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Bangalore Super Division: Karnataka State Police 0-0 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC - Goals: none.
Bangalore 'A' Division: BHEL (EPD) 4-1 Dharmaraja Union - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Ramesh (13',24'), 3-0 Shobhan (35'), 4-0 Praveen (72'), 4-1 Ramkumar (89').
Calcutta Super Division: SAIL 1-1 Tollygunge Agragami
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 1-0 Railway FC
Calcutta Super Division: Police AC 2-0 Indian Air Force, Barrackpore
Goa Professional League: Vasco SC 1-1 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 1-0 Kamal Thapa (7'), 1-1 Stephen Njon Mbanyam (17').
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: Akbar Travels 1-1 Kenkre Football Academy - Goals: 0-1 Chris Amadi (2'), 1-1 Chris Amadi (61', own Goal).

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Quarterfinal League - Group B: West Bengal 2-1 Delhi - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Arup Neogi (55',75'), 2-1 Delhi Raju Thara (90+3').
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Quarterfinal League - Group B: Karnataka 0-0 Goa - Goals: none.

September 29

RESULTS & NEWS

Bangalore Super Division: MEG 5-0 Department of Youth Services & Sports - Goals: 1-0,3-0,5-0 Nigil Raj (8',25',39'), 2-0 Girish (21'), 4-0 Ramu (35').
Bangalore 'A' Division: Sri Gajanana 1-2 South Western Railway Institute - Goals: 1-0 Harish (30'), 1-1 Dinesh (39'), 1-2 Vinod (59').
Goa Professional League: Raia Sporting Club 0-0 Salgaocar SC - Goals: none.
Goa Professional League: Velsao Pale SC 2-4 Dempo SC - Goals: 0-1,0-4 Chidi Edeh (10',29'), 0-2 Roberto Mendes Silva (12'), 0-3 Peter Carvalho (23'), 1-4 Semson Fernandes (49'), 2-4 Cajetan Fernandes (81').
Goa Professional League: MPT Sports Council 0-4 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: 0-1,0-4 Boniface Ngairah Ambani (16',90+'), 0-2 Eze Isiocha (54'), 0-3 Bibiano Fernandes (89').

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Quarterfinal League - Group A: Uttar Pradesh 2-0 Maharashtra - Goals: 1-0 Shani Kumar (33'), 2-0 Mohammed Kamaluddin Khan (52').
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Quarterfinal League - Group A: Punjab 3-0 Uttarakhand - Goals: 1-0 Pricpal Singh (5'), 2-0 Sunny (11'), 3-0 Manjinder Singh (55').

59th Independence Day Cup, Nagaon - Pre-Quarterfinal: NISA, Imphal 2-2,4-2 FCI, Guwahati [penalties]
59th Independence Day Cup, Nagaon - Pre-Quarterfinal: North Eastern Coalfields 2-2,4-2 9th Assam Police Battalion [penalties]

::: India to play Al Nasr Club :::
The Indian national team will play a friendly match against Al Nasr Club during their preparation camp for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The match will kick-off at 21.30 Dubai time on October 1.
Pictures and details are available at the >>Indian National Team section

::: Vision India - Project Kerala workshop concludes :::
by the-afc.com: A high-ranking delegation from the Kerala Football Association (KFA), led by its President KMI Mather, visited AFC House recently as part of a two-day Vision India - Project Kerala Planning Workshop.
Two high ranking representatives from the Kerala State Sports Council, President TP Dasan and Secretary Dr. G Kishore, accompanied Mather on the visit.
In his opening remarks, the KFA President expressed his confidence in the Vision Asia Project and added that it would definitely help Kerala attain the status of the top footballing state in India.
AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam said: "I am confident the KFA can implement the Strategic Development Plan and nurture football in Kerala. Vision Asia has been developed to equip the administrators of football with the knowledge for the needs of the modern game."
In-depth discussions were held on the essential aspects of football development in Kerala such as the Statutes, Organisation and Administration, Clubs and Competitions, Grassroots and Youth Development, Coach Education and Referees Education.
One of the State Sports Council representatives, Dr. G Kishore also made a presentation on the State Sports Council’s plans for Grassroots and Youth Football Development.
The workshop ended with agreed goals and tasks and an agreed timeline for the implementation of those tasks.

September 28

RESULTS & NEWS

Bangalore Super Division: Southern Blues FC 0-0 CIL - Goals: none.
Bangalore 'A' Division: Bangalore United FC 1-4 Rail Wheel Factory - Goals: 0-1,1-3 Prakash (4',82'), 0-2 Satish (24'), 1-2 Chetan (58'), 1-4 Naveen Babu (89').
Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club - Calcutta Port Trust || match post-poned
Calcutta Premier League: Chirag United SC 1-1 Eastern Railway SC - Goals: 1-0 Theo (15'), 1-1 Bapi Sarkar (44').

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Quarterfinal League - Group B: West Bengal 2-1 Karnataka - Goals: 0-1 P Rajkiran (45'), 1-1 Suprovan Dhar (55'), 2-1 Amit Kr Singh (85').
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Quarterfinal League - Group B: Delhi 1-3 Goa - Goals: 0-1,0-2,1-3 Pandhari A Chopdeker (34',75'90'+1'), 1-2 Munmun (88').

59th Independence Day Cup, Nagaon - Round 2: City Police, Guwahati 0-0,4-2 Sanjivan Samaj, Nagaon [penalties]
59th Independence Day Cup, Nagaon - Round 2: Star Sporting, Nagaon 0-4 Green Valley Recreation Club

::: Indian team arrives in Dubai :::
The Indian national team has arrived in Dubai for the training camp before their departure to Lebanon for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier next month. The team led by captain Baichung Bhutia landed at the Dubai International Airport late on Wednesday.
The six remaining players from Mahindra United joined the team yesterday, after going down to Al Nejmeh in the AFC Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The Indian team will train at the Al Ahli Club once a day from 4pm. They are expected to play a friendly match either against Al Ahli or Al Nasr before their departure for Beirut on October 6.
India Club, Dubai, will host an official dinner to felicitate the team on their first-ever Nehru Cup victory last month.
Pictures and details are available at the >>Indian National Team section

September 27

RESULTS & NEWS

India U18 Germany Tour - Match 3: TSV 1860 Munich U18 1-0 India U18
The India U18 national team lost their final match of the Germany Tour 2007. The Indian youngsters suffered a 1-0 loss to the junior setup of German 2nd Division Bundesliga outfit TSV 1860 Munich today.
Pictures and details are available at the >>Indian National Team section

Bangalore Super Division: Army Service Corps 3-0 Royals Sports Club - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Choudhary (14',26'), 3-0 Ramesh (90'+).
Bangalore 'A' Division: Reserve Bank of India,Bangalore 1-1 Government Press - Goals: 1-0 Bheem Rao (61'), 1-1 Anthony Benedict (?').
Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-1 Peerless SC - Goal: 0-1 Kartik Kisku (64').

59th Independence Day Cup, Nagaon - Qualifiers: Radial Club, Nagaon 1-3 North Eastern Coalfield - Goals: 0-1 Bijoy Gohain (32'), 0-2 Naba Phukan (44'), 0-3 Pranab Gogoi (80'), 1-3 Mukut Bora (84').
59th Independence Day Cup, Nagaon - Qualifiers: FCI, Guwahati 2-1 2nd Assam Special Reserve Force - Goals: 1-0 Bhaskar Jyoti Bora (36'), 2-0 Pratap Brahma (50'), 2-1 Abdul Rafiq (77').

::: St Xavier's lift Ess Vee Soccer Cup :::
by Balbir Singh: St Xavier's School (Blues) of Panchkula defeated Ryan International School, Sector 49, Chandigarh by 3-2 in the final via tie-breaker of the inaugural Ess Vee Soccer Cup for Under-13 conducted by Samar Estates Pvt Ltd at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Sector 3, Panchkula, on Thursday.
After the teams played a goalless draw in the regulation period, the organisers ordered the tie-breaker rule to break the deadlock. In the tie-breaker session, St Xavier's goalkeeper Gurnihal Singh rose to the occasion and made two brilliant saves to deny Ryan Internationals the title. For St Xavier's School Rahul Rana, Vishal Sagar and Anuj Kaushik converted their spot kicks. Jasmeet and Ankur muffed their penalties. Only Karan and Sehaj got goals for Ryan International. Rajat, Piyush and Atul wasted their chances giving Xavier's win by 3-2 in chancy session of tie-breaker.
Earlier, Ryan International School enjoyed territorial supremacy but could not capitalise on the chances that came their way. Despite camping mostly in their rivals territory, Ryan International School frittered away their chances to convert territorial dominance into goals as their strikers were wayward in shooting.
Sehaj of Ryan International was adjudged the best player of the tournament while Jasmeet of St Xavier's Panchkula was presented the up coming player's award. Imran Bhullar of Yadvindra Public School, Mohali was declared the best goalkeeper's award. Panchkula SSP Sandeep Khairwar was the chief guest and distributed the prizes.
ST XAVIER's: Gurnihal, Ankur, Rahul,Rishab, Jasmeet, Aditya, Anuj, Vivek, Aashish, Susheel, Samar.
RYAN INT: Geetinder, Rajdeep Deol, Ashjot Singh, Divjot, Karan, Sehaj, Atul, Prabhjot, Shahzeb, Rupam, Piyush.

