::: Dhorasoo suspended by his club PSG :::
"Player of Indian Origin" Vikash Dhorasoo has been suspended by his club Paris Saint-Germain after he publically challenged coach Guy Lacombe. In an interview published by French newspaper L'Equipe last week, Dhorasoo disputed Lacombe's tactics after he was dropped from the professional squad and was send back to play for PSG's amateur team. Dhorasoo, who has not played in PSG's last four outings, said he felt humiliated and called the coach "a liar". If Dhorasoo has a future at PSG has to be seen.
Dhorasoo has been facing hectic times after the World Cup. He first retired from the French national team and then wanted to release a copy of footage he shot of the French national team at the World Cup in Germany this summer against the will of coach Raymong Domenech and some of his former teammates.

::: Spanish football coach on hunger strike in Pushkar :::
UNI report: A football lover and coach from Spain has begun an indefinite hunger strike in the holy city of Pushkar to get a playground registered in the name of his trust. His friend, also a foreigner, is supporting his cause by joining him in the dharna.
John Manuel Rojas, a native of Spain and his friend Anthony have been teaching football to young boys from Pushkar and the surrounding villagers for the last four years. They are supposed to have trained around 200 youths and formed formidable football teams.
Rojas has recently formed a trust Wege Pojo Rojas Padila Trust and has also signed a Rs 40 lakh contract for four bigha land, which he hoped to convert into a football playground.
When he approached the sub-tehsil office in Pushkar for registration of the said land yesterday, he was told that no land can be registered in the name of a trust run by a foreigner, or any foreign organisation. A disheartened Rojas has vowed to get the land registered in the name of his trust and has gone on indefinite hunger strike since yesterday outside the sub-tehsil office.
The district administration has informed the Embassy of Spain and the state government about the issue.

::: Goan tournament in Dubai :::
An all-Goan football tournament, the third All Goa Inter-village Invitation Soccer Tournament, will be held at the Iranian Soccer Stadium in Dubai. The 12 team tournament, organised by United Goans and All Star Entertainment, kicked-off yesterday.
Group A: Vaxim Divar, Fr.Agnel Pilar Emirates Flight Catering, Zuari, St.Estevam, Colva Jebel Ali Hotel, St.Anthony's Pernem.
Group B: SFX Old Goa, CAC Cansaulim, Raia, F.C.Siolim, Aldona United, Morjim.

September 26

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster V: Andhra Pradesh 4-0 Himachal Pradesh - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Ayaz Bin Abdul Haq (26',34'), 3-0 Syed Altafuddin Ahmed (38'), 4-0 Mohammad Fareed (87').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster V: Manipur 0-0 Chhattisgarh - Goals: none.
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VII: Orissa 0-0 Jammu&Kashmir - Goals: none.
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VII: Delhi 3-0 Railways - Goals: 1-0,2-0,3-0 Sunil Chetri (57',60',78').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC - East Bengal Club - Goal: 1-0 Ndem A Guy Kiyeck Herve (49').
Mohun Bagan AC defeated arch rivals East Bengal Club for the second time in the Sahara Calcutta Football League 2006 as a superb goal by Ndem Guy Kiyeck Herve in the 49th minute was enough to bring home three points for Mohun Bagan. The final outcome of the match was overshadowed by the controversial sending off of Mohun Bagan striker Baichung Bhutia and East Bengal defender Muttath Suresh in the dying minutes. In the 87th minute, Baichung Bhutia made a good run and had only the goalkeeper to beat but Rajat Ghosh Dastidar came up with a crunching tackle. There was an uproar from the Mohun Bagan bench demanding a penalty but the referee did not blow his whistle. Baichung Bhutia was furious and pushed Gurpreet Singh in retaliation. The referee awarded a free-kick to East Bengal which irked the Bagan players. Baichung Bhutia confronted the referee and was seen to tug at the referee's jersey. This led to his immediate dismissal and hell broke loose inside the Saltlake Stadium as Mohun Bagan officials went berserk and the crowd added to the commotion by throwing bottles onto the ground. Much to the amazement of the people present around the stadium, Baichung made his way to the Bagan bench and sat down completely disregarding the fourth official's instructions to leave the ground. The fourth official was heard to plead, "Sir, please leave the ground." As Mohun Bagan officials rained unprintable abuses on the officials, the matter was further complicated when East Bengal defender Muttath Suresh was shown his second yellow card of the match and was sent off as well in the 3rd minute of added time. The East Bengal players were confident that the red card was actually given to level things out but to be honest, the challenge deserved a booking. Amidst all the ruckus, the referee blew the final whistle and confirmed three important points for Mohun Bagan.
The first half of the match did not live up to the expectations as inaccurate passes and wild shots were the only items on display. Marcio looked slow and far from 100% fit. Baichung showed some flashes of brilliance in front of goal but the overall progress of the match inspired somnolence rather than excitement! The second half, in contrast, got off to an electrifying start as Mohun Bagan took the lead through an Ndem goal. Lal Kamal Bhowmick threaded in a pass past Gurpreet and Ndem latched onto the ball at the edge of the penalty box. He followed up with a powerful shot to the far corner of the net that left Rajat Ghosh Dastidar absolutely helpless. Mohun Bagan missed an opportunity to move further ahead when a shot from Dulal Biswas from the right flank rattled the East Bengal crossbar. Dipankar Roy came on for the hapless Marcio in the 70th minute and should have grabbed the equaliser in the 73rd minute but his shot from point blank range hit Sangram Mukherjee's legs. Lal Kamal Bhowmick showed his lack of experience as he decided to do a solo act inside the East Bengal penalty box which denied an unmarked Dipendu Biswas a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
However, all in all, it was an impressive performance from Mohun Bagan and they certainly deserved the victory. Whether they can still challenge East Bengal for the title remains to be seen. East Bengal are only 1 point ahead with a game in hand. Of course, East Bengal still have an important match to play against mutual city rivals Mohammedan Sporting.
MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 28-Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda, 20-Sanjeev Kumar Maria, 26-Mehraj Din Wadoo (81' 2-Bijay Basfore), 17-Dulal Biswas (86' 16-Goutam Debnath), 4-Deepak Kumar Mondal, 29-Chinmoy Sarkar, 22-Lal Kamal Bhowmick, 32-Ndem A Guy Kiyeck Harvey, 15-Baichung Bhutia, 30-Ayan Chowdhury (64' 8-Dipendu Biswas).
EAST BENGAL: 24-Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, 20-Vincent Brice Pires, 12-Anupam Sarkar (46' 27-Gurpreet Singh), 2-Muttath Suresh, 29-Soumik Dey, 3-Luiz Octavio De Souza, 14-Chandan Das, 30-Snehashish Chakrabarty, 5-Debabrata Roy (57' 23-Vimal Pariyar), 10-Mario Fernandes Tomaz (70' 6-Dipankar Roy), 19-Syed Rahim Nabi.
YELLOW-RED CARD: Muttath Suresh (90+3', East Bengal).
RED CARD: Baichung Bhutia (88', Mohun Bagan).
Chirag Man-of-the-Match: Sanjeev Kumar Maria (Mohun Bagan).
REFEREE: Debashish Mishra.
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Subrata Das, Pradip Mukherjee.
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Biswajit Guha.

POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE:
Carlos Alberto Pereira, East Bengal Club:

Biswajit Bhattacharjee, Mohun Bagan:

Man of the Match Sanjeev Kumar Maria, Mohun Bagan:

Match winner Ndem A Guy Kiyeck Herve, Mohun Bagan:

Baichung Bhutia, Mohun Bagan:

::: Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal Match Preview :::
It is the biggest football match in Calcutta, unsurpassed in the amount of passion and honour related to its outcome. Mohun Bagan take on league leaders East Bengal in the second leg of the Sahara Calcutta Football League 2006 at the Saltlake Stadium this afternoon. With the weather back at its sunny best and the festive season just around the corner, the outcome of this match is as important for the fans as it is for the teams concerned. After all, who wouldn't like to enjoy the bragging rights during the Durga Pujas?
East Bengal are the runaway leaders with 22 points from 9 matches. Mohun Bagan are currently third with 18 points from 10 matches. So, if East Bengal can manage a win today, the title should be in their bag barring major hiccups. For Mohun Bagan, a victory is absolutely essential to have any chance of challenging their arch rivals for the title. In the first leg of the tournament, Mohun Bagan emerged victorious thanks to a first half goal by their inspirational striker, Baichung Bhutia, in a match that was otherwise dominated by East Bengal. East Bengal coach Carlos Pereira would like to set the records straight as it is certain that even winning the league title will not minimise the sorrow of losing to Mohun Bagan twice in the league. Mohun Bagan coach Biswajit Bhattacharjee will have to face selection problems as some of his key players are not available due to injuries and the exertions of the Santosh Trophy. He will also miss the impressive Dharamjit Singh who was sent off in the match against Mohammedan Sporting last Wednesday. With an interesting match in prospect, the stands are bound to be packed to the limit as the Bengali holiday season is already under way.

Goan Professional League: Dempo SC 7-0 Velsao Pale SC - Goals: 1-0 Clifford Miranda (14'), 2-0,6-0 Anthony Pereira (18',48'), 3-0 Marcus Peixoto (4?'), 4-0 Peter Carvalho (4?'), 5-0 Climax Lawrence (45'), 7-0 Lester Mark Fernandez (87').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Lester Mark Fernandez (Dempo).

Goan Professional League: Salgaocar SC 1-1 Corps of Signals - Goals: 0-1 Moiramthem Budhi Singh (79'), 1-1 Patrick Okonji Onyelo (90+').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Avijit Biswas (Corps of Signals).

Goan Professional League: Vasco SC 2-1 Raia Sporting Club - Goals: 0-1 Agnelo Colaco (8'), 1-1 Henry Mna Ezeh, 2-1 Alvito Rodrigues.
Mumbai Super Division: Mumbai Port Trust 6-0 Income Tax

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - NorthEast Zone qualifiers: Manipur 0-4 Assam

::: Football field a victim of PM's visit :::
PTI report: Various sports organisations have voiced their serious concern over the damage caused to the lush green football grounds in Ludhiana for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit scheduled on tomorrow.
The local administration has dug out the lush green turf on the football ground to erect canopies and put up a stage for the PM's function.
As if to add insult to injury to the youngsters and others who practice at the grounds, they have been debarred from entering the stadium due to the ongoing preparations for PM visit.
"We are glad about the PM visiting our town but it would have been great if the organisers had cared to keep this event somewhere else. It disturbs the practice sessions," General Secretary of Judo Association of Ludhiana OS Negi said.
However, the sole solace as viewed by a couple of sportspersons is the construction of public conveniences at the stadium.
"I think it is an opportunity to renovate the public utilities in the stadium. It will provide public conveniences, water facilities and good seats to sports person, which have been ignored and pending for the last four years," a veteran sportsperson, Ashok Gupta, said.
According to the sports fraternity for public meetings and similar functions involving VIPs in the state, they are numerous other places with ample space and playgrounds are not the only venues.
What has irritated the local soccer players is that the destruction of football turf is a matter of shame since it is the single football field of international standards in the entire Punjab state.
"The government must look at the sports person of the smallest countries, who bring Olympic medals and facilities provided to them. India stands nowhere in the sports arena. The sports persons are sentimentally attached to the football ground. The destruction will surely hurt them. There are other places to organise such events. I think sports person should protest and pressurise the government to recover the loss immediately," President, District Football Association of Ludhiana, Shivtar Bajwa said.
It is said that it would take at least six months to restore the football ground to its original form.

