Meanwhile the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that three unemployed team members would be given jobs in the Kerala police. He congratulated the team for winning the coveted trophy.
Kerala Governor RL Bhatia followed today with his congratulation in a message. "I have immense pleasure to congratulate the Kerala football team on having won the Santosh Trophy Tournament 2004. I compliment all the members of the team and those who strove behind it on their commendable performance, upholding the glory of Kerala."
Apart from the government's cash prize, the 23-memebr Kerala team will receive Rs.200,000 from BPL Mobile, a mobile phone service provider.
Former India and Kerala captain IM Vijayan had also announced the Boxer Sports Goods Company of which he is chairman would present Rs.50,000 to the team if it won.

Note-2: Officially the second Inter-State Transfer window ended yesterday.
So far two major transfers have been announced, though formally not cleared by the AIFF so far. And JCT Mills are the big losers in both cases. While former international Jo Paul Ancheri switched over allegiance to Calcutta club Mohun Bagan AC; his friend and former Indian international IM Vijayan in a surprise move decided to sign a six month contract with Goan side Churchill Brothers SC. So for the first time in a decade Vijayan and Ancheri will not be playing for the same club.
Further Inter-State Transfers aren't confirmed yet, but it has been heared that Delhi keeper Vinay Singh has also joined Churchill Brothers.
On the foreigners front things look as chaotic as ever, as Indian clubs try to sign known foreigners, rather than bring in new one's ahead of the Federation Cup and National League.
One of the most sought after players is Ghanian striker Yakubu Yusif, a twice NFL top scorer and who finished second highest goalscorer last season. While Churchill Brothers hope he will return to them, also having their sights on Yakubu are Dempo SC, Mohun Bagan AC and Fransa FC
Meanwhile Brazilian Cristiano S De Lima Junior, NFL top scorer last season, decided not to return to champions East Bengal, but sign for Goans Dempo SC. East Bengal meanwhile are trying to replace Cristiano by signing Nigerian striker Earnest Jemeriah from EverReady SA, but the Calcutta rival claims to have a contract until end of February 2005 with the Nigerian sharpshooter, so he might not be an option.
Mohun Bagan are trying to finally get Yakubu to sign for them, but his demands seem to be too high for them, so they are taking Nigerian striker James Ugwo on loan from Khidderpore Sporting Union for the Durand Cup, to try him out. Also Bagan are said to soon release Chandigarh lad Sanjeev Kumar Maria plus showcause notices have been send to Dulal Biswas and Gouramangi Singh for indiscipline.
Mohammedan Sporting are said to have signed Nigerian Felix Chimaokwu from Calcutta FC, if permanently or on loan isn't known.

Note-3: East Bengal footballers Dipankar Roy and Sasthi Duley could be in deep, deep trouble and give Indian football's image another bashing.
A PTI report: East Bengal footballers Sasthi Duley and Dipankar Roy were brought to the city from Delhi by the club on the request of the police in connection with the arrest of a most wanted criminal from Duley's family home in Hooghly district.
The players were whisked away into a car by East Bengal officials at the NSC Bose International Airport here and taken to an unknown destination soon after their arrival at about 10.35 AM.
Club sources said the two footballers were likely to be interrogated by the police.
Roy had reportedly persuaded Duley to give shelter to 'hathkata' (armless) Dilip, wanted in 15 murder as well as several abduction cases and absconding for five months.
East Bengal left for Delhi today to participate in the Durand Cup. Duley and Roy were initially not included in the team as the club authorities had no idea about their whereabouts. But after the duo called up a club official expressing their keenness to play in the tournament, they were asked to join the team in Delhi, the sources said.
Duley and Roy had gone to the National capital on their own last night, but it was decided to bring them back following a request from the police, the sources said.
Dilip's arrest from soccer international Duley's family home at Haripal on Friday has created a political storm in the state. Opposition parties have demanded resignation of West Bengal Sports Minister and CPM Leader Subhas Chakraborty, alleging he is in cahoots with the miscreant, who was remanded to police custody on Sunday.
Chakraborty has, however, denied the accusations.