::: Martyrs' Trophy starts :::
by Xavier Rutsa: Nagaland Chief minister Neiphiu Rio will grace the inaugural function of the 8th NSF Martyrs' Memorial Trophy tomorrow at DDSC Stadium, Dimapur informed the organizing committee of the trophy. The Angami Students' Union and Martyrs' Memorial Trophy organizing committee in a press release also informed that 30 teams are taking part in the tournament.
Meanwhile, ASU has appreciated the support and solidarity extended by the NSF and DNSU towards hosting of the tournament in Dimapur. It also requested all students' fraternity and public to witness the mega football extravaganza.
In the opening match KVSU meet United Bros at 15.00 IST on September 28

September 26

RESULTS & NEWS

Bangalore Super Division: Postal Department 5-0 Oriental FC - Goals: 1-0,3-0 Einstein (23',69'), 2-0 Srinivasan (45'), 4-0 Arun Pandey (75'), 5-0 Ramesh (88').
Bangalore 'A' Division: AGORC, Bangalore 1-1 Tilak Memorial - Goals: 1-0 Raju (4'), 1-1 Christopher (26').
Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC 3-0 George Telegraph SC - Goals: 1-0 Sanjoy Mallick (29', own Goal), 2-0,3-0 Jose Ramirez Barreto (52',89').
Calcutta Premier League: Chirag United SC - Eastern Railway SC = match postponed due to heavy rains
Goa Professional League: Dempo SC 5-0 MPT Sports Council - Goals: 4xClifton Gonsalves, Pio Rodrigues.
Goa Professional League: Churchill Brothers SC 1-0 Raia Sporting Club - Goal: 1-0 Odafe Onyeka Okolie.

59th Independence Day Cup, Nagaon - Qualifiers: Star Sporting, Nagaon 2-1 Sivasagar Sporting Association - Goals: 0-1 Bipul Khanikar (11'), 1-1 Mridul Swargiary (26'), 2-1 Gopal Deka (89').

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 1: Uttarakhand 5-1 Gujarat
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 2: West Bengal 8-0 Tripura
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 7: Assam 2-8 Goa

::: Indian football team left today for Dubai camp :::
The Indian football team left this evening for Dubai for an exposure cum training tour ahead of their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers away-leg against Lebanon on October 8 in Beirut. The team left without the Mahindra United players, who will join the camp in Dubai from Beirut tomorrow, after playing their AFC Cup match against Al-Nijmeh.
INDIA: Goalkeepers: Sandip Nandy (Mahindra United), Subhashish Roy Choudhury (Mahindra United), Subrata Pal (East Bengal Club). Defenders: Irungbam Surkumar Singh (East Bengal Club), Mahesh Gawli (Dempo SC), Syed Rahim Nabi (East Bengal Club), Samir Naik (Dempo SC), Nanjangud Shivnanju Manju (Mohun Bagan AC), Debabrata Roy (East Bengal Club). Midfielders: Krishnan Nair Ajayan (Mahindra United), Climax Lawrence (Dempo SC), NP Pradeep (Mahindra United), Clifford Miranda (Dempo SC), Steven Benedict Dias (Mahindra United), Mehraj din Wadoo (East Bengal Club), P Rennedy Singh (JCT), Moirengthem Gouramangi Singh (Churchill Brothers SC), Bungo Thokchom Singh. Forwards: Baichung Bhutia (Mohun Bagan AC, Captain), Sunil Chetri (JCT), Abhishek Yadav (Mumbai FC), Manjit Singh (Mahindra United), Tarif Ahmed (ONGC, Mumbai).
Officials: Robert Douglas Houghton (Chief Coach); Antonio Marcus Pacheco (Goalkeeping Coach); Colin Joseph Toal (Technical Director); Pradip Choudhury (Manager); Dr Arya (Doctor); Tapan Bhattacharya (Physio); Suresh Babu (Physical Trainer); Prithi Kumar (Masseur).

::: Goa U19 trials :::
The Goa FA will conduct selection trials to select the Goa U19 team to participate in the Junior National Football Championships for the Dr. B.C. Roy Trophy. The trials will be held at Don Bosco, Panjim and Betalbatim ground on September 28, 29 & 30 from 16.00 IST onwards. Players born on or after January 1, 1990 are eligible to participate.

::: Tilaknagar Industries to sponsor PIFA Colaba Youngstar FC :::
Premier India Football Academy managed professional football team PIFA Colaba Youngstar FC (PIFA CYFC) will be sponsored by Tilaknagar Industries Ltd. for the 2007 Mumbai District FA season.
Premier India Football Academy football team namely PIFA-Colaba Youngstar FC was formed in 2006 and played the MDFA Senior Division in the same year. The team was managed and financed by PIFA. The team was also coached and trained by PIFA Director Nirvan Shah, an FA licensed coach. He adopted the latest training methods and equipment used by PIFA's international partners.
The team remained unbeaten in the play offs of the MDFA Senior Division and was promoted to the Super Division. The victory brought immense pride in the Colaba community. Two boys from the team, Harshad Meher and Ajit Bhoir had been called to play for AIFF's India U-16 team touring Germany.
The team is looking to get promoted once again and with a youth academy already in place it hopes to play the NFL next year.
Tilaknagar Industries Ltd financial support will help PIFA CYFC to retain members of the winning team as well as import talented players to help the team win the title. The sponsors will also get their names on the MDFA 4th Division PIFA team as well as the MDFA Women's PIFA team.
PIFA CYFC kicks off its hunt for the Super Division title on 2nd October 2007 at Cooperage football ground after which they will go a tour to Assam to play two local tournaments.
PIFA is also getting highly experienced and well-qualified International coaches to conduct two football camps in Mumbai for children 8-16 years of age. These camps will be held for the fourth successive year. The camp guarantees improvement and is open to all levels. And children form all over India sign up for these fun and educating camps. Over 500 children have been to these camps in the last 3 years.

::: Ryan International face St Xavier's Blues in Ess Vee Cup final :::
by Balbir Singh: Ryan International School, Sector 49, Chandigarh and St Xavier's (Blues) of Panchkula qualified for the final with contrasting style victories in their semifinal encounters in the Ess Vee Soccer Cup for Under-13 being organized by Samar Estates Pvt Limited at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Sector 3 here today.
Ryan International faced a tough resistance from plucky Yadvindra Public School of Mohali before scoring a hard-fought 1-0 win in the first semifinal match. The all-important goal was scored by Piyush who volleyed a long ranger from the right flank over the YPS goalkeeper Iman Bhullar into the goal in the 24th minute. They could have won by a clear margin had they capitalized on the chances which came their way. In the first half a long floater from the left flank by the right winger just went wide and later in the second half, Rupan's shot sailed over the bar from close range with the YPS goalkeeper at his mercy.
Later, St Xavier's (Blues) enjoyed territorial supremacy to hand out a 3-0 drubbing to Alpine School of Pinjore in the second semifinal encounter. Meaning business from the word 'go' St Xavier's shot into the lead in the seventh minute. The Alpine goal fell again in the 21 st minute through a 'self' goal. While trying to clear the ball, Alpine defender Himanshu netted it into his own goal. Five minutes later, Rishab rounded of the winners' tally in the 26th minute.
Earlier, St Xavier's (Blues), Panchkula defeating Stepping Stones of Chandigarh by 3-1. Ankur (2nd and 5th) and Rishab (23rd) were the winners' scorers. Chaitenya reduced the margin for Stepping Stone in the 26th minute in the first quarterfinal outing.
YPS Mohali and Little Flower School, Panchkula played a goalless draw in the regulation period. The issue was resolved in penalty shoot out. Midul and Samar converted their spot kicks as YPS won by 2-0 in tie-breaker.
A fine brace by Sehaj (4th, 10th) guided Ryan International School, Chandigarh into semifinal with a 3-0 victory over Doon International School, Mohali. Karan had given Ryan International the lead in the second minute of the game.
In the fourth quarterfinal engagement, Alpine School of Pinjore defeated Holy Child of Panchkula by 2-0. Rahat (7th) and Rigzin (27th) scored one goal each.

September 25

RESULTS & NEWS

2007 AFC Cup - Quarterfinal - Beirut: Al-Nijmeh, LEBANON 3-3 Mahindra United
Goals: 1-0 Mohammad Ghaddar (12'), 2-0 Ante Milas (23'), 2-1 Edson Dico Minga (33'), 2-2 Harpreet Singh (64'), 2-3 Andrews Pomeyie Mensah (78'), 3-3 Milan Bugonovic (90'+5').
For detailed information go to the IndianFootball.Com AFC Cup 2007 Special .