::: 50 teams vying in 7th NSF Martyr's Memorial Trophy :::
by Xavier Rutsa: 50 teams from Kohima, Phek, Dimapur, Peren, Mokokchung, Wokha, Zunheboto and Manipur will be vying in the 7th edition of the NSF Martyr's Memorial Trophy would take place at Kohima local ground from September 27 to October 28. The Championship is being organised by the Angami Students' Union
The winner will get cash Rs.70,000 , running trophy and certificates; runner-up will get Rs.35,000 running trophy and certificates; losing semifinalists and losing quarterfinalist Rs.8,000 and Rs.4,000 respectively. The individual prizes of the tournament are: Player of the tournament - golden ball, cash award and certificate; Highest scorer - golden boot, cash award and certificate; Best goalkeeper; Best defender; Best midfielder and Best striker - a trophy, cash and a certificate each.
Mr. Kuzholuzo Nienu, Minister for Agriculture, Printing and Stationary; and Lahuma, IAS chief secretary, will be the chief guest and guest of honour respectively in the inaugural function on September 27 at 12 noon at the local ground, Kohima.
The inaugural match to be played between Puliebadze Club and Elev Club, Kohima, the organizing committee will offer free entry to all. Further all schools within Kohima town are requested to send their students to the inaugural function positively.
Other Participating teams includes - Pusolieba YS ,Tuophema SU, Alder College , Kohima, Spartan Club, Merama SC, Rainbow SC, Botsa SU, Anchor Club, New Reserve YO, United Bros, Chumukedima SU, Cahoot Forte Club, St Joseph College, Tribal Spirit, Baptist College, Naga Hospital Colony, New Market XI, Yippee SC, Tsiemekhu Basa SA, United Haka Chedema, Chakhesang SU, D'Block XI, Kandinu SU, Victor Club, Khriekesa Club, Pavoma SU, Ehunu &Yikhanu SU, Kensubo Chabon Club, Junior Naga Boys, Paopong Club, Mission Hostel, Ziekezou SC, 90's Footprint, Kohima, Sendenyu Union Team, Puomai SU, Adroit Kohima , Tseminyu United XI, Exotic Boys FC, Maram, Fatio SC, LSU Wokha, Thoudel YC - Manipur, Dorians Dimapur, 21st Millennium SC, Lerie FC ,AKM, Naga Boys Club, Rangers SC.
Meanwhile the Organizing Committee said that the tournament will be graced with the lightning of a torch on September 27 in a bid to promote and popularize the event vis-à-vis, introducing a significant impact of the tournament with a special addition.
The torch will be lit-up at the NSF Martyr's Park by the resident of Angami Public Organization and subsequently relayed on to Local Ground, Kohima by the torch-bearers. It also informed that the following sports personalities will carry the torch through handing over the torch at different junctions as per this scheduled: Kenei Nakhro - Martyrs' Park to SKV; Roko Angami - SKV to War Cemetery; Vibeizotuo Solo - War Cemetery to MLA junction; Azo Sophie - MLA junction to Southern Gate (Local Ground); and Khriesaneilie - Southern Gate to Torch Stand. Finally, the lightning of the torch will be done by the Convenor of the Organizing Committee, Z Neikuo Lhousa. Meanwhile the organizing committee urged to all the public to bear with the inconveniences to be created during the relay of the torch, as vehicular movements will be halted for a while during the relay.

September 25

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VI Gujarat 0-0 Nagaland - Goals: none.
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VIII: Tamil Nadu 1-0 Uttaranchal - Goal: 1-0 Raman Vijayan (56').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VIII: Jharkhand 5-1 Tripura - Goals: 1-0 CM Soren (5'), 2-0,5-1 Lal Mohan Hansda (18',88'), 3-0 Sakla Mardi (37'), 4-0 Dharmendra Deogam (51'), 4-1 Utpal Chowdhary (60').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 3-0 Eastern Railway SC - Goals: 1-0,3-0 Mike Okoro (3',67'), 2-0 Jamir Ali Mondal (45').
MOHAMMEDAN SPORTING: Gopal Das (78' Nasibul Haque); Rajib Ahmed, Madhab Das, Anbalath Suliman Firoze, Habibur Rehman Mondal; Amjad Hussain (28' Jamir Ali Mondal), Subrata Guha (66' Subhashish Roy Chowdhury), Noel Anthony Wilson, Surojit Roy, Muttath Sudheesh; Mike Okoro.
EASTERN RAILWAY: Tapan Kumar Karmakar; Babun Kar, Barun Kundu, Santanu Bit (21' Hemant Chetri), Bijoy Das, Niladri Shekar Chakraborty (45' Somnath Das), Pervez Alam, Subhankar Maity, Saikat Mondal, Samrat Roy Choudhuri, Henry Chukwukeri (71' Amit Das).
Chirag Man-of-the-Match: Jamir Ali Mondal (Mohammedan Sporting).
REFEREE: Kalikinkar Banerjee.

Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 2-0 Calcutta FC
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 1-3 Howrah Union
Calcutta Super Division: Police AC 3-1 SAIL
Calcutta Super Division: Peerless SC 2-1 Calcutta Customs
Mumbai Super Division: Central Bank of India 1-1 Sea View SC

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers - Final: Punjab 1-1,2-4 Chandigarh [penalties]
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - NorthEast Zone qualifiers: Nagaland 1-2 Arunachal Pradesh

::: Bollywood comes to Chelsea FC :::
Chelsea Football Club are to play a leading part in one of the biggest Bollywood films of next year.
The double Premiership champions have teamed up with Yash Raj Films, the top production house of the Indian film industry. The film, Jhoom, stars two of Bollywood's biggest names, Abhishek Bachchan and Preity Zinta (both pictured).
Bachchan, a Chelsea FC fan in real life, plays a character called Rikki who supports the club. The film is partially shot in London. His father Amitabh Bachchan, arguably Bollywood's biggest ever star, also has a cameo role. Priety Zinta, Bollywood's leading lady and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and former Miss Universe Lara Dutta all visited Stamford Bridge recently to attend matches against Charlton and Liverpool.
Abhishek said: "The character I play in the film is a very loyal Chelsea fan. I have now had the chance to see Chelsea live after following them over the last few years and the club have given me a jersey with my character's name Rikki on it, so that was fun."
"A friend of mine introduced me to Chelsea, I enjoy their football and the way they play. The Premier League is very popular in India and Chelsea has a huge support over there and it is growing all the time."
Chelsea was approached by Yash Raj earlier this year with the story line for Jhoom which will be released next May. This could coincide with a possible Premiership "triple" if Chelsea successfully defends the title this season.
Chelsea's Business Affairs Director Paul Smith said: "Naturally we are delighted to be involved in a Bollywood movie and we take it as a big compliment to be approached with this story line and to be associated with this calibre of actors and actresses."
"Bollywood is not just one of the most successful movie genres in the world, it is also one of the most successful art forms as it has a unique character and popularity."
"From a Chelsea perspective, we have been looking at ways to reach out to the Brit-Asian community and play a leading role by involving them more in football."

::: 29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy: Zonal Qualifiers found :::
The winners of the three of the five zones where found over the last 10 days in the West, South and East Zone qualifiers of the U16 Nationals for the 29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy. The West Zone qualifiers where held in Betul, Madhya Pradesh and the hosts upset the more fancied Maharashtra and Goa. In the South Zone qualifiers in Nagarcoil in Tamil Nadu, the hosts just made it with a thrilling 4-3 win against Karnataka. Had Karnataka been able to score the equaliser then they would have moved on. In the East Zone qualifiers held in Gangtok, Sikkim the boys from Jharkhand where unchallenged with four wins from four matches.
In today's final of the North Zone qualifiers Chandigarh defeated Punjab in a penalty shootout to make it to the finals. The only zonal qualifier left is the NorthEast Zone, where the winner will be decided by September 30.
The eight team final round will be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from October 16.

September 24

RESULTS & NEWS

On the occasion of the Germany premiere of the "Bollywood - The Show" musical we would like to officially announce the partnership between IndianFootball.Com and "Bollywood - The Show". The poster of "Bollywood - The Show" has been online at IndianFootball.Com for some time. Now you can also win tickets for the Musical!
As part of the partnership IndianFootball.Com is offering its visitor based in Germany the chance to win "Bollywood - The Show" tickets on their Germany Tour. Further information on the Muscial plus the contest to win tickets can be found in the IndianFootball.Com "Bollywood - The Show" special. As the Special is for our Germany-based site visitors it is in German language.
Detailed information and pictures are available at >>IndianFootball.Com's BOLLYWOOD - The Show special

Our IndianFootball.Com Team has not been covering matches in the Mumbai Football League and the Calcutta Premier League to get you detailed stats, match reports and further infos. Also pictures where taken as some matches. We have put some pictures online, more especially from Mumbai are to go online in the coming days.
Go here for Mumbai Football League pictures
Go here for Calcutta Premier League pictures

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster V: Manipur 0-0 Andhra Pradesh - Goals: none.
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster V: Chhattisgarh 7-0 Himachal Pradesh - Goals: 1-0 Abid Khan (24'), 2-0,7-0 Kulwant Singh (35',88'), 3-0 Subir Maji (40'), 4-0 Tajuddin (42'), 5-0,6-0 Ramchandra Murmu (53',61').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VII: Delhi 4-2 Orissa - Goals: 1-0,2-1,4-2 Sunil Chetri (18',52',76'), 1-1 Antu Murmu (44'), 2-2 Manesh Mohanty (65'), 3-2 Praveen Rawat (69').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VII: Jammu&Kashmir 0-0 Railways - Goals: none.
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

58th Independence Day Cup - Final: Assam Police Blues 1-4 Border Security Force - Goals: 0-1 Gurjit Singh Atwal (18'), 0-2 PH Boy Singh (26'), 0-3,0-4 Gurjeet Singh (70',71'), 1-4 Madhusudan Hazarika (86').
Jalandhar's Border Security Force won the 58th Independence Day Cup in Nagaon, their sixth overall title in the tournament in Assam!

Mumbai Super Division: Rizvi Mumbai Muslims 2-0 Central Railway (Mumbai Division)

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Madhya Pradesh 1-0 Goa
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Tamil Nadu 4-3 Karnataka
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Sikkim 7-0 Chhatisgarh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - NorthEast Zone qualifiers: Meghalaya 1-3 Assam

::: India may be spared full Japanese artillery for Asian Cup :::
PTI report: Still smarting under the 1-7 humiliation inflicted by Saudi Arabia in their last match, the Indian football team could find some relief if the Japan FA sticks to its stand of not including any Europe-based players for the remaining matches this year. However, what difference it would make to the eventual result of their match at Bangalore on October 11, is a moot point.
Japan, who are the defending champions, have already qualified for next year's Asian Cup finals and JFA President Saburo Kawabuchi has said national team coach Ivica Osim was unlikely to include any Europe-based players in his squad this year.
"I think Europe-based players believe that if they play regularly in their team overseas they will be called up for the national team," said Kawabuchi.
He, however, said that JFA technical director Takeshi Ono would travel to Europe and see the Japanese players in action for himself and all call-up decisions would be based on his assessment.
Nine Japanese stars ply their trade with European sides. They are Mitsuo Ogasawara (Messina), Masashi Oguro (Torino), Takayuki Morimoto (Catania), Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Koji Nakata (Basel), Naohiro Takahara (Frankfurt), Daisuke Matsui (Le Mans), Junichi Inamoto (Galatasaray) and Takayuki Suzuki (Red Star Belgrade).

September 23

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VI Karnataka 0-0 Gujarat - Goals: none.
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VII: Orissa 0-1 Railways - Goal: 0-1 PV Vinoy (13').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VIII: Tamil Nadu 4-0 Tripura - Goals: 1-0 J Auxiano (22'), 2-0,4-0 Raman Vijayan (47',67'), 3-0 Kalia Kulothungan (63').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VIII: Jharkhand 1-1 Uttaranchal - Goals: 1-0 Budh Ram Soren (23'), 1-1 Rakesh Shah (61').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club 2-0 United SC - Goals: 1-0 Syed Rahim Nabi (54'), 2-0 Wajid Ali (68', own Goal).
EAST BENGAL: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Vincent Brice Pires, Covan Lawrence, Muttath Suresh, Soumik Dey; Syed Rahim Nabi, Luiz Octavio Alvez de Souza, Chandan Das (68' Debabrata Roy), Snehashish Chakraborty; Freddy Mascarenhas (65' Mohammed Mukhtar), Ashim Biswas (32' Dipankar Roy).
UNITED SC: Shibram Dey; Muzaffar Rehman, Sheikh Azim (32' Sajal Saha), Wajid Ali, Narugopal Hait; Ratan Das, Sankha Roy Chowdhury, Abhishek Aich, Crispen Chetri, Francis (61' Ashim Das), Georji Ventseslavov Bizev.
Chirag Man-of-the-Match: not handed out.
REFEREE: Minangshu Bhattacharya.

Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC 0-0 George Telegraph SC - Goals: none.
MOHUN BAGAN: Sangram Mukherjee; Dulal Biswas, 28-Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda, Bijay Basfore (46' Lorendra Singh), Manas Das, Gautam Debnath; Basudeb Mondal (55' Lal Kamal Bhowmick), Suman Datta, Surajit Bose (46' Baichung Bhutia); Dipendu Biswas, Ayan Chowdhury.
GEORGE TELEGRAPH: Swarup Das; Sanjay Mallick, Gour Naskar, Shyam Mondal, Dipak Singh, Manik Burman (72' Sheikh Sanjib), Amit Biswas, Achintya Saha, Ashim Das, Gautam Thakur (88' Binod Mal), Bolwe Mputu.
Chirag Man-of-the-Match: Shyam Mondal (George Telegraph).
REFEREE: Kashinath Sen.

Goan Professional League: Salgaocar SC 3-1 Dempo SC - Goals: 1-0 Jerose Oliveira (11'), 2-0 Rocus Lamare (45+'), 2-1 Peter Carvalho (54'), 3-1 Premjit Singh (74').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Bento Vaz (Salgaocar).

Goan Professional League: Raia Sporting Club 1-3 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 0-1,1-2,1-3 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (24',68',81'), 1-1 Roque Barreto (52').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Odafe Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Brothers).

Goan Professional League: Corps of Signals 0-0 Velsao Pale SC - Goals: none.
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Lalit Thapa (Corps of Signals).

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers - Semifinal: Uttar Pradesh 0-1 Chandigarh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Gujarat 4-1 Rajasthan
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Kerala 4-0 Pondicherry
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Orissa 3-2 Bihar
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - NorthEast Zone qualifiers: Nagaland 3-1 Tripura

September 22

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster V: Manipur 3-0 Himachal Pradesh - Goals: 1-0 T Narender Meetei (14'), 2-0 Bungo Singh (31'), 3-0 Bijen Singh (90+1').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster V: Chhattisgarh 1-1 Andhra Pradesh - Goals: 1-0 Deepangshu Mazumder (18'), 1-1 Mohammed Quizar (43').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VII: Delhi 1-3 Jammu&Kashmir - Goals: 0-1,1-2,1-3 Ishfaq Ahmed (9',44',90'), 1-1 Trilok Singh Bisht (41').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster VII: Orissa - Railways = match abandoned due to heavy rain and wet ground conditions; to be replayed tomorrow
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club - United SC = match abandoned due to heavy rain and wet ground conditions
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police - Calcutta FC = match abandoned due to heavy rain
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami - Howrah Union = match abandoned due to heavy rain
Calcutta Super Division: Police AC - SAIL = match abandoned due to heavy rain
Calcutta Super Division: Peerless SC - Calcutta Customs = match abandoned due to heavy rain
58th Independence Day Cup - Semifinal: Assam Police Blues 1-0 Royal SC, Guwahati - Goal: 1-0 Anuj Gogoi (74').
58th Independence Day Cup - Semifinal: Border Security Force 7-0 Langsning SC, Shillong - Goals: 1-0 Santosh Kujur (16'), 2-0 SP Singh (35'), 3-0,4-0,7-0 Gurjit Singh Atwal (48',54',88'), 5-0 Banti Singh (67'), 6-0 PH Boy Singh (80').
Mumbai Elite Division - Preliminary Group A: Air-India - Maharashtra State Police = match postponed

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers - Semifinal: Uttaranchal 2-2,2-4 Punjab [penalties]
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Maharashtra 3-0 Goa
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Andhra Pradesh 1-5 Karnataka
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Jharkhand 18-0 Chhatisgarh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - NorthEast Zone qualifiers: Manipur 2-1 Meghalaya

September 21

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal Playoffs: Haryana 1-0 Meghalaya - Goal: 1-0 Pradeep Kumar (88').
61st Santosh Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal Playoffs: West Bengal 0-0,1-0 Services [extra time] - Goal: 1-0 Vimal Pariyar (120').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Mumbai Elite Division - Preliminary Group B: Mahindra United 1-0 Akbar Travels - Goal: 1-0 Mohammed Rafi (50').
MAHINDRA UNITED: Subhashish Roy Chowdhury; C Appa Rao, Othalo Tabia, NP Pradeep, Rauf Khan (73' Ujjal Ghosh), Samson Fernandes, Bhola Prasad, Sushanth Mathew, Steven Dias, Krishnan Nair Ajayan (90' K Karunakaran), Mohammed Rafi.
AKBAR TRAVELS: Nisarulla Khan; Vijesh P Vijayan, Liliyan Kenneth, Anoop Kumar (46' Mujeeb Rehman), Salim Parrekad, Bijumon Kaiparath, Jobish Thuvashari (72' Abdul Ganiy), Sunil Kumar, Sumesh T, Jafar Illikal, Dhanraj Sumesh KR (88' Joseph Pereira).
YELLOW CARDS: Sushanth Mathew (57'), Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (66'), Steven Dias (83'), Krishnan Nair Ajayan (88', all Mahindra United); Jobish Thuvashari (64', Akbar Travels).
REFEREE: Walter Pereira.

58th Independence Day Cup - Quarterfinal League Group B: Border Security Force 4-0 Royal SC, Guwahati - Goals: 1-0 J Ouseph (7'), 2-0 PH Boy Singh (23'), 3-0 Banti Singh (31'), 4-0 TK Srinivasan (72').

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Madhya Pradesh 6-0 Gujarat
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Tamil Nadu 4-2 Kerala
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Sikkim 2-0 Bihar
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - NorthEast Zone qualifiers: Tripura 0-2 Arunachal Pradesh

::: INDIA U20 camp in Shillong not going according to plans :::
INDIA U20 national coach Islam Akhmedov is uphappy with the ways the local authorities in Shillong are handling the camp for his side ahead of the Asian Youth Championships to be hosted by India in October/November 2006.
Akhmedov told UNI, "I am surprised to see the lackadaisical attitude of sports officials."
The INDIA U20 camp has so far not been provided with a suitable football ground, so they are forced to train on an open space at the Golflink in Shillong. While one ground has been found unsuitable as it could cause injury, another ground is being used by the Meghalaya FA.
Akhmedov had decided to hold a high altitude camp ahead of the tournament and preferred Shillong as he had had good experiences with his INDIA U17 boys team in 2002. The AIFF meanwhile had recommended Sikkim as the high altitude training venue.

::: Asian Olympic Football Qualifiers :::
If the INDIA U23 Men's national team can beat Myanmar in the preliminary round qualifiers to be held home-and-away on February 7 and 14, then INDIA would be placed in Group F of the Second Round Group Stage. Seeded into the Group are Iraq, who were impressive at the Athens Olympics and North Korea. The fourth team in the group would be decided between Turkmenistan and Thailand.
The 24-team second round qualifying, which has been split into six groups of four each, runs through February 28 to June 6, 2007, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the Final round which will be played in three groups of four teams each. The Final home-and-away round will be held from August 22 till November 21, 2007, with the three group winners representing Asia at the Beijing Olympic Games. China have automatic qualification as hosts.
SECOND ROUND GROUPING:
Group A: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore or Pakistan; Group B: Japan, Malaysia, Syria, Hong Kong or Bangladesh; Group C: Oman, Lebanon, Vietnam or Afghanistan, Indonesia or Maldives; Group D: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Kyrgyzstan, Australia or Chinese Taipei; Group E: Iraq, DPR Korea, Turkmenistan or Thailand, Myanmar or India; Group F: Korea Republic, UAE, Uzbekistan or Tajikistan, Yemen or Palestine.

::: 28th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup next month :::
The 28th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup will be held in the Himalayan state from October 5 to 12. The Paljor stadium in the capital Gangtok will host the tournament. The Sikkim FA hosted tournament will have Rs 300,000 as prize money for the champions and Rs 200,000 for the runners-up.