Bangalore Super Division: BEL 0-0 SAI, Bangalore - Goals: none.
Bangalore 'A' Division: HMT 1-4 Universal FC - Goals: 0-1,1-4 Sunil (26',82'), 1-1 Sundar (45'), 1-2 Suresh Babu (75'), 1-3 AFM Anthony (76').
Goa Professional League: Salgaocar SC 3-1 Vasco SC - Goals: 1-0 Milagres Gonsalves, 1-1 Joy Ferrao, 2-1 Nicolas Rodrigues (69'), 3-1 TV Biju Kumar.
Goa Professional League: Sporting Clube de Goa 6-2 Velsao Pale SC - Goals: 0-1 Mariano Cruz (17'), 1-1,3-1,4-1 Terence Lobo (21',29',35'), 2-1 Boniface Ngairah Ambani (23'), 5-1 Eze Isiocha (60'), 6-1 Micky Fernandes (65'), 6-2 John Barreto (78' pen).

59th Independence Day Cup, Nagaon - Qualifiers: Diphu Reunion Society 1-3 Sanjivan Samaj, Nagaon

::: INDIA U18 lose seven goal thriller :::
As part of their exposure trip the INDIA U18 team played a friendly match yesterday afternoon against the U17 team of German Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart. The young Germans prevailed 4-3 in an thrilling match with both teams playing an attacking brand of football. The VfB Stuttgart boys were always ahead, but the INDIA U18 boys showed fighting spirit and were able to equalise on three occasions, but in the end they couldn't avoid defeat as they went down 3-4.

::: Indian football team leaves Wednesday for Dubai camp :::
IANS report: Riding high on the success of Nehru Cup win, the Indian football team leaves Wednesday for its overseas camp in Dubai before the 2010 World Cup qualifier match against Lebanon next month.
"We have a good chance of winning the match. The boys are on a high after the win against higher ranked teams like Syria in the Nehru Cup," India captain Baichung Butia told IANS from the camp in Goa.
"The win was needed very much for the sake of Indian football. We have gained momentum from the Nehru Cup win and a victory against Lebanon will keep the momentum going," he said.
India, who moved up six places to the 145th spot, will take on the 144th ranked Lebanon in the first match of the World Cup qualifiers October 8 in Beirut. India will then host the west Asian country in the return leg in Chennai October 28.
"They (Lebanon) are a quality side and one of the major football powers in west Asia. We have to give our best to get past the first round," said Bhutia.
India coach Bob Houghton is however, keeping the cards close to his chest and by now must have gathered much knowledge about the Lebanese team. The Englishman had spent a few years of his coaching career in the Middle East and is well aware of Lebanon's style of play.
The chief coach also came directly from Cape Town to see Mahindra United play Lebanon's top club Al-Nijmeh in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium here September 18. Houghton had a fair idea after he saw three national players Mohammed Gaddar, Bilal Najjarine and Yehia Hachem, who play for Nejmeh.
The mood in the camp is upbeat and some of the players said Houghton has changed the mentality of the team.
"Houghton has instilled an attacking mentality in us. The team will give a tough fight and we will go for a win against Lebanon," said defender and senior player Mahesh Gawli.
The Indian team will camp in Dubai till October 5 and reach Beirut the next day. Five Mahindra United players, who have gone to Beirut to play the return leg of the AFC Cup match against Al-Nijmeh will join the team in Dubai Thursday.

::: Ankur hattricks in Ess Vee Soccer Cup :::
by Balbir Singh: Ankur held the spotlight by performing hattrick as St Xavier's Blues of Panchkula routed Delhi Public School B Team, Pinjore, by 5-0 in the opening match of the Ess Vee Soccer Cup for Under-13 being organised by Samar Estates Private Limited at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Sector 3 here today. The tournament was inaugurted by Panchkula Deputy Commissioner RK Kataria.
With proper understanding among Jasmeet and Rishab, Ankur forced DPS B to fight with back to the wall. The St Xavier's Blue striker Ankur opened his account in the fifth minute and pumped another goal four minutes later. He completed his three-in-a-row feat in the 15th minute. Rishab (25th) and Jasmeet (28th, penalty) contributed one goal each to swell the victory margin of St Xavier's Blue team.
Yadvindra Public School og Mohali proved lucky in the tie-breaker session as they beat St Xavier's Black, Panchkula by 2-0 in penalty shoot out after the teams played a goalless draw in the stipulated period. Sidhak and Amit converted their penalties. Doon International School, Mohali eked out a narrow 1-0 triumph over Baptish School of Chandigarh. In an evenly contested match, the all-important goal was scored by Sartaj Singh in the fifth minute of the game.
In the third match, Stepping Stone of Chandigarh advanced to the next round at the expense of St Xavier's Mohali whom they beat by 2-0. Both goals were scored by Manjit within a span of two minutes. His first goal came in the 10th and second two minutes later. Alpine School of Pinjore defeated Jaiender School of Panchkula by 1-0. Rahat Aggarwal snatched the match winner in the 7th minute.
Little Flower Convent School, Panchkula outplayed Ryan International School B team Sector 49 Chandigarh by 4-0. The highlight of the match was fine show by Jaitej who scored in the 9th, 27th and 30th minutes. Vishal contributed one in the 13th minute. Holy Child of Panchkula and Ryan International A team of Chandigarh moved up as their rivals did not turn up for their matches.
Earlier, Vinod Bagai, Managing Director of Samar Estates Private Limited announced that the tournament would be an annual feature to provide a platform for upcoming talents in the age group of 11 to 13.

September 24

RESULTS & NEWS

The latest IndianFootball.Com Editor's Column by PS Parameswaran is title "Nadumparambil Pappachan Pradeep - The Powerhouse of Indian football" looks at one of the rising stars of Indian football.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Editor's Column .

Bangalore Super Division: CIL 1-5 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC - Goals: 0-1,0-3,0-4 M Satish Kumar (21',45+',51'), 0-2 Rajendra Prasad, 0-5 Bimal Minz (73'), 1-5 Pradeep (84').
Bangalore 'A' Division: Dharmaraja Union 5-5 Government Press - Goals: 1-0,5-5 Kelio (13',86'), 1-1,3-3,4-5 Vijay Babu (46',74',85'), 2-1 Alwyn (50'), 2-2 Sudhakar (65'), 3-2 Ganesh (66'), 3-4 Benedict (77'), 4-4 Sandeep (78')
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: ONGC, Mumbai - Kenkre Football Academy = match postponed due to heavy rains
Mumbai Super Division: Central Bank of India - Companeros = match postponed due to heavy rains

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 1: Uttarakhand 11-0 Pondicherry
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 2: Chandigarh 3-2 Tripura
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 7: Goa 8-0 Jammu&Kashmir

::: International Friendly - Lebanon draw UAE :::
In an international friendly yesterday in Dubai the United Arab Emirates held Lebanon to a one-all draw. UAE went ahead in the 17th minute through a Rashid Abdulrahman, but the Lebanese equalised just two minutes later through a Mahmoud Al Ali goal.
This international friendly was part of Lebanon's preparations for their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against India on October 8 and 28.

::: Signature Crest Monsoon Soccer Mania 2007, Goa :::
InteleNet, Mumbai won the "Signature Crest" Super Cup yesterday here in Goa at the Duler Ground, Mapusa. They defeated HP, Bangalore by 5-0. The tournament was held across six different cities, with winner of each leg coming to Goa for the Grand Finale. The total prize money for the Super Cup was Rs. 100,000 and Chima Okorie graced the occassion with his presence during the tournament as the Chief Guest.
Best Player; Suman (Reuters, Bangalore).
Best Goalkeeper: Humprey (InteleNet, Mumbai).