September 20

More than 3.000 Votes cast in the IndianFootball.Com AWARDS 2006 - Final Round so far

We are happy to announce that more than 3.000 Votes have been cast so far in the IndianFootball.Com AWARDS 2006 - Final Round!
The IndianFootball.Com AWARDS 2006 - Final Round voting continues to be open for a little more time!
In the IFC Awards 2006 - Final Round the Top 5 in the seven categories are open for your voting, so the best performers are determined by you, our site visitors. So cast your votes in the only fan voting in Indian football!
Everyone of you has only one vote, so please only cast your vote only once as we do not allow anyone to vote more than once, as we can track the voting.
To cast your vote go to >>IndianFootball.Com Awards 2006.

Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-1 Mohun Bagan AC - Goal: 0-1 Baichung Bhutia (8').
Mohun Bagan AC drove the final nail into Mohammedan Sporting Club's coffin as a solitary goal from Baichung Bhutia in the 8th minute all but ended Mohammedan Sporting's title aspirations in the Sahara Calcutta Football League 2006. It was a great result for Mohun Bagan but was marred by the sending off of one of their best players on the field today. Dharamjit Singh raised questions about his temperament once again as he lashed out at Bijen Singh in the 90th minute and left the referee with no option but to send him off. There was a high chance of the match being abandoned after heavy rains lashed the city. A fresh downpour minutes before the scheduled kick-off left the pitch waterlogged and quite unsuitable for a game of football. Both sets of players wanted the match to be abandoned but the referee was determined to get the match underway. After a delay of about 15 minutes, the match finally started.
The match started off at a clumsy pace but the players could not be blamed as the ground conditions hampered any form of football. The players were still struggling to come to terms with the conditions when Mohun Bagan took the lead through a brilliant goal by Baichung Bhutia. Dharamjit made a brilliant run down the left and sent in a cross for Baichung. A thunderous left footer from the prolific striker beat Gopal Das all ends up. The match was a struggle for the players and there was hardly any action worth noting. In the 20th minute, Ndem made a brilliant run down the left and crossed the ball for Dipendu but the Mohammedan custodian pulled off a remarkable save. Mohammedan Sporting seemed to lack an effective gameplan. They were too narrow for most of the match and Mike Okoro had to keep coming back to deeper positions to try and make a scoring opportunity. Ndem had another opportunity in the 86th minute when a thunderous shot from him was saved marvellously by a diving Gopal Das. Mohun Bagan created most of the chances. Eduardo (Du) came close in the 57th minute when his powerful header was cleared off the line by a vigilant Firoze. Ayan Chowdhury squandered a golden opportunity to get his name on the scoresheet in the 78th minute when he failed to score with only the goalkeeper to beat. Mohammedan Sporting had only one clear-cut chance and that came from an ambitious backvolley. So, all in all, it was a match that was certainly not a visual treat but it was three important points for Mohun Bagan anyway. With the return leg against East Bengal to be played probably on September 26, this win will certainly act as a morale booster for Biswajit Bhattacharjee's team.
MOHAMMEDAN SPORTING: 1-Gopal Das; 6-Rajiv Ahmed, 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 3-Madhab Kumar Das, 30-Anbalath Suliman Firoze; 22-Surojit Roy (68' 29-Jamir Ali Mondal), 15-Douglas Silva Dos Santos (60' 9-Raman Vijayan), 33-Muttath Sudheesh, 19-Kalia Kulothungan (46' 8-Noel Anthony Wilson); 7-Bijen Singh, 10-Mike Okoro
MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 6-Manas Das, 28-Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda, 4-Deepak Kumar Mondal, 20-Sanjeev Kumar Maria; 22-Lal Kamal Bhowmick, 32-Ndem A Guy Kiyeck Harvey, 29-Chinmoy Sarkar (75' 17-Dulal Biswas), 18-Dharamjit Singh; 15-Baichung Bhutia, 8-Dipendu Biswas (73' 30-Ayan Chowdhury).
YELLOW CARDS: Madhab Kumar Das (24'), Douglas Silva Dos Santos (41', both Mohammedan Sporting); Nden A Guy Kiyeck Harvey (25'), Sanjeev Kumar Maria (63', Mohun Bagan AC).
RED CARD: Dharamjit Singh (90', Mohun Bagan).
Chirag Man-of-the-Match: Lal Kamal Bhowmick (Mohun Bagan).
REFEREE: Udayan Halder.
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Kalikinkar Banerjee, Barun Saha.
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Sambhu Nath Shaw.

click here for match pictures

POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE:
Subhas Bhowmick, Mohammedan Sporting:

Biswajit Bhattacharjee, Mohun Bagan:

::: Mohammedan Sporting vs Mohun Bagan Match Preview :::
Mohammedan Sporting will face Mohun Bagan today in the return-leg of the Sahara Calcutta Football League 2006. Mohammedan Sporting had beaten Mohun Bagan 2-1 last month in the first leg of the tournament. However, the circumstances have undergone a sea change since then. A week has not passed since Mohammedan Sporting suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of city rivals East Bengal. Today, they'll face an opposition which will be trying hard for full three points to keep their own title hopes alive. However, Subhas Bhowmick's Mohammedan Sporting must win today against Mohun Bagan to have a realistic chance of catching up with runaway leaders East Bengal who are three points ahead with a game in hand.
Mohammedan Sporting's recent form hasn't been anything to write home about. They followed-up the lacklustre display against East Bengal with an appalling 1-1 draw against Calcutta Port Trust. Mohun Bagan had beaten the same opposition 2-1 ten days back. After a dismal start to their season, Mohun Bagan have won their last three games, including the much-coveted victory over arch rivals East Bengal. The morale of Biswajit Bhattacharya's men is at an all-time high and Mohammedan Sporting players will find it far from easy to outplay them. More often than not, these crucial matches are decided by matters of the mind rather than matters on the field. It will be evident today how good the coaches are in motivating their respective teams. Of course, for a match of this magnitude, a professional player should hardly require any extra motivation. It should be a thrilling encounter as a win is essential for both teams while a loss could be catastrophic. What drama will unfold at the Saltlake Stadium, only time will tell.

Mumbai Elite Division - Preliminary Group B: Union Bank of India 0-0 Mumbai Customs - Goals: none.
UBI: Kunal Sawant; Rohit Kajania, Vijay Thapa, Asif Ansari, Shahabaz Patel, Dujon Koli, Avinash Puthran, Dhananjay Yesare, Nilesh Rao, Chetan Waghela (58' Sushil Kawde), Ryan D'Souza (89' Sunil Coelho).
MUMBAI CUSTOMS: Sukhdev Ghosh; Hekmat Singh, Nelson Cardoz (87' Ajit Shinde), Jitin Sahi, Chandramurthy Bharti, Omkar Sawant, Nigel D'Souza, Jose Colaco, Ashish Bhoir, Nitin Shetty, Jinto Jose.
YELLOW CARDS: Avinash Puthran (65', UBI); Ashish Bhoir (58', Mumbai Customs).
REFEREE: Nagesh Shetty

Goan Professional League: Churchill Brothers SC 1-0 Dempo SC - Goal: 1-0 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (45+).
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Khemtang Paite (Churchill Brothers).

Goan Professional League: Raia Sporting Club 1-0 Salgaocar SC - Goal: 1-0 Santan D'Cruz (65').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Peter Pereira (Raia Sporting).

Goan Professional League: Corps of Signals 0-1 Vasco SC - Goal: 0-1 Alvito Rodrigues (38').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Alvito Rodrigues (Vasco).

58th Independence Day Cup - Quarterfinal League Group A: Assam Police Blues 3-1 Langsning SC, Shillong - Goals: 1-0 Ratul Barua (33'), 1-1 Barister Rimbai (34'), 2-1 Kunjoy Goyari (64'), 3-1 Subir Goswami (90+').

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Haryana 10-1 Himachal Pradesh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Uttaranchal 1-1 Chandigarh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Maharashtra 6-0 Rajasthan
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Andhra Pradesh 10-0 Pondicherry
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Jharkhand 7-1 Orissa

September 19

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster II: Uttar Pradesh 1-5 Meghalaya - Goals: 0-1,0-3 Newan-o-Gathpoh (13',29'), 0-2 Marlanki Suting (22'), 0-4 Romeo Sukhlein (61'), 1-4 Amit Singh (76'), 1-5 Roland Pyngrope (80').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster II: Mizoram 5-0 Andaman&Nicobar Islands - Goals: 1-0,4-0 Sochungmi Releng (12',58'), 2-0 Jerry Zirsanga (25'), 3-0,5-0 Shylo Malswam Tulunga (29',63').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster IV: Chandigarh 4-1 Sikkim - Goals: 1-0 Sameer Singh (16'), 1-1 Tenzing Chepel (23'), 2-1 Bhupender Gosain (55'), 3-1 Harminder Singh (71'), 4-1 Karthik Bhardwaj (78').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster IV: Assam 1-1 Services - Goals: 1-0 Sanjiva Rongpi (62'), 1-1 CT Sajith (90+3').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club - Railway FC - Goal: 1-0 Ashim Biswas (58').
EAST BENGAL: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Vincent Brice Pires, Gurpreet Singh, Muttath Suresh, Soumik Dey; Syed Rahim Nabi, Luiz Octavio Alvez de Souza, Chandan Das (79' Bibiano Fernandez), Snehashish Chakraborty (46' Dipankar Roy), Freddy Mascarenhas (46' Mohammed Mukhtar), Ashim Biswas.
RAILWAY FC: Somnath Khara; Tapan Das, Sundar Mandi, Abhijit Dutta, Dipayan Majumdar (71' Hiranmoy Mistry), Bablu Banik (17' Dulal Patra), Sandip Karmakar, Tarak Nath, Biplab Naskar, Swarnava Barua, Sanjib Mishra.
Chirag Man-of-the-Match: Syed Rahim Nabi (East Bengal).
REFEREE: Subrata Das.

Mumbai Elite Division - Preliminary Group B: Akbar Travels 1-3 Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers - Goals: 1-0 Jobish Thuvashary (10'), 1-1,1-2 Lawrence Dias (13',53'), 1-3 Allan Dias (58').
AKBAR TRAVELS: Abdul Salim (45+3' Sumesh Tachapilly); Vijesh P Vijayan, Liliyan Kenneth, Anoop Kumar, Salim Parrekad, Bijumon Kaiparath, Jobish Thuvashari (73' Nizam Meledath), Sunil Kumar, Binoop M Kumar, Jafar Illikal, Dhanraj Sumesh KR (67' Abdul Ganijj).
RCF: Suhas Patil; Ashirwad Hedge, Baleshwar Sharma, Bhagwan Padhi (52' Sayed Rizvi), Monish Bhamre, Manoj Adhikari, Souvaid Ansari, Allan Dias (76' Douglas D'Sena), Sardar Ram Dulal (46' Prosenjit Barua), Shayresh Bawkar, Lawrence Dias.
YELLOW CARDS: Sardar Ram Dulal (45+6'), Manoj Adhikari (80', both RCF).
REFEREE: Austin Coutinho.

Goan Professional League: Velsao Pale SC 1-5 Sporting Club de Goa - Goals: 0-1,1-2,1-3,1-5 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (21',51',59',86'), 1-1 Domingos Fernandes (31'), 1-4 Joe Rodrigues (71').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (Sporting Clube).

Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 0-0 Howrah Union
Calcutta Super Division: Calcutta FC 1-1 Police AC
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 1-0 Peerless SC
Calcutta Super Division: Calcutta Customs 2-0 SAIL
58th Independence Day Cup - Quarterfinal League Group B: Royal SC, Guwahati 1-0 CRPF, Jalandhar - Goal: 1-0 Zenith Sharma (18').

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Delhi 1-1 Uttar Pradesh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Punjab 6-2 Jammu&Kashmir
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Goa 8-1 Gujarat
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Karnataka 13-0 Kerala
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Chhatisgarh 1-6 Bihar

::: Delhi name Santosh Trophy squad :::
The Delhi Soccer Association has named it's state senior team for the 61st Santosh Trophy. India international striker Sunil Chetri has been named captain of the Delhi state team.
DELHI: Goalkeepers: Ujjwal Baruah, Vikrant Sharma. Defenders: Pushpender Kundu, Sanjay Kumar, Prashant Jaggi, Bijendra Kumar, Manish Kumar, Manoj Joshi. Midfielders: Trilok Singh Bisht, Sumit Thapa, Mohammed Irfan Zuma Khan (vice-Captain), Arjun Pandit, Praveen Rawat. Forwards: Naresh Mann, Sunil Chetri (Captain), Sanjeev Sharma, Thoiba Singh, Ashish Ghildyial, Shervesh Supar, Anil Bara. Stand-by: Sujit Roy, Paritosh Sharma, Ishan Rawlley Singh, Amit Sharma, Adnan Rahimtullah, Shekhar Khanna, Bulbul.
Chief coach: Anadi Barua; Assistant Coach: Krishan Avtar.

::: Andhra Pradesh name Santosh Trophy squad :::
The Andhra Pradesh Football Association has named it's state senior team for the 61st Santosh Trophy. Striker Mohammed Quizar has been named captain of the Andhra Pradesh state team.
ANDHRA PRADESH: Mohammed Quizar (Captain), Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Asif, Murali, Mohammed Aslam, Johnson Xavier, Aiyaza, Farooq, Roch Xavier, Altaf, Sailesh, Alfred Xavier, Akbar Ali, Ashok, Mishra, Shabuddin Quadri, T John Edison. Stand-by: Tirupati, Shamson.
Chief coach: V Ratnababu; Manager: S Sobhanraj.

::: Naga players to represent NorthEast in national SAI meet :::
by Xavier Rutsa: In a rare honour to the State, Naga players will represent the Northeast for the first time in the All-India SAI Inter-Regional Football Tournament slated for September 25-27 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
18 Naga boys from various parts of the State have been selected to play for Sports Authority of India, Dimapur in the Gandhinagar football meet. They will represent the Northeast Regional Centre, SAI; covering the states of Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. No players from Mizoram and Manipur are in the SAI team chosen for the national event. SAI Sub-centre, Guwahati is the only other team from the Northeast to compete in the SAI tournament. The 18 member SAI contingent, led by Bipul Kumar Ganguly as coach and O Chaoba Singh as team manager, will leave for Gandhinagar, Gujarat on Sunday night.
"We are confident of doing well. The boys are in good form. Our aim is to reach the finals," SAI coach Bipul Kumar Ganguly told Nagaland Post.
He said, "It's a matter for prestige not only for SAI, Dimapur and Northeast but also for Nagaland because Naga players are going to represent the region in the national championship for the first time. This is a golden opportunity for the Naga boys to show that they can also shine at the national level," he said. Mr. Ganguly also said Nagaland could produce talented football players. "I'm sure AIFF will one day choose Naga players to represent the country at the international level," he added. SAI official and team manager O Chaoba Singh said, "It's a good chance for the Nagaland players to showcase their talents at the national level."
Eight teams will participate in the national level SAI football event at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
SAI, Dimapur: Khanengoan Gonmei (Captain), Akhavi Shohe (GK, vice-Captain), Namdaibonang, Rokozhakho, Lipoksashi, Tiasunep, Keviheizo, Kavito Awomi, Kedithungbo, Benathung Kikon, Ireusing, Kaithungbo, Beseneituo, Chingwang, Khongjai, Kheshito, Sentimeren, Arock. Coach: Bipul Kumar Ganguly. Manager: O Chaoba Singh.

September 18

RESULTS & NEWS

::: Sudip Chatterjee no more :::
Former Indian football captain Sudip Chatterjee died of a heart attack at the Kothari Medical Centre, Calcutta today. He was 47 and is survived by wife, son and daughter.
Sudip had been a reliable defender in the 1980s. He played for both Maidan giants - East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, also represented Bengal in the Santosh Trophy before going on to play for India and even captain the national team.
It is the sad end of another former Indian football captain. IndianFootball.Com's thoughts are with the family, friends and fans of Sudip Chatterjee.

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster I: Haryana 0-0 Bihar - Goals: none
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster III: West Bengal 5-0 Madhya Pradesh - Goals: 1-0 Avinash Thapa (9'), 2-0,3-0,5-0 Vimal Pariyar (11',34',66'), 4-0 Lalhmang Zuala (45+1').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Mumbai Elite Division - Preliminary Group A: Bengal Mumbai FC 2-4 Maharashtra State Police - Goals: 0-1 Pankaj Deshmukh (37'), 0-2 Uday Badkar (40'), 1-2 Khalid Siddique (45+2', penalty), 1-3,2-4 Faraz Sheikh (56', 90+2'), 2-3 Nagesh Swamy (65').
BMFC: Biswanath Bauri; Aloke Thakkar, Imran Javed, Reza Mohammed (46' Siddharth Srivastava), Naved Akhtar, KV Lalu, Nagesh Swamy, Shabab Athar (90+3' Atish Ruke), Khalid Siddique, Shinoj P Chandran, Mohammed Ali (75' Arshad Ansari).
MSP: Shitap Sudhakar; Vaibhav Kadam, Sameer Sheikh, Utpal Kadam, Santaji Chauhan, Santosh Telang (76' Datta Thorat), Faras Sheikh, Parag Sawant (70' Ramdas Wagh), Pankaj Deshmukh, Uday Badkar (88' Riaz Sheikh), Sandeep Badkar.
YELLOW CARDS: Aloke Thakkar (6'), Naved Akhtar (55', both BMFC); Faraz Sheikh (51', MSP).
REFEREE: Victor D'Souza.

58th Independence Day Cup - Quarterfinal League Group A: Assam Police Blues 5-1 Khidderpore Sports Club, Calcutta
58th Independence Day Cup - Quarterfinal League Group B: Border Security Force 1-1 CRPF, Jalandhar - Goals: 0-1 Ajit Kumar Singh (53'), 1-1 Gurmindar Singh (73').

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Chandigarh 4-0 Haryana
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Uttaranchal 10-0 Himachal Pradesh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Madhya Pradesh 1-0 Maharashtra
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Tamil Nadu 10-0 Pondicherry
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Jharkhand 10-1 Sikkim

::: Air-India lift Aurungabad Mayor's Trophy; Paresh Shivalkar shines again :::
Air-India of Mumbai continued their good run in the All-India Football Tournament in Aurungabad for the Mayor's Trophy, right uptil the end, winning the final 2-0 against JCT Mills of Phagwara. Once again, it were the goalscoring instincts of captain Paresh Shivalkar that proved crucial, as the left-wingers' goals in the 59th and 75th minutes sealed victory for the Mumbai NFL outfit. Thus Shivalkar finished with five goals in all in the tourney, and also bagged the 'Golden Boot' and the best player awards. Earlier on the 16th, the Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy beat the Tata Football Academy in the match for 3rd place, 1-0, following a 36th minute goal by captain and midfielder Suman Dey. Bagan held on to their advantage depite playing the final 50 minutes of the game with 10 men.

::: Goa FA release schedule of Goa Pro League return-leg :::
The Goa FA today released the fixtures of the Goa Professional League return-leg. Matches from Round 8 to 14 will be held from wednesday, September 20 upto December 3.
Here the released >>Goa Pro League - Return-leg fixtures

::: Ernakulam have won Kerala U13 Inter-District Tournament :::
The Ernakulam U13 boys won the Kerala U13 Inter-District Tournament today in a thrilling finale beating Malapurram 6-3 in the 70 minute match at the Aluva Municipal Ground.
Here the complete results of the >>Under-13 Kerala Inter-District Football Tournament

September 17

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster II: Uttar Pradesh 3-1 Mizoram - Goals: 0-1 Lalsangliana (48'), 1-1 Amit Singh (??'), 2-1 Pralad Singh Rawat (76'), 3-1 Jatin Singh Bisht (80').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster II: Meghalaya 5-0 Andaman&Nicobar Islands - Goals: 1-0 Roland Pyngrope (32'), 2-0,3-0 Rocus Lamare (56',67'), 4-0,5-0 Niwamo Gaiphoh (80',82').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster IV: Chandigarh 0-1 Assam - Goal: 0-1 Bulu Jindung (37').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster IV: Services 7-1 Sikkim - Goals: 1-0,3-0,6-0 Ngurneilal (3',21',44'), 2-0 Shaji D' Silva (11'), 4-0 Trvdaya Raj (22'), 5-0 Vivek Venu Gopal (39'), 6-1 Sanju Pradhan (53'), 7-1 A Thirunavakarsu (67').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting 1-1 Calcutta Port Trust SC - Goals: 1-0 Rajib Ahmed (17'), 1-1 Pradip Indu (22').
MOHAMMEDAN SPORTING: Gopal Das; Rajib Ahmed, Madhab Das (44' Anbalath Suliman Firoze), Douglas da Silva, Mir Farooq Hyder (62' Subhashish Roy Chowdhury); Bijen Singh, Debjit Ghosh (68' Kalia Kulothungan), M Sudheesh, Sheikh Shahnawaz, Mike Okoro; Raman Vijayan.
CALCUTTA PORT TRUST: Sandip Guha; Rajib Ghosh, Rabindranath Karmakar, Chanchal Saha, Akshay Das (90+' Soumen Sarkar); Mithun Naha (62' Srikanta Das), Stanley Cyprian, Sanjib Santra (76' Swarup Dey), Pradip Indu, Shimanta Das, Felix Chimaokwu.
Chirag Man-of-the-Match: Felix Chimaokwu (Calcutta Port Trust).
REFEREE: Pradip Mukherjee.