September 23

RESULTS & NEWS

Bangalore Super Division: Karnataka State Police 0-0 MEG - Goals: none.
Bangalore 'A' Division: Nationals FC 1-1 BHEL (EPD) - Goals: 1-0 Robin D'Souza (18'), 1-1 Manoj (48').
Calcutta Super Division: Aryan Club 2-0 FCI, Calcutta
Calcutta Super Division: SAIL - Tollygunge Agragami = match postponed due to heavy rains
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police - Railway FC = match postponed due to heavy rains
Goa Professional League: Churchill Brothers SC 2-1 MPT Sports Council - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (43',62'), 2-1 Rollan Fernandes (79').
Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Indian Navy - Bengal Mumbai FC = match postponed due to heavy rains
Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Mumbai Customs - Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers = match postponed due to heavy rains

30th Naroram Barman Football Tournament, Chamata - Final: FCI, Guwahati 4-1 Assam Police Blues

::: INDIA U18 train and enjoy their stay in Augsburg :::
After losing their first match on Thursday, the Indians took it easy on Friday to regenerate all day. In the evening the INDIA U18 visited the Icehockey match between Augsburg Panthers vs Eisbären Berlin. They arrived early to get a feel of the atmosphere of their first-ever match in an Icehockey stadium. They witnessed a fast-paced game which the team from Berlin won 9-4.
The stadium announcer made a nice gesture to mention that there are guests from India at the stadium, which resulted in a round of applause, which the Indians thoroughly enjoyed.
Saturday started with a shopping tour in the City-Galerie before the boys returned to the training ground in the afternoon, where they had an intensive session.
To see all the pictures go to the >>Indian National Team section

::: Sailen Manna benefit tie cancelled due to heavy rains :::
The benefit tie between Mohun Bagan AC and Howrah Mayor XI at the Howrah Municipal Stadium for former India and Mohun Bagan captain Sailen Manna had to be called-off due to heavy Monsoon rains which rendered the field unplayable.

September 22

RESULTS & NEWS

Bangalore Super Division: ADE 0-0 LRDE - Goals: none.
Bangalore 'A' Division: Sri Gajanana 0-5 AGORC, Bangalore - Goals: 0-1 William (30'), 0-2,0-3 Raju (40',47'), 0-4,0-5 Akkum (59',61').
Goa Professional League: Salgaocar SC 4-0 Velsao Pale SC
Goa Professional League: Sporting Clube de Goa 3-0 Vasco SC - Goals: 1-0 Boniface Ngairah Ambani (35'), 2-0,3-0 Lavino Fernandes (44',51').
Goa Professional League: Dempo SC 4-1 Raia Sporting Club - Goals: 0-1 Marcus Marcarenhas (29'), 1-1 Anthony Pereira (34'), 2-1,3-1 Ranty Martins Soleye (51',55'), 4-1 Nicholas Borges (63').
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: Western Railway - Maharashtra State Police = match postponed due to heavy rains
Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Central Railway - Mumbai FC = match postponed due to heavy rains

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 1: Gujarat 3-1 Pondicherry
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 2: West Bengal 0-0 Chandigarh
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 7: Assam 1-2 Jammu&Kashmir

::: FIFA referees' course starts in Goa :::
AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi inaugurated the three-day FIFA Course for Match Commissioners, Referee Instructors, Referees and Assistant Referees at the Majorda Beach Resort in Goa. Over 60 Indians will be learning the finer points from an international group of instructors. 15 Match Commissioners, 10 Referee Instructors, 43 Referees and Assistant Referees are attending the course ahead of the launch of the Pro League on November 23.
The group of international instructors consists of Rene Eberle (Switzerland), John Baker (England) and Mohammed Nazari (Malaysia), which is being coordinated by Mohammed Muhiseen Arif from the FIFA Development Office in Colombo.

::: St Xavier's Blue face DPS Pinjore B in Ess Vee Soccer Cup :::
by Balbir Singh: St Xavier's Blue Panchkula have been drawn to meet Delhi Public School B team, Pinjore, in the opening encounter of the Ess Vee Soccer Cup for Under-13 being organised by Samar Estates Pvt Limited at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Sector 3 of Panchkula from 25 to 27.
Addressing a press conference here today, Vinod Bagai and AK Kaushal of the organising committee said that 16 schools from Panchkula, Mohali, Chandigarh, Pinjore and Kalka would fight it out for the top honours. The winning team would be presented a glittering trophy and playing kits to their members. The runners-up and third place holders will be given trophies.
The spokesmen of the organising committee promised that that it would be an annual feature and more institutions would be involved in the tournament. "We have decided to promote this discipline from the grass root level. Gradually teams from other states would be invited to make it a national affair."
Regarding fielding of over age players, the organisers said "we will take appropriate steps to contain this malpractice." Medical examinations would be conducted on the doubtful cases, if required. "However, we are confident that no institution will induldge in this malpractice. The defaulting team may be scratched from the tournament."
AK Kaushal, who chairman of the Technical Committee of the Punjab FA said that he would make an effort for arranging an exhibition football match between the two teams of the Punjab Football Super League. "It this move materialises, it will further give a boost to football in Panchkula, Chandigarh and surrounding areas," said Kaushal, who is also PFA joint secretary.
Vinod Bagai said that Panchkula Deputy Commissioner R K Kataria would inaugurate the tournament.
The matches would be conducted by AIFF qualified referees from Haryana and Chandigarh. Deepak and Sanjeev Kanwar, who are looking at the technical aspects of the tournament said that the teams have been divided into two pools and the matches would be played on knockout basis.
The grouping are: Group A: St Xavier's (Blues) Panchkula; Delhi Public School B Team, Pinjore; Stepping Stone-38 Chandigarh; St Xavier's Mohai; Alpine School, Pinjore; Jainendra School, Panchkula; Holy Child, Panchkula; Mount Carmel, Chandigarh. Group B: St Xavier's (Black) Panchkula; Yadvindra Public School, Mohali; Baptist School, Chandigarh; Delhi Public School A team, Pinjore; Little Flower School, Panchkula; Doon International School, Mohali; Stone Brook, Kalka; Ryan International School, Chandigarh.

::: Orissa's Kalinga likely in January 2008 :::
This seasons Kalinga Cup All-India Football Tournament would be held from January 5 to 15, 2008 in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur across Orissa. This year the organisers are planning have 15 teams taking part, besides seven local teams the organisers hope to attract eight quality sides from outside the state. The Orissa Government is going to contribute Rs 500,000 to meet the costs of the tournament.

September 21

RESULTS & NEWS

In the latest IndianFootball.Com Guest Column lecturer L Santosh Singh under the title "Why Soccer Is So Great" looks at the success of soccer (as our football is called there) in the United States. And there are surely some ideas which we could follow in India.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Guest Column - L Santosh Singh .

Bangalore Super Division: BEML (EM) - Department of Youth Services&Sports = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Bangalore 'A' Division: South Western Railway Institute - Bangalore United FC = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Calcutta Premier League: Calcutta Port Trust 1-1 George Telegraph SC - Goals: 1-0 Kaushik Prasad, 1-1 Nooruddin Saleh.
Calcutta Premier League: Eastern Railway SC 1-0 Peerless SC - Goal: 1-0 Anthony Soren (78').
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: Bank of India - Mumbai United = match postponed due to heavy rains
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: ONGC, Mumbai - Akbar Travels = match postponed due to heavy rains

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 4: Tamil Nadu 1-4 Uttar Pradesh
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 6: Maharashtra 4-1 Haryana
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 6: Manipur 1-2 Jharkhand

::: INDIA U18 lose their friendly against Augsburg :::
The INDIA U18 boys lost their opening friendly match against the FC Augsburg U19 boys by two goals to nil in an interesting and entertaining match at the German clubs Paul-Renz-Sportanlage.
Stefan Müller in the 22th minute and Daniel Framberger in the 34th minute scored the goal for the winners, who had a strong first half. But our INDIA U18 played a good match creating a number of chances, especially in the second half but they couldn't convert them. INDIA U18 played two different squads in each half to give exposure to all players.
In the evening after the game the team went to the new "Fußball Kultur" restaurant and pub in town, where the boys had their dinner and had a chance to watch the UEFA-Cup match between 1.FC Nuernberg and Rapid Bucharest live on TV.
To see all the pictures go to the >>Indian National Team section

::: Nigerian Bernard signs as Delhi's Hindustan FC coach :::
Nigerian Bernard Operanozie has followed in the footsteps of his more illustrious countryman Chima Okorie to sign for a Delhi-based football club. Bernard was introduced to the media today as the new G4S Hindustan FC coach.
Bernard, who has played across India for Sesa Goa, Mohun Bagan AC, JCT Mills, FC Kochin and Mahindra&Mahindra over the years, was attached to Mohun Bagan AC until last season and even coached the Calcutta giants towards the end of the season after Chima had left them.

September 20

RESULTS & NEWS

Bangalore Super Division: Royals SC - MEG = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Bangalore 'A' Division: Reserve Bank of India,Bangalore - Rail Wheel Factory = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 0-0 Police AC
Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Union Bank of India - Indian Navy = match postponed due to heavy rains
Mumbai Super Division: Mumbai Port Trust - PIFA Colaba Young Stars = match postponed due to heavy rains

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 3: Karnataka 5-1 Meghalaya
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 5: Chhattisgarh 0-3 Madhya Pradesh
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 5: Delhi 1-1 Kerala
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 8: Mizoram 0-2 Punjab

::: INDIA U18 train and enjoy their first day in Augsburg :::
After having arrived on Tuesday, yesterday the INDIA U18 teams started the day with a morning session in the gym and then after lunch the boys had their first training session at FC Augsburg's Paul-Renz-Sportanlage. The aim was to get the jet lag out of the limbs. And then in the evening the boys like the INDIA U15 boys enjoyed an evening in the Middle Ages at the "Welser-Küche" restaurant in Augsburg. The boys and officials got the taste of an eight course menu in the ambience of the 15th/16th century.
Tonight the INDIA U18 boys play their first friendly match against FC Augsburg U19 at the Paul-Renz-Sportanlage on the Donauwörther Straße. The kickoff is at 18.30 CET with entrance free and anyone living closeby is invited to witness the match.
Talking about their first match assistant coach Mridul Banerjee told IndianFootball.Com that he was looking forward to this match and the overall exposure during this trip, but he said that the boys were tired and still feeling the jet lag.
To see all the pictures go to the >>Indian National Team section

::: Dempo player don't join the India camp :::
The India camp for their 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian Round 1 qualifier against Lebanon next month started today with the four called-up Dempo players missing along with the six boys from Mahindra United and goalkeeper Subrata Pal. The Mahindra United boys are away on AFC Cup duty for their club, while Subrata Pal is excused due to a personal matter and is expected to join the camp over the weekend.
The four Dempo players - Mahesh Gawli, Samir Naik, Climax Lawrence, Clifford Miranda - have not joined the camp as per instructions from their club. Dempo coach and club secretary Armando Colaco had said during the Federation Cup in Ludhiana that he would not release his player for the Dubai exposure trip and only would release the players for the World Cup qualifier.
The national team officials hoped that the players would join the camp ahead of their trip to Dubai, but nothing looked clear at the moment.

September 19

RESULTS & NEWS

::: INDIA rise to 145th in latest FIFA World Rankings :::
World football governing body FIFA today released the latest monthly rankings for September in which has risen by six places to 145th amongst 208 ranked nations. Winning the "ONGC" Nehru Cup India has gained 57 points in the rankings to now have 156 points, just three points and a place behind Lebanon, whom India face next month in their first round Asian qualifier for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
India has also gained a couple of places in the Asian standings, now ranked 24th out of 46 ranked Asian nations and territories.

Goa Professional League: MPT Sports Council 0-5 Dempo SC - Goals: 0-1,0-4 Chidi Edeh (38',64'), 0-2 Clifford Miranda (47'), 0-3 Climax Lawrence (57'), 0-5 Ranty Martins Soleye (74').
MPT: 1-Cosme Oliveira; 2-Rollan Fernandes, 21-Niazi Shaikh, 6-Sonny Gomes, 29-Berwini Teles, 17-Joseph Dias, 15-Michael Monteiro, 18-Augusto Monteiro, 8-Casmiro Peixoto, 11-Wilfred Gomes, 9-Kingsley Sequeira.
DEMPO: 31-Tyson Caido; 32-Sarvanand Korgaonkar, 23-Dominic Noronha, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 16-Samir Naik, 20-Riston Rodrigues, 15-Clifford Miranda, 8-Climax Lawrence, 6-Peter Carvalho, 9-Ranty Martins Soleye, 30-Chidi Edeh.
YELLOW CARDS: Sonny Gomes, Michael Monteiro, Casmiro Peixoto, Joseph Dias (all MPT); Samir Naik (Dempo).
REFEREE: Joao Pereira.
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Ashok Shirodkar, Prasad Surlekar.
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Parmanand Mandrekar.

Bangalore Super Division: Karnataka State Police - Army Service Corps = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Bangalore 'A' Division: South Western Railway Institute - Bangalore United FC = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Goa Professional League: Raia Sporting Club 0-0 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: none.
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: Mumbai Customs - Dena Bank = match postponed due to heavy rains

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 4: Uttar Pradesh 5-0 Nagaland
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 6: Manipur 4-2 Haryana
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 6: Maharashtra 2-1 Jharkhand

::: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier camp from tomorrow in Goa :::
The India camp for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian Round 1 qualifier against Lebanon next month will kickoff tomorrow in Cuncolim, Goa under national coach Bob Houghton, who has already arrived along with his coaching staff. The probables will train in Goa until September 25 without the six Mahindra United players, who will be in Lebanon for their clubs AFC Cup return-leg, and then fly across to Dubai for further training and exposure before heading for Beirut to face Lebanon on October 8. The return-leg in India will be on October 28 in Chennai.

::: Calcutta Premier League restarts tomorrow :::
The Calcutta Premier League restarts tomorrow after the end of the 29th Federation Cup. The remaining seven rounds will be held from September 21 to November 13 across the city and the IFA has released a revived schedule.
For the Calcutta Premier League fixtures .

::: Goa name State U16 team :::
The Goa FA hve named their 20 member squad for the 30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (Under-16 Nationals) to be played in Haldwani, Uttarakhand from September 16.
GOA U16: Myron Fernandes, Shane Temudo, Pandari Chopdeker (Vice-Captain), Elroy Da Silva, Philino Ratos, Shariq D'Silva, Roystan Fernandes, Francis Coutinho, Mario Lobo, Bharat Thapa, Billu Chavan, Meldon D'Silva, Vilfrax Furtado, Brandon Fernandes, Fernando Colaco, Jesvil D'Souza (Captain), Allwyn Fernandes, Albino Gomes, Sheldon Rodrigues, Hasten D'Costa. Coach: Pascoal Pereira; Manager: Cajetan Fernandes

September 18

RESULTS & NEWS

2007 AFC Cup - Quarterfinal - Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi: Mahindra United 1-2 Al-Nijmeh, LEBANON
Goals: 1-0 M Rafi Mohammed (47'), 1-1,1-2 Mohamad Ghadar (55',85').

Derick Pereira team was tested yet again in an important match after Federation Cup final at Delhi's Dr. Ambedkar Stadium today against Lebanon's Al Nijmeh Club in the AFC Cup quarterfinals. The first half saw Mahindra United dominating the game to a certain extent with some ball possession and a few chances at the goal. Indian international Ajayan played the key role for Mahindra's as the central midfielder in the first half. In the 16th minute Nejmeh's goalkeeper fumbled with ball at the top of the D and Mahindra's foreign recruit Douhou tried to convert it but couldn't. In the very next minute a corner taken by Steven Dias was well headed by NP Pradeep, which went above the post. Manjit Singh was booked in the 23th minute. Nijmeh players tried to come back into the game in the mid of the first half. In the 27th minute Ajayan passed the ball to Steven Dias on the left but Steven couldn't avail the chance. Sukhwinder Singh of Mahindra United was booked in the injury time of first half.
The second half started off with Mahindra up by one goal, scored on a rebound by Mohammed Rafi in the 47th minute. After conceding the goal Nijmeh players tried to build pressure on the Mahindra defence. They succeeded in scoring the equalizer courtesy Mohamad Ghadar in the 55th minute on a fine through pass by Abbas Atwi. After scoring Nijmeh players started dominating the midfield and their tall defenders kept Mahindra forwards at bay. Nijmeh's Mohamad Ghadar missed a close chance to score in the 65th minute, while Mahindra's Douhou made a good run inside the Nejmeh's box and crossed to Andrews Pomeyie Mensah from the left but couldn't convert it. Mohamad Ghadar scored the winning and his second goal of the match for Nejmeh in the 85th minute on a cross from Khaled Hameih.
Mahindra's coach Derrick Pereira in the post match conference said that the team is new and he tried the combination with Ajayan in midfield and NP Pradeep in defence. Also a few silly mistakes cost them the match.
India coach Bob Houghton was also present at the match after his return from South Africa as the Indian side will face Lebanon in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers next month.

MAHINDRA: 1-Subhasish Roy Chowdhury; 17-Sukhwinder Singh, 5-Harpreet Singh, 2-Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, 7-Sushanth Mathew, 23-Steven Dias, 29-Djidjia Douhou Pierre, 4-Krishnan Nair Ajayan, 12-Manjit Singh, 11-M Mohammed Rafi, 10-Andrews Pomeyie Mensah.
AL-NIJMEH: Abdo Tafeh; Ali Mohammed, Yehia Hachem, Abbas Atwi, Mirko Teodorovic, Milan Bogunovic, Ante Milas, Khaled Hamieh, Mohamad Ghadar, Bilal Cheik El Najjarine, Agop Donabidian.
YELLOW CARDS: Manjit Singh (23'), Sukhwinder Singh (45+1', both Mahindra United); Ali Mohammed (13', Al-Nijmeh).
REFEREE: Referee: Ali A.A. Al Mutlaq (Saudi Arabia).
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Mohina Al Shopaky (Saudi Arabia), Ibrahim A.A.M Debasi (Saudi Arabia).
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia).
For detailed information go to the IndianFootball.Com AFC Cup 2007 Special .