Mumbai Elite Division - Preliminary Group B: Mahindra United 3-0 Bank of India - Goals: 1-0,3-0 Mohammed Rafi (36',45'), 2-0 Sushanth Mathew (39').
MAHINDRA UNITED: Subhasish Roy Chowdhury; C Appa Rao, I Surkumar Singh, NP Pradeep, Rauf Khan (83' Keegan Pereira), Bhola Prasad, Sushanth Mathew, Lazarus Fernandes (46' Ujjal Ghosh), Steven Dias, Krishnan Nair Ajayan, Mohammed Rafi (74' Dane Pereira).
BANK OF INDIA: Sanjeev Verma; Rateesh Chandran (46' Sanjay Hazare), Amit Yadav, Prakash Mehra, Irfan Sheikh, Munir Sheikh, Shahnawaz Ansari, Velu Karmagulam, Shankar Thakur, Harish Bhoir (66' Reegan Pitanbaram), Hasan Rizvi (70' Stephen Gupta).
YELLOW CARDS: Krishnan Nair Ajayan (82', Mahindra United); Irfan Sheikh (27', Bank of India).
REFEREE: Trevor Carvalho.

Goan Professional League: Churchill Brothers SC 4-1 Velsao Pale SC - Goals: 1-0 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (20'), 2-0,4-0 D Raju (28',89'), 3-0 Nicholas Muyoti (33'), 4-1 Peter Rodrigues (90+').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: D Raju (Churchill Brothers).

Goan Professional League: Raia Sporting Club 2-0 Corps of Signals - Goals: 1-0 Peter Costa (13'), 2-0 Santan D'Cruz (65').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Roque Barreto (Raia Sporting).

58th Independence Day Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Royal SC, Guwahati 3-1 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 0-1 Zimi Singh (27'), 1-1 Abdul Khan (45'), 2-1,3-1 Aronjit Brahma (73',83').
Mumbai Super Division: Sea View SC 1-1 Dena Bank

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Delhi 5-0 Jammu&Kashmir
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Uttar Pradesh 2-0 Punjab
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Goa 7-1 Rajasthan
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Kerala 0-4 Andhra Pradesh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Chhatisgarh 0-7 Orissa

::: Karnataka name Santosh Trophy squad :::
The Karnataka State Football Association has named it's state senior team for the 61st Santosh Trophy. The team will be led by goalkeeper Gumpe Rime.
KARNATAKA: Gumpe Rime (Captain), N Venkatesh, Sunil Kumar, Nanjangud Shivananju Manju, Pradeep, Raghuveer Singh, Chandrashekar, Sunil, A Xavier Vijay Kumar, Rajendra Prasad, J Muralidharan, B Prakash, Sampath Kumar Kuttimani, Jonny Freedy, Gyan Moin Thapa, D Raju, Satish Kumar, Arun Kumar, Einstein, Venkatesh.
Chief coach: R Thyagaraj; Assistant coach: D Manivannan; Manager: Kantharaj.

::: PIFA & Nike tie-up for 2nd PIFA Skills Contest & the 3rd BCSSA camps In India :::
The Premier India Football Academy, Mumbai and Nike India have tied-up which results in Nike Footballs being used for the 2nd PIFA Skills Contest and the upcoming PIFA-Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports Academy football camps in India. The winners of the 2nd PIFA Skills Contest will get a full Nike training kit that would include jerseys, shorts, socks, boot, shoe, cap, bag and accessories.

September 16

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster I: Bihar 1-0 Pondicherry - Goal: 1-0 Niranjan Kumar Patel (70').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster III: Rajasthan 0-8 Madhya Pradesh - Goals 0-1,5-0,8-0 Rahmat Beg (2',71',90'+1'), 2-0,3-0 V. Shibu (18',50'), 4-0 Praveen Nair (62'), 6-0,7-0 Suresh Rajak (73',77').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Mumbai Elite Division - Preliminary Group B: Akbar Travels 1-2 Mumbai Customs - Goals: 1-0 Jafar Illikal (64'), 1-1 Hekmat Singh (70'), 1-2 Jose Colaco (79').
MUMBAI CUSTOMS: Sukhdev Ghosh; Hekmat Singh, Jatin Sahi, Krishnamurthy Bharathi, Omkar Sawant, Nigel D'Souza (87' Vikas Mangela), Stalin Mathew (75' Sajid Ansari), Jose Colaco, Ashish Bhoir, Nitin Shetty, Jinto Jose.
AKBAR TRAVELS: Abdul Salim; Vijesh P Vijayan, Liliyan Kenneth, Sunil Kumar, Salim Parrekad (80' Anoop Kumar), Bijumon Kaiparath, Jobish Thuvasari, Sumesh Tachapilli, Binoop M Kumar, Joseph Pereira (63' Jafar Illikal), Dhanraj Sumesh.
YELLOW CARDS: Bijumon Kaiparath (65'), Sunil Kumar (77'), Binoop M Kumar (90+2', all Akbar Travels); Jinto Jose (55', Mumbai Customs).
REFEREE: Manuel Pereira.

Goan Professional League: Dempo SC 1-2 Sporting Club de Goa - Goals: 0-1 Joe Rodrigues (46'), 1-1 Joaquim Abranches (52'), 1-2 Dudu Macpherlin Omagbemi (87').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Philip Gomes (Sporting Clube).

Goan Professional League: Salgaocar SC 1-0 Vasco SC - Goal: 1-0 Patrick Okonji Onyelo (80').
Hutch Man-of-the-Match: Micky Fernandes (Salgaocar).

Calcutta Premier League: United SC 2-1 George Telegraph SC
58th Independence Day Cup - Quarterfinal League Group A: Langsning SC, Shillong 1-1 Khidderpore SC, Calcutta - Goals: 0-1 Sudip Roy (3'), 1-1 Barister Rimba (27').
58th Independence Day Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: CRPF, Jalandhar 3-1 Tarun Sangha, Burdwan - Goals: 1-0 HS Jena (28'), 2-0 Dev Raj (41'), 2-1 SB Sarkar (57'),3-1 LR Singh (90').

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Chandigarh 7-0 Himachal Pradesh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Uttaranchal 3-1 Haryana
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Maharashtra 12-0 Gujarat
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Karnataka 14-0 Pondicherry
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Jharkhand 3-0 Bihar

::: Asian Women's Qualifying draw for 2008 Beijing Olympics out :::
The Indian Women have been given a tricky qualification for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. India face South Korea, Hongkong and Jordan in the first round qualifying competition for the 2008 Beijing Olympics women's football tournament. The first round will be play at a centralised venue between February 17-25, 2007. Should there be no host for the group, participating teams will be subjected to playing home-and-away. The first two teams of the three preliminary round groups would move into the final round qualifiers, where those six teams plus Japan and North Korea would play in two four team groups to play out the two Asian qualifiers. China is qualified as hosts
FIRST ROUND GROUPING: Group A: Korea Republic, Hong Kong, Jordan, India; Group B: Thailand, Maldives, Singapore, Vietnam; Group C: Chinese Taipei, Australia, Myanmar, Uzbekistan.
FINAL ROUND GROUPING: Group A: Japan, Winner B, Runners-up A, Runners-up B; Group B: DPR Korea, Winner A, Winner C, Runners-up C.

September 15

RESULTS & NEWS

::: FIFA Women Rankings: INDIA down one place :::
In the latest FIFA Women Rankings released today by the world football governing today INDIA lost a place to now lie joint 56th amongst 134 ranked countries along with Greece with 1443 points.

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster II: Meghalaya 1-0 Mizoram - Goal: 1-0 Rocus Lamare (70').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster II: Uttar Pradesh 3-0 Andaman&Nicobar Islands - Goals: 1-0 Mohammed Hadi Hassan Khan (12'), 2-0 Peter Siddiqui (63'), 3-0 Jatin Singh Bisht (89').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster IV: Assam 5-3 Sikkim - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Robijit Jigdung (5',14'), 3-0 Abel Sema (30'), 4-0 Birjab Mushahary (38'), 4-1 Bir Bahadur Pradhan (48'), 4-2 Chunku Sherpa (72'), 4-3 Ruben Rai (81'), 5-3 Akum Ao (90').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster IV: Chandigarh 1-4 Services - Goals: 0-1 MG Ramachandran (42'), 0-2 N Gerneilal (53'), 0-3 A Thirunavakarasu (63'), 0-4 Shaji A D'Silva (70'), 1-4 Deepak Hooda (89').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

47th ATPA Shield - Final: Kuki FC, Kohima 0-2 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 0-1 Birendra Narzary (5'), 0-2 Zimi Singh (75').
Calcutta Super Division: Peerless SC 1-0 Howrah Union
58th Independence Day Cup - Pre-Quarterfinal: Assam Police Blues 3-1 Balughat Town Club, West Bengal - Goals: 1-0 Anuj Gogoi (10'), 1-1 Swapan Hansda (15'), 2-1 Sanjay Brahma (64'), 3-1 Amulya Das (88').
58th Independence Day Cup - Round 2: Royal SC, Guwahati 2-0 FCI, Guwahati - Goals: 1-0 Zenith Sharma (23'), 2-0 Khemrah Sang Aah (90+1').
Mumbai Super Division: Central Bank of India 2-1 Kenkre Football Academy

29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Jammu&Kashmir 0-8 Uttar Pradesh
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - North Zone qualifiers: Punjab 1-0 Delhi - Goal: 1-0 Satpal Singh (85').
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - West Zone qualifiers: Madhya Pradesh 10-1 Rajasthan
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - South Zone qualifiers: Tamil Nadu 1-1 Andhra Pradesh - Goals: 1-0 Reegan (21'), 1-1 Rafeeq (46').
29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16) - East Zone qualifiers: Sikkim 6-1 Orissa

::: Aurungabad Mayor's Trophy Final Line-up :::
NFL sides JCT Mills and Air-India will face each other in the final of the inaugural Aurungabad Mayor's Trophy. JCT Mills beat Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy 2-1 in the first semifinal. Indian international striker Sunil Chetri scored a brace in the 10. and 30.minute for the Phagwara Millmen. The Academy boys where only able to reduce the margin a minute from the end. Mumbai's Air-India meanwhile scored an easy 3-0 victory against the youngsters from the Tata Football Academy. Striker Samson Singh scored a brace, while Paresh Shivalkar scored the other goal.

::: Manipur name Santosh Trophy squad :::
The All-Manipur Football Association has named it's state senior team for the 61st Santosh Trophy. The India U20 trio of keeper Gobin Singh plus strikers Ch Sushil Kumar Singh and Reisangmi Vasum could not be called-up due to the India U20 camp in Shillong. Seasoned striker Bijen Singh has been called-up as a replacement.
MANIPUR: Goalkeepers: Lalit Thapa (NEROCA), S Narakanta Singh (Southern Sporting Union); Defenders: Irungbam Surkumar Singh (Mahindra United), Yulembu Raju Singh (East Bengal Club), N Samananda Singh (Sporting Clube de Goa), Benjamin Kamson (YWC, Thambalkhong), H Devan Singh (USA), Y Priyo Singh (Southern Sporting Union); Midfielders: Bungo Thokchom Singh, Chitrasen Chandam Singh (both Churchill Brothers SC), Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (Sporting Clube de Goa), Potsangbam Renedy Singh (JCT Mills), David Kamson (Southern Sporting Union), S Manimohon Singh (NEROCA), Ninja Kabui (TRAU), S Manglemjao Singh (NEROCA); Forwards: Samson Kumar Singh, T Narendra Meetei (both Air-India), Mutum Bijen Singh (Mohammedan Sporting Club), Luminlal Khongsai (TRAU).