Bangalore Super Division: BEL SC - Oriental FC = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Bangalore 'A' Division: Dharmaraja Union - HMT = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Goa Professional League: Velsao Pale SC 0-2 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: 0-1 Cavin Lobo (14'), 0-2 Lairenjam Bisheshwor Singh (90+').
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: ONGC, Mumbai - Maharashtra State Police = match postponed due to heavy rains

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 3: Meghalaya 4-0 Himachal Pradesh
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 5: Madhya Pradesh 1-1 Kerala
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 5: Delhi 2-0 Chhattisgarh
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 8: Orissa 1-5 Punjab

::: IFA felicitates India Team & Bengal U21/U16 players :::
The Indian Football Association, India's oldest football governing body, organised a fascinating programme tonight to felicitate the players from Bengal who were members of the Indian team that won the "ONGC" Nehru Cup 2007, players of the Under-16 Bengal team that won the National Championship in 2006, players of the Under-21 Bengal team that won the National Championship in 2005 and players of the Under-21 Bengal team that won the National Championship in 2006. The dignitaries present at the occasion included Kshiti Goswami, Honourable Minister of the Government of West Bengal; SB Ganguly, President of the IFA; Subrata Dutta, AIFF Vice-President; and Utpal Ganguli, Honorary Secretary of the IFA. Among the prominent footballers present were the Indian skipper Baichung Bhutia, Mehraj din Wadoo, Subrata Pal, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Sanjeev Kumar Maria, Syed Rahim Nabi and Debabrata Roy. The event was brightened up by a performance by singer Francis Lepcha.
The Bengal U21 and U16 players received a cash prize of Rs. 5000 each along with a special blazer commemorating the occasion. The senior Indian players received a cash prize of Rs. 50,000.
Kshiti Goswami stressed the importance of giving football priority in the field of sports development and urged the IFA to continue its good work. He congratulated the young players for reigniting the spirit of victory in the hearts of Bengalis for whom football is an integral part of life. SB Ganguly requested the State Government to help the IFA in building a "Football Bhavan" or "Football House" which would function as the office of the IFA. He expressed regret at the fact that at the present cramped up office of the IFA, three Vice-Presidents have to share a single room and emphasised the importance of a proper office for a body like the IFA to function. He requested the stadium authorities to upgrade the facilities at the grounds so that even the "elite" class is attracted to football as in cricket. Subrata Dutta was proud to announce that the idea of organising such a felicitation programme had originated during his term as Honorary Secretary of the IFA but regretted the fact that due to financial constraints, the actual event never saw the light of day. He said that the Nehru Cup victory was not a flash in the pan but a definite step towards making India a footballing superpower in 10 to 15 years.
While felicitation programmes in football are quite rare, they do encourage the youngsters to surpass themselves and look forward to football as a profession in life. Here's hoping that such programmes are organised more often in conjunction with proper scouting programmes because only then will we have talented youngsters to felicitate for victories which will make the nation proud!

::: Germany: INDIA U15 leave, INDIA U18 arrive :::
While the INDIA U15 left Augsburg after a successful trip today, the INDIA U18 arrived today for their training camp which runs until September 29.
While the INDIA U18 boys arrived on a Lufthansa flight in Munich from Delhi, the INDIA U15 boys took the same flight back home. German second Division Bundesliga club FC Augsburg in southern Germany will once again play hosts for our Junior boys. Again three friendly matches have been organised and the INDIA U18 team is mainly made-up of Tata Football Academy cadets with 11 of the players attached to the Jamshedpur-based TFA.
INDIA U19: Laxmikant Kattimani, Venkatesh Chetan Kumar, Raju Eknath Gaikwad, Nirmal Chetri, Nallappan Mohanraj, Minto Boro, Rajiv Ghosh, Jewel Raja Shaikh, Jagtar Singh, Khangembam Thoi Singh, Khangembam Jibon Singh, Salil Usman Cherkkaparambil, Sathyan Sabeeth, Jagdeep Singh, Malsawmdawgliana, Robin Singh, Amarwant Singh, Mohamed Dada Nabeel, Jagroop Singh, Subodh Kumar, Malsawmkima Chhangte, Sushil Kisku, Pradeep Mohanraj. Colin Joseph Toal (Chief Coach); Mridul Kanti Banerjee (Assistant Coach); Thomas Joseph (Assistant Coach); Dr P Nagaraj (Physio); Ankur Dutta (Manager).

::: 3rd OIL Challenge Gold Cup from October 26 :::
The 3rd OIL Challenge Gold Cup will be held at the Nehru Maidan in Duliajan, Assam from October 26 to November 7. The tournament would once more be hosted by Oil India Limited with the winner taking Rs 100,000 home and the runners-up would get Rs 50,000.
The organisers are hopeing to have a field of at least 13 teams taking part. Amongst those invited are Mohammedan Sporting Club, Eastern Railway SC and Peerless SC all from Calcutta; Cuttack XI, Sikkim XI, Sher-e-Bengal from Chattisgarh, Nagaland Police and sides from across Assam.
Major problem for the 3rd OIL Challenge Gold Cup could be that the 120th Durand Cup and the 29th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup are also slotted for about the same time, while the Calcutta Premier League is said to be running at the time.

September 17

RESULTS & NEWS

Goa Professional League: Vasco SC 0-2 Salgaocar SC - Goals: 0-1 Shylo Malswam Tulunga (19'), 0-2 Felix Chimaokwu (90+').

SALGAOCAR: 1-Milagrio Medeira; 12-Remus Gomes, 8-Agnelo Colaco, 3-Peter Costa, 18-Samson Fernandes, 19-Shylo Malswam Tulunga, 25-Rocus Lamare, 30-Francis Fernandes, 33-Edison Sequeira; 26-Milagres Gonsalves, 10-Badmus Baba Thunde.
VASCO: 1-Juje Siddi; 24-Fulgancio Cardozo, 3-Caitan Costa, 4-Kamal Thapa, 5-Tarzan Thomas K; 27-Queterio Pango, 6-Joy Ferrao, 30-Menino Fernandes, 14-Joel Sequeira, 11-Mathew Odje, 16-T Sajith.
YELLOW CARDS: Kamal Thapa, Mathew Odje (both Vasco); Remus Gomes, Agnelo Colaco, Samson Fernandes (all Salgaocar),
YELLOW-RED CARD: Remus Gomes (Salgaocar).
REFEREE: Benjamin D'Silva.
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Rogunath Gosavi, Edigio D'Costa.
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Maria Rodrigues.

Bangalore Super Division: SAI, Bangalore - CIL = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Bangalore 'A' Division: Government Press - Nationals FC = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Bengal Mumbai FC 0-7 Mumbai FC - Goals: 0-1,0-3,0-4,0-5 Abhishek Yadav (10',62',64',66'), 0-2 Alex Ambrose, 0-6 Ujjal Kumar Ghosh (79'), 0-7 Nishant Mehra.
Mumbai Super Division: Air-India U19 - Rizvi Mumbai Muslims - Goals: -.

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 4: Tamil Nadu 2-0 Nagaland
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 6: Manipur 1-3 Maharashtra
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 6: Haryana 2-1 Jharkhand

48th ATPA Shield - Final: Assam Rifles 1-1,1-0 Oil India Limited [extratime] - Goals: 0-1 Durga Boro (12'), 1-1,2-1 Akum Ao (64',108').

::: Goan footballer killed :::
22 year old footballer Raymond Marques was killed yesterday in a road accident near Sauri-Zuari in Goa yesterday afternoon, when a tourist bus on the way from Panaji to Margao hit his motorcycle head on. The bus driver was later arrested.
Raymond Marques has played for Sporting Clube de Goa last season after passing out from the Sesa Football Academy and has also represented Goa state in the first Luzofonia Games held in Macao in October 2006.

SOCCEREX NEWS: FIFA President & General Secretary to visit Soccerex 2007 Following Joseph S Blatter's special address at Soccerex last year, and after attending 7 of the previous 10 Soccerex conventions, the President of FIFA has again confirmed his plans to visit Soccerex 2007 in South Africa on Monday 26th November. Accompanying The President will be Jerome Valcke, who will be visiting Soccerex for the first time in his newly appointed role as FIFA General Secretary. Both the FIFA President and General Secretary will be in South Africa for the World Cup draw, taking place in Durban on 25th November. And with hundreds of Federations, Broadcasters and Sponsors also taking part in the Draw, Soccerex has extended a special invitation to all those attending to visit Soccerex as they pass through Johannesburg on their return journey. Early indications show that the vast majority of Federations will be following in the footsteps of Joseph S Blatter and Jerome Valcke as they plan to visit Soccerex once the draw proceedings have concluded. Joseph Sepp Blatter, FIFA President commenting on Soccerex 2006: "On behalf of FIFA I would like to congratulate you sincerely on bringing the world of soccer together for the past ten years. The Soccerex exhibition arena has proved to be an unparalleled success, allowing companies to schedule meetings and promote their services to the global football industry. I was curious to explore the latest innovations in the exhibition halls and what I saw convinced me that you have accomplished a great deal to promote football!" For more go to Soccerex website

::: Assam name State U16 team :::
The Assam FA hve named their 15 member squad for the 30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (Under-16 Nationals) to be played in Haldwani, Uttarakhand from September 16.
ASSAM U16: Hemanta Boro, Bijoy Rabha, Bitu Chetry, Subakhan Rabha, Jenga Rongmei, Diganta Goyari, Bikram Limbu, Wilson Dewri, Prabal Pratim Deka, Banajit Pathak, Biman Singh, Alen Dewri, Farhan Ahmed, Dipankar Das, Rohit Saikia. Coach: Bidhan Das; Assistant Coach: Bikash Baruah; Manager: Hem Das.

September 16

RESULTS & NEWS

Bangalore Super Division: Postal Department 0-0 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC - Goals: none.
Bangalore 'A' Division: BHEL (EPD) 6-0 Sri Gajanana - Goals: 1-0,4-0,5-0 Dhoni (77',82',85'), 2-0 Ramesh (78'), 3-0,6-0 Shoban (81',90').
Calcutta Super Division: Railway FC 0-1 Indian Air Force, Barrackpore
Calcutta Super Division: FCI, Calcutta 0-3 SAIL
Calcutta Super Division: Calcutta Customs 1-0 West Bengal Police
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami - Police AC = match not played due to lack of doctor at the ground, referee therefore cancels match
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: Bank of India 2-1 Kenkre Football Academy
Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Central Railway 3-1 Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers - Goals: 1-0 Kasif Jamal (57'), 1-1 Dhananjay Yesare (59'), 2-1,3-1 Aziz Qureshi (70',82').

30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 3: Karnataka 17-0 Himachal Pradesh
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 5: Delhi 4-1 Madhya Pradesh
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 5: Kerala 8-0 Chhattisgarh
30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U16 Nationals) - Group Stage Cluster 8: Mizoram 4-0 Orissa

::: Pro League to finally kickoff on November 23 :::
The Inaugural Professional Football League, likely to be named I-League, will kickoff on November 23 according to statements made by AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi on the sidelines of the 29th Federation Cup final yesterday.
This tentative date ensures that if India do beat Lebanon in the first round, then they would play their second matches on November 9 and 18 ahead of the Pro League launch.

::: Bangalore District FA postpone matches :::
The Bangalore District FA committee has decided to suspend all matches in the Super and 'A' Divisions on September 17, 18 and 19 due to poor ground conditions. The matches would be rescheduled to a later date.

::: Four Goan Teenagers leave for Portugal :::
Four Goan teenagers left for Portugal tonight to train at Portuguese club Victoria Guimaraes for the next ten month's. Besides talented Joshua Vaz, who has trained at the club from February to June 2007, his brother Charlton Karl Vaz, Dawson Dino Fernandes and Aiken Francis Dias would be training at the club to enhance their footballing skills to become better players and maybe make a name in the future on the European football circuit.

September 15

IndianFootball.Com congratulate East Bengal Club on winning the 29th Federation Cup title!!!

::: LIVE COVERAGE - 29th Federation Cup - Matchday 10 - The Final :::
The newly revamped IndianFootball.Com's MATCH CENTER will be covering the final match from the 29th Federation Cup in Ludhiana today. The match will start at 18.30 IST (15.00 CET / 14.00 GMT). Enjoy the coverage...
>>> LAUNCH THE INDIANFOOTBALL.COM MATCH CENTER

29th "Hero Cycles" Federation Cup 2007 - Final: East Bengal Club 2-1 Mahindra United
Goals: 1-0,2-0 Edmilson Marques Pardal (36' pen, 45'+1'), 2-1 Manjit Singh (45'+3', pen).

East Bengal Club beat Mahindra United 2-1 in the finals of the 29th Federation Cup at the floodlit Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana tonight to win their fifth overall Fed Cup title. For the Calcutta giants it was their first Fed Cup title since 1996 and two goals from their talismanic Brazilian striker Edmilson gave the red-and-gold their first title under coach Subrata Bhattacharjee.

EAST BENGAL: 24-Subrata Pal ; 27-Irungbam Surkumar Singh, 3-Majekodumni Bolaji, 2-Muttath Suresh, 29-Saumik Dey; 19-Syed Rahim Nabi, 26-Mehraj din Wadoo (82' 17-Abdul Samed Okocha), 7-Jayanta Sen, 9-Alvito D'Cunha (74' 6-Dipankar Roy); 30-Edmilson Marques Pardal (90' 10-Dipendu Biswas), 25-Ashim Biswas.
MAHINDRA UNITED: 24-Sandip Nandy; 16-Sunil Kumar, 5-Harpreet Singh, 7-Sushanth Mathew, 14-Dhanraj Ravanan; 23-Steven Dias (78' 11-M Mohammed Rafi), 29-Djidjia Douhou Pierre, 4-Krishnan Nair Ajayan, 12-Manjit Singh (79' 9-Surajit Bose); 26-Edson Dico Minga (46' 17-Sukhwinder Singh), 10-Andrews Pomeyie Mensah.
YELLOW CARDS: Mehraj din Wadoo (45'+2'), Edmilson Marques Pardal (54'), Alvito D'Cunha (64'), Subrata Pal (88', all East Bengal); Sunil Kumar (35'), Harpreet Singh (35'), Dhanraj Ravanan (54', all Mahindra).
YELLOW-RED CARD: Sunil Kumar (42', Mahindra)
REFEREE: K Shankar (Tamil Nadu).
More information, post-match comments and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com Federation Cup section

Bangalore Super Division: BEML (EM) - LRDE = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Bangalore 'A' Division: South Western Railway Institute - Tilak Memorial = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: Akbar Travels 2-2 Western Railway
Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Indian Navy 0-0 Mumbai Customs - Goals: none.

48th ATPA Shield - Semifinal: Nagaland Police 1-1,4-5 Oil India Limited [penalties] - Goals: 0-1 Durga Boro (51'), 1-1 Vizoroo (70').

::: Chennai to host India-Lebanon :::
The Nehru Stadium in Chennai will host the INDIA - Lebanon return-leg of the first round Asian qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup - South Africa. A number of football centres were mentioned as possible venues like Delhi, Goa and Calcutta, but in the end Chennai got the go ahead.
The camp which starts next week is set to see some new faces with players to be recommended for Bob Houghton to have a look. Amongst them are Ashim Biswas (East Bengal), OK Javeed (Viva Kerala) and Pachau Lalam Puia (Mohun Bagan).

::: AIFF requests Goan clubs to release players :::
The AIFF is not taking a confrontational position on the issue of players release against Dempo SC and Churchill Brother SC, both from Goa, who are reluctant to release their players for the India camp ahead of their crucial 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Lebanon next month.
As per the plans the Indian national team would assemble in Goa on September 20 and leave for Dubai on September 25 for a camp and exposure trip ahead of their first leg in Beirut, Lebanon on October 8.
In a letter to the two clubs, AIFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco wrote that in the bigger interest of Indian football it is necessary to have a good performance of the national team to raise the profile of Indian football.
While Churchill Brothers might change their stance as they only have Gouramangi called-up to the India camp, numerous of Dempo stars would be called. Dempo says that they would release the players for the World Cup qualifier but not the Dubai camp as per FIFA regulations.
One will see what happens, but hopefully in the interest of Indian football Dempo agrees to release their players for the camp.

::: Viva Kerala look to strengthen team ahead of Pro League :::
Viva Kerala's seasoned coach AM Sreedharan have confirmed to IndianFootball.Com that striker Ebin Rose (Titanium XI, Thiruvananthapuram) has joined Viva Kerala for the rest of the season on loan to strengthen their forward line. When asked to comment about IM Vijayan coming out of retirement to sign for Viva Kerala, he told us that the discussions were ongoing with no results so far and the same was the case with former Viva Kerala player Justin Stephen, who is with Mahindra United, whom the club want to return for a season long loan. Sreedharan has also confirmed that Appa Rao Chiman have left the club for a Mumbai-based club for a season long loan.
To add to Viva's woes the players's valubales like boots, jerseys, etc where stolen from their camp. They came to know of the incidence only after returning to the camp base. Sreedharan confirmed that things worth Rs.20,000 were stolen from the camp.