::: Airtel Corporate Futsal League in Bangalore :::
The Airtel Corporate Futsal League organised by Bangalore-based SPT Sports ended last weekend after three weekends of action and 441 goals in total. The A Division title went to HP with 28 points from 10 matches closely followed by On Mobile with 26 points. The league title was decided in the final league match with On Mobile needing a win in their match against HP, but they could only manage a draw. Next in the table are Accenture (22 pts), Fidelity (19 pts), Airtel - A (17 pts), Progeon (15 pts), E&Y (12 pts), Metlife (9 pts), FCG (6 pts), Adobe (3 pts) and ING Vysya (1 pt).
In the B Division TESCO and Genpact where tied on 15 points each, but TESCO topped the Division with a much better goal difference. Next in the table are Cognizant (13 pts), CITRIX (9 pts), Spheris (7 pts), RELQ (3 pts) and Airtel - B (0 pts).

September 14

RESULTS & NEWS

61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster I: Haryana 3-0 Pondicherry - Goals: 1-0 Habeeb Khan (10'), 2-0 Sunit Mishra (32'), 3-0 Praveen Arora (54').
61st Santosh Trophy - Preliminary League Cluster III: West Bengal 8-1 Rajasthan - Goals: 1-0 Sasthi Duley (8'), 2-0 Suman Datta (15'), 3-0,4-0 Tarif Ahmed (26',34'), 4-1 Shakir Ahmed (42'), 5-1,6-1,7-1,8-1 Vimal Pariyar (47',56',66',88').
Detailed match information and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com SANTOSH TROPHY special

Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club 4-2 Mohammedan Sporting Club - Goals: 1-0 Ashim Biswas (1'), 1-1 Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (5'), 1-2 Kalia Kulothungan (13'), 2-2 Marcio Fernandes Tomaz (19'), 3-2 Syed Rahim Nabi (32'), 4-2 Chandan Das (45+1').
East Bengal Club defeated Mohammedan Sporting Club in a fiery encounter at the Saltlake Stadium today to attain pole position in the Sahara Calcutta Football League 2006. The events on the field lived up to all the pre-match hype as six goals were scored in the first half itself. The referee had hardly got the match started when East Bengal took the lead through Ashim Biswas. The first minute goal must have jolted the Mohammedan players but they returned the favour in style four minutes later as a Subhashish Roy Choudhury corner took a deflection and found the back of the net. The Mohammedan players had claimed a penalty prior to the goal but the referee had given only a corner. However, it did not matter in the end as the desired result was achieved. The match was progressing at breakneck speed as Snehashish hit the post in the 6th minute and Bijen Singh hit over the crossbar two minutes later. Former East Bengal player Kulothungan stunned his former employers with a goal in the 13th minute. Okoro's cross had found Raman Vijayan at the far post after East Bengal custodian Abhra Mondal had inexplicably fallen to the ground. Vijayan's shot hit the post and Kulothungan was quick to pounce onto the rebound. The scoring saga continued as East Bengal's new Brazilian recruit, Marcio, scored his maiden goal for the club in the 19th minute. Chandan Das' accurate pass found Marcio at the edge of the penalty box. He mesmerised the two Mohammedan defenders marking him and slotted the ball home past a diving Prasanta Dora. There was a brief respite for the scorekeepers till Nabi put his team ahead from a Vincent Pires cross to the far-post in the 32nd minute. Man-of-the-Match Snehashish Chakraborty tormented the Mohammedan players as his sprints down the left touchline left the right side of the Mohammedan defence gasping for breath. The inevitable happened in the 45th minute as Snehashish was brought down inside the penalty box by Debjit Ghosh. The referee was quick to point to the penalty spot and Chandan Das stepped up to convert it with aplomb. The first half ended with East Bengal leading 4-2.
The second half was a contrast to the first. The coaches made a flurry of substitutions to alter the gameplay. Subhas Bhowmick was desperate for goals but the East Bengal players simply outclassed their opponents. Mike Okoro was stifled by the East Bengal defence and was often seen coming deep into the midfield to try and create chances. The East Bengal players also looked fitter and never seemed to lose control of the game. Both teams had a few chances but nobody was able to alter the scoreline. While the first half was one of hapless defence, the second one was one of inefficient attack. The game ended with the score unaltered since the break. East Bengal moved to the top of the league standings with 16 points from 7 matches while Mohammedan Sporting slipped to second spot with 15 from 8 matches. However, with numerous matches still to come, the title race is far from over.
EAST BENGAL: Abhra Mondal, Gurpreet Singh, Covan Lawrence (23' Vincent Brice Pires), Anupam Sarkar, Soumik Dey, Syed Rahim Nabi, Luiz Octavio D'Souza, Chandan Das (66' Bibiano Fernandes), Snehashish Chakraborty, Marcio Fernandes Tomaz (60' Freddy Mascarenhas), Ashim Biswas.
MOHAMMEDAN SPORTING: Prasanta Dora, Subhashish Roy Choudhury (46' Rajib Ahmed), Douglas da Silva, Madhab Kumar Das, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Bijen Singh, Noel Anthony Wilson, Debjit Ghosh, Kalia Kulothungan (53' Jamir Ali Mondal), Mike Okoro, Raman Vijayan (74' Anbalath Suliman Firoze)
YELLOW CARDS: Soumik Dey (38', East Bengal); Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (33', Mohammedan Sporting)
REFEREE: Subrata Sarkar.
Chirag Man-of-the-Match: Snehashish Chakraborty (East Bengal).

POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE:
Carlos Roberto Pereira da Silva, East Bengal:

Subhas Bhowmick, Mohammedan Sporting:

::: East Bengal vs Mohammedan Sporting Match Preview :::
A lot of pride is at stake as Calcutta giants East Bengal take on city rivals Mohammedan Sporting at the Saltlake Stadium this afternoon. This Sahara Calcutta Football League match will determine who stays top of the table after today's clash. Mohammedan Sporting currently top the table with 15 points from 7 matches but East Bengal are only 2 points behind with a game in hand and are in third place behind Mohun Bagan who have 14 points from 8 matches. So a win for either of the teams will ensure the victor first position in the league standings.
Another aspect of this critical encounter is the number of subplots in today's drama. Mohammedan Sporting coach Subhash Bhowmick would love to deal a heavy blow to East Bengal's title aspirations after he was replaced as East Bengal coach in far from pleasant circumstances last season. After toiling throughout pre-season to lure big names away from East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, now is the time for him to prove his worth to his former employers. East Bengal will also be wary of Mohammedan Sporting striker Mike Okoro, an East Bengal player last season, who has been in terrific form of late. After Baichung Bhutia's solitary goal sunk East Bengal in the great Calcutta derby and with the draw that followed against Eastern Railway, this is one match that coach Carlos Roberto Pereira da Silva cannot afford to lose. What the final result will be only time will tell but the encounter at the Saltlake Stadium today promises to be a terrific one.

58th Independence Day Cup - Round 2: City Police, Guwahati 0-2 Langsning SC, Shillong - Goals: 0-1 Amity Tongper (52'), 0-2 Sailon Syngkrem (63').
Mumbai Super Division: Income Tax 1-3 Dena Bank

::: AIFF thank PM for helping Indian football's cause in Brazil :::
In a press release the AIFF states, "All India Football Federation is grateful to Honourable Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for taking up the development of Football in India and signing of a MOU to this effect with the Govt of Brazil. Promoting exchanges "in training Indian players and Coaches" under this Collaboration between India and Brazil will definitely improve the skills of Indian Footballers and give a boost to the growth of the game in India."
Good to see that the highest politicians of our country showing interest to help the development of football in India, but the question remains if Brazil is the right partner for the development of Indian football. Many Indians are blind fans of Brazil and their football, but when it comes to development such collaborations with European football nations would make more sense.

::: Aurungabad Mayor's Trophy Semi-Final Line-up :::
Air-India overcame Goa XI on the back of a first half brace by captain Paresh Shivalkar. The Mumbai Super Cup champions line-up against Jamshedpur's Tata Football Academy. The other semifinal of the inaugural Aurungabad Mayor's Trophy tournament sees strong northern outfit JCT Mills of Phagwara pitted against Jahar Das' charges that are the Mohun Bagan second string.

September 13

RESULTS & NEWS

::: FIFA World Rankings: INDIA down eight places :::
In the latest FIFA World Rankings released today by the world football governing boday INDIA now lies in joint 136th position with Yemen, losing eight places and 21 points from their August ranking. INDIA now have 137 points and the two defeats against Saudi Arabia had their effect plus with the August 2002 points falling off the 2002 LG Cup triumph in that month was taken off the calculations. In Asia meanwhile INDIA moved to joint 25th with Yemen.

47th ATPA Shield - Semifinal: Nagaland Police 0-1 Assam State Electricity Board - Goal: 0-1 Zimi Singh (24').
58th Independence Day Cup - Round 2: SAI, Golaghat 0-2 Balughat Town Club, West Bengal - Goals: 0-1 Montu Samajdar (16'), 0-2 Rabi Mallick (80').
58th Independence Day Cup - Round 1: FCI, Guwahati 5-1 Radial Club - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Pradip Barman (33',51'), 3-0 Thomson Langthasa, 4-0 Syed Ansar, 5-0 Bijen Gayari, 5-1 Kankan Dey (80').
Mumbai Super Division: Mumbai Port Trust - Rizvi Mumbai Muslims = match postponed

::: 61st Santosh Trophy to kickoff tomorrow :::
The 61st Santosh Trophy will kickoff tomorrow in Haryana with matches at Gurgaon and Faridabad. The record champions West Bengal open the tournament with a match against Rajasthan in Cluster III at the HUDA Sports Complex, Sector 12 in Faridabad in the morning. But the official opening ceremony will be held ahead of the Cluster I match between Haryana and Pondicherry at the Ch. Devi Lal Sports Complex ,Sector 38 in Gurgaon in the afternoon. Chief guest will be Union Minister of Youth & Sports Mani Shankar Aiyar; AIFF president and Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting & Parliamentary Affairs Priya Ranjan Das Munshi will be the Guest of Honour; while the Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda will preside over the function.
The question that many football fans in India will have on their mind will be, How is the standard of the national state championships going to be this time around? The Santosh Trophy clashes with the big local leagues in Calcutta, Goa and Mumbai plus international commitments of the national team. Therefore the Santosh Trophy has been split into two phases to accomodate the India camp ahead of the India-Japan match on October 11 in Bangalore.