September 14

RESULTS & NEWS

::: INDIA U15 also win final friendly against FC Augsburg U16 :::
On day eight of their training camp in Augsburg, southern Germany the INDIA U15 team took on the U16 Juniors of their hosts FC Augsburg, the third friendly in as many days. After victories against VfB Stuttgart U15 (2-0) und TSV 1860 Munich (2-1) the INDIA U15 rounded it off with another 2-0 victory. But today they had to go through some anxious moments in the first half as FC Augsburg were awarded a penalty, which they missed. In the second half the INDIA U15 boys played a better match and walked away deserving 2-0 winners.
After the match INDIA U15 manager Ankur Datta saw the opportunity and utilised it to presented FCA managing director Andreas Rettig an exclusive momento in the name of the AIFF and thanked the club for their good organisation of the whole trip. The INDIA U15 will train for a few more days in Augsburg before catching a flight back home to India on Monday, September 17.
For our young boys the training cum exposure trip has been a great learning experience on and off the pitch, which they hopefully will utilise in their AFC U16 Championship qualifiers against tough opposition like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Two out of the six teams make it to the Asian finals.
To see all the pictures go to the >>Indian National Team section

Bangalore Super Division: MEG - BEL SC = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Bangalore 'A' Division: AGORC, Bangalore - Rail Wheel Factory = match postponed due to monsoon rains
Calcutta Super Division: Police AC 1-0 FCI, Calcutta
Mumbai Elite Division - Group A: ONGC, Mumbai 1-0 Mumbai United - Goal: 1-0 Rakshak Naik (73').

48th ATPA Shield - Semifinal: Assam Rifles 1-0 ASEB, Guwahati - Goal: 1-0 D Mukhim (55').

::: Delhi name State U16 team :::
The Delhi SA hve named their 19 member squad for the 30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (Under-16 Nationals) to be played in Haldwani, Uttarakhand from September 16.
DELHI U16: Goalkeepers: Satyam Thapa, Attiullah Khan, Ashish Sharma; Defenders: Munmun, Nikhil Mahajan (vice-Captain), Dawan Dutta, Pretam, Bhuvan Kapoor, Aditya Chetri, Chandan Singh; Midfielders: Rockhadson (Captain), Samrah Negi, Sachin Kohli, Chement Adhikari, Bharat Singh; Forwards: Abhishek Rawat, Raju Thapa, Ranjeet Kumar, Arun Sharma.

September 13

RESULTS & NEWS

Today's guest column comes from Armstrong Vaz, who in his write-up "FIFA referee Maria Rebello - A Role Model for Indian Girls" looks at the life and achievements of Indian FIFA Women's Referee Maria Rebello.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Guest Column - Armstrong Vaz .

::: INDIA U15 also beat 1860 Munich U15 in friendly :::
The INDIA U15 scored their second win in as many days as they beat the U15 boys of the German second Division side TSV 1860 Munich 2-1 on an artificial turf at the clubs Gruenwalder Strasse traing ground.
But before the match the boys visited the Allianz Arena, Munich's 2006 FIFA World Cup opening venue, one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world. The boys had lunch in the stadium's restaurant "A la Carte" and thereafter took a tour of the stadium getting to see the changing rooms, the terrace and getting all possible facts and number about the stadium and its construction.
After the Stadium tour it was off to the Gruenwalder Strasse, where 1860 Munich have their training facilities. There the INDIA U15 boys beat the Junior "Lions" as 1860 call themselves in an interesting match. Ahead of the match India U15 manager Ankur Datta handed over a momento in the AIFF's name.
In the evening both sides had dinner together at the "Harlachinger Einkehr" restaurant before our boys returned to Augsburg.
The INDIA U15 play their final friendly match today against the U16 side of their hosts FC Augsburg.
To see all the pictures go to the >>Indian National Team section

Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Bengal Mumbai FC 1-0 Dena Bank - Goal: 1-0 Saad Ansari (90+3').
BMFC: Arijit Mondal; Saad Mohamed Ansari, Sameer Ansari, Mohan Sarkar, Reza Mohamed, Atish Ruke (84' Siddharth Srivastava), Aqueel Ansari, Faique Ansari, Shaikh Abu (77' Ronald Texeira), Nazimul Haque, Robin Kujur (62' Satish Singh Keer).
Dena Bank: Hemant Waghela; Milind Palkar, Zaid Ansari, Sagar Shetty, Ryan John (68' Denzil Fernandes), Atish Koli, Aazar Ansari, Pankaj Koli, Samuel Jamble, Melroy Fernandes (74' Prashant Moses), Dhananjay Tandel.
Yellow Cards: none.
Referee: Ramesh Subramaniam.
Man of the Match: Nazimul Haque.

Bangalore Super Division: ADE 2-0 Department of Youth Services&Sports - Goals: 1-0 Donnald (48'), 2-0 Dakshinamurthy (74').
Bangalore 'A' Division: Reserve Bank of India, Bangalore 0-3 Bangalore United FC - Goals: 0-1 Ramesh (12th), 0-2 Madhukaran (55'), 0-3 Kamal (65').
Calcutta Super Division: Calcutta Customs 3-0 Indian Air Force, Barrackpore
Calcutta Super Division: SAIL 1-0 Aryan Club
Calcutta Super Division: Railway FC 0-0 Tollygunge Agragami
Calcutta Super Division: Police AC - FCI, Calcutta = abandoned due to heavy rain

48th ATPA Shield - Quarterfinal: Oil India Limited 3-0 Tinsukia Railway SC - Goals: 1-0 Jayanta Basumatary (21'), 2-0 Birjab Mushahary (28'), 3-0 Durga Boro (58').

::: Tamil Nadu FA delegation at the AFC :::
The Vision India programme of the Asian Football Confederation is set to spread to new states. One of them is Tamil Nadu and today a two day workshop started at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur to discuss a tailor-made football development plan for the southern state.
The first day of the workshop saw the visitors providing their feedback on the draft Vision India - Project Tamil Nadu Strategic Plan, with discussion focused on the aims, strategy, agreement on implementation.
Detailed discussions and presentations on several key aspects of the Vision programme like grassroots and youth, coach and referees' education, action plans will be held on the last day tomorrow.

September 12

RESULTS & NEWS

::: LIVE COVERAGE - 29th Federation Cup - Matchday 9 :::
The newly revamped IndianFootball.Com's MATCH CENTER will be covering as many matches as possible from the 29th Federation Cup. Today we continue the coverage...
>>> LAUNCH THE INDIANFOOTBALL.COM MATCH CENTER

29th "Hero Cycles" Federation Cup 2007 - Semifinal: Dempo SC 1-1,0-0,1-3 Mahindra United (penalties)
Goals: 0-1 Manjit Singh (32'), 1-1 Roberto Mendes Silva (38').

Penalty Shootout:
- Roberto Mendes Silva misses... Subhashish makes a great save to his right...
- NP Pradeep scores... to the left of the keeper...
- Chidi Edeh scores... fires it to the left of the keeper...
- Harpreet Singh scores... a grounder to the right corner of the goal...
- Climax Lawrence misses... balloons it over...
- Djidjia Douhou Pierre scores... to the left of the keeper, who got a hand to it...
- Ranty Martins Soleye misses... Subhashish saves the second penalty of the night...

The 2003 & 2005 champions Mahindra United beat the 2004 champions Dempo SC 4-2 after penalties in the second semifinal of the 29th Federation Cup at the floodlit Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. Mahindra United would now face East Bengal Club in the tournament finals on Saturday.
Like in the quarterfinals against Sporting Clube de Goa, the hero of the night was goalkeeper Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, who came on seconds before the final whistle and he was once more outstanding in the penalty shootout saving two penalties of Roberto Mendes Silva and Ranty Martins Soleye to take his team to the final as also Climax Lawrence ballooned his shot over the crossbar.
Earlier in the evening Dempo made a bright start pressuring the Mahindra United defence and tried to create numerous chances, but today their striker and midfielders didn't function like a well oiled machine as in the previous matches. Their Nigerian strike force of Ranty Martins Soleye and Chidi Edeh were a shadow of the deadly duo they had been in the two earlier games with the Mahindra defence keeping them under wrap. Mahindra on the other side played a controlled game, they surely missed an inform Steven Dias due to a suspension, but they still where able to wait for chances to pierce through the Dempo defence. One such chance gave the Jeepmen the lead in the 32nd minute. A pass from Edson Dico Minga found Manjit Singh on the right, who took a right-footed first timer which beat Abhijit Mondal in the Dempo goal and went into the far corner of the goal. After going down by a goal Dempo upped the tempo and got the equaliser in the 38th minute through Brazilian Roberto Mendes Silva. It was a good build-up for Dempo as Clifford Miranda played the ball back to the edge of the box to Beto, who back healed the ball to Ranty, who doesn't get to the ball proper but the Mahindra defenders are't able to clear the ball and the ball falls to Beto, who slots home.
In the second half the action was mainly confined to the midfield with both sides fighting to control the midfield and feed their strikers, but that didn't happen too often. In some stages the match got really rough but referee Arjunan didn't had out the necessary punishment. Dempo's international Samir Naik kicked Sushanth Mathew with both legs while falling down and only got a yellow card, while Mahindra's Krishnan Nair Ajayan and Sushanth Mathew could have not complained if the referee had given them marching orders for a couple of punishable offences. But Mahindra would be hurt by the second yellow card that NP Pradeep picked-up in the match, which means he misses the final.
In the first half extratime Mahindra United looked like the fitter side and they created a few chances to go ahead with