::: AIFF taking FIFA help in allotting funds :::
IANS report: The AIFF, in association with the FIFA, would conduct an assessment of the infrastructure available for development of the game across the country. On the basis of these assessments, the national body will select a few state associations and provide them with funds for the game's development.
"In our last general body meeting in December, Rs.4 million was sanctioned for funding the development of game in different states," AIFF general secretary Alberto Colaco told IANS Wednesday.
The process has already started and FIFA's assistant development officer Mohsen Gilani and AIFF representative Satyajit Sadanandan went to Karnataka, Punjab, Chandigarh, Sikkim and West Bengal last month to assess the infrastructure available. Next month Kerala, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Goa are on the list, followed by the Northeastern states.
By November, the AIFF is expected to select about eight states, allocate certain amount of money and chalk out a plan how to invest the fund.
"It is a small amount and we are taking our time to ensure the money is spent in the right way," Colaco said.

::: Subroto Cup school football tournament to kickoff tomorrow :::
The 48th edition of the Subroto Cup school football tournament will be held from tomorrow in New Delhi. The tournament held at the U17 and U14 level is India's national level school football tournament with schools from neighbouring countries Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In total 60 teams will be taking part in the two age groups in the month long tournament.
In a sad clash the Subroto Cup will be held at the same time as the 29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (under-16) zonal qualifiers.

::: Amal Datta replaces Philippe de Ridder :::
Calcutta's United Sports Club, formerly known as EverReady SA, have appointed seasoned coach Amal Datta as replacement for Belgian coach Philippe de Ridder. United SC claims that de Ridder will stay on as "Footballer Observer-Supervisor" and will continue to be associated with the club. United SC reacted as the club was lying last in the Calcutta Premier League.

::: IFA suspend Farid Ali Mollah :::
The IFA (West Bengal) has suspended Eastern Railway SC striker Farid Ali Mollah for the rest of the Calcutta Premier League. Mollah had head-butted referee Dhanapati Roy in the match against East Bengal Club on September 1. Surprisingly Mollah had only received a yellow card from the referee during the match.

::: Chandigarh name Senior squad :::
The Chandigarh Football Association has named Harvinder Pal of AG Haryana, Chandigarh as the captain of the state senior team for the 61st Santosh Trophy.
CHANDIGARH: Harvinder Pal (Captain), Deepak Gurang, Neeraj Malik, Raj Kumar, Anish Patial, Vikas Pannu, Ashwinder Singh, Arvinder, Ankit Malik, Mahipal, Kartik Bhardwaj, Prabhjot Singh, Pawandeep Singh, Sumer Singh, Deepak Huda, Bhupinder, Vinay, Harminder Singh, Mohit Raj.

::: Meghalaya name Senior squad :::
The Meghalaya Football Association has named Ailad Kynta as the captain of the state senior team for the 61st Santosh Trophy.
MEGHALAYA: Aiborlang Khongjee, Ailad Kynta (Captain), Alwin Patwet, Badonlad Khongthohrem, Birendra Thapa, Desmond Kharpran, Kitkupar Kharshiing, Kyrkhu Lyngdoh, Kyrshan Lyngshing, Lambok Rymbai, Lekini Suting, Markos Basumatary, Marlanki Suting, Newan-o-Gathpoh, Poibang Pohshna, Rocus Lamare, Roland Pyngrope, Romeo Sukhlein, Sooki Lamare, Tylli Lang Syiem.

::: Maharashtra name U16 squad :::
The Western India Football Association has named Karan Swahney as the captain of the Maharashtra U16 state squad for the West Zone qualifiers of the 29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (Under-16) to be held in Betul, Madhya Pradesh from Friday.
MAHARASHTRA U16: Harshad Meher, Asif Ansari (Goalkeepers), Fahad Ansari, Ajit Bhoir (vice-Captain), Rithik Mukherji, Vaibhav Tandel, Ajay Kajania, Mohammed Shadaab, Virender Jadhav, John Coutinho, Manuel D'Souza, Shilton D'Silva, Vijay Patil, Shadaab Shaikh, Ubaid Ansari, Karan Swahney (captain), Freedon Fernandes, Jagjit Singh, Kean Lewis, Mudassir Ansari. Coach: Zakir Hussein. Assistant coach: Nelson Sebastian.

::: Delhi name U16 squad :::
The Delhi Soccer Association has named defender Sumit Rawat as the captain of the Delhi U16 state squad for the North Zone qualifiers of the 29th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (Under-16) to be held in Haldwani, Uttaranchal from Friday.
DELHI U16: Goalkeepers: Shrikant Singh, Ravi Bhatt, Vivan Sahi. Defenders: Soubam, Tikenderjit Singh, Sumit Rawat (Captain), Karan Thapa, Mukesh Nathani, Akshay Kumar, Arvind Mandwar. Midfielders: P Zhiihrii John Mao, Ashish Bhalla (vice-Captain), Prem Kumar, Deepak Kumar Devrani, Vikram Singh Gill. Forwards: Gagan S Chauhan, Pankaj Negi, Pranav Sharma, Ajay Singh Pundir, Kushagra Rastogi, Ritesh Kr Singh. Coach: Shafeeq Ahmad.
Stand-bys: Danish Pervez, Asif, Santosh Khandare, Ashish, Ankit Rautan.

September 12

RESULTS & NEWS

Mumbai Elite Division - Preliminary Group B: Union Bank of India 0-1 Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers - Goals: 0-1 Sayed Rizvi (89').
UBI: Kunal Sawant; Rohit Kajania, Vijay Thapa, Asif Ansari, Muzaffar Ansari, Dujon Koli (82' Rawat Koli), Avinash Puthran (74' Sunil Coelho), Frankson Thottara (78' Dhananjay Yesare), Nilesh Rao, Sushil Kawde, Ryan D'Souza.
RCF: Suhas Patil, Ashirwad Hedge, Baleshwar Sharma, Francis Dias (46' Bhagwan Padhi), Monish Bhamre, Manoj Adhikari, Souvaid Ansari, Prosenjit Barua (59' Sayed Rizvi), Allan Dias (69' Douglas D'Sena), Shayresh Bawkar, Lawrence Dias.
YELLOW CARDS: Prosenjit Barua (19'), Sayed Rizvi (89', both RCF).
REFEREE: Rocky Fernandes

47th ATPA Shield - Semifinal: Tinsukia Railway SC 2-4 Kuki FC, Kohima - Goals: 0-1,0-2,0-4 Mangkai Singson (35',38',71'), 0-3 Ben Khongsai (56'), 1-4 Parag Chamua (80'), 2-4 Ganesh Saha (89').
Calcutta Premier League: United SC 1-3 Eastern Railway SC - Goals: 1-0 Sankha Roy Chowdhury, 1-1,1-2 Henry, 1-3 Samrat Roy Chowdhury.
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 0-2 Police AC
Calcutta Super Division: Peerless SC - Howrah Union = match postponed
Calcutta Super Division: Calcutta Customs 1-0 Calcutta FC
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 0-5 SAIL
58th Independence Day Cup - Round 1: Royal SC, Guwahati 4-0 9th Assam Police Battalion
58th Independence Day Cup - Round 1: City Police, Guwahati 0-0,3-0 2nd Assam Special Reserve Force, Diphu [penalties]

::: PM scouts for football coaches in Brazil :::
UNI report: On Board Air India One, Brazilian coaches may soon be seen grooming Indian football talents back home with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh all set to take up the issue with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when they meet in Brasilia later today.
"Brazil's credentials as a football power are well-known," Dr Singh told journalists accompanying him on a nine-day visit to Brazil and Cuba.
Brazil is hailed as the largest exporter of players and coaches and in the Germany World Cup too, Brazilians Luis Felip Scolari and Zico were seen in charge of teams like Portugal and Japan. Calcutta giant East Bengal has already signed a Brazilian, Carlos Roberto Pereira, as their new coach.
Dr Singh revealed Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, who is also the President of the AIFF, had requested him to raise the issue of Brazilian coaches for Indian teams during his talks with Brazilian leaders.
"We must promote increased interaction with other countries. That also applies to the field of sports," he remarked.
"If we are going to host the Commonwealth Games, if we are aspiring to have the Olympics in our country, we must improve our own capabilities in sports," the Prime Minister said.
"If such cooperation helps in getting coaches from other countries, I don't see anything wrong in that," he added.

::: Sikkim leaves for Santosh Trophy in Haryana :::
A 20 player Sikkim squad left Gangtok yesterday for Haryana to take part in the 61st Santosh Trophy. Sikkim face Assam, Chandigarh and Services in Cluster IV in Faridabad.
SIKKIM: Karma Tshering Bhutia, Bimal Bagdas, Nirmal Chettri, Karma Lhendup Lepcha, Ruben Rai, Allen Tshering Bhutia, Michael Lepcha, Tashi Rapden, Sanju Pradhan, Sagar Rai, Milan Lepcha, Gyanendra Karki, Rohit Ansari, Rupesh Diyali, Kamal Bagdas, Dawn Lepcha, Tenzing Chepel, C Sherpa, Bir Bahadur Pradhan, Mahendra Karki. Coach: Suresh Mukhia. Manager: Arjun Rai.

::: 2nd PIFA Football Skills Contest :::
Premier India Football Academy will once again organise the 2nd PIFA Skills Contest will be held on 30 September 2006 at the Cooperage ground, Mumbai.
The 2nd PIFA Skills Contest is an opportunity for talented young football players to assess their abilities. The players will be tested like David Beckham (11 years then) was on the 5 aspects of the football game - Shooting, Dribbling, Short Pass, Lofted Pass & Ball Control.
Children will be given handicaps according to their age in the form of time and distance. These tests have been adopted from the Bobby Carlton Soccer & Sports Academy, Manchester, UK, where David Beckham's record of 1100 points is still unbroken. Top 2 winners will be trained free of cost by UEFA coaches from the Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports academy at St Andrews, Bandra, Mumbai from October 15-18 2006
Last year, over 350 children participated in the contest. The 2 winners Rolfred Couthino of St Puis X and Ajay Kajania of Holy Name tied winners with 800 points. Both of them attended the Bobby Charlton camps at St Andrews, Bandra after which they were selected for Mahindra United U-15 team.
Entry will be free and open to boys & girls from 8-16 years of age. All children will have to be in full football attire. Entries will be limited to 300 participants.
The contest will start at 8:00 am. Participants are requested to be at the venue at 7:45 am.
Forms can be downloaded from www.pifacademy.com or collect them from the Cooperage ground.
You can also call 3042-2264 for more info. Registration can also be done by faxing to 3042-2262 (Name, Surname, boy/girl, Date of Birth, School, Class/Grade, Mobile/contact number)

::: A school dropout's dream of being a player :::
by Xavier Rutsa: For 16-year-old Monynyie Konyak the journey has been worth it. Money was a problem for him. But it did not deter him from going ahead to realize his dream. Simply put, it was his love for football that drove him all the way from Mon to the State capital.
Having gone through a Nagaland Post report in July last, Monynyie decided to join the football coaching camp being conducted by the Naga Boys Club at Kohima.
A suave but confident lad from nondescript Wangti village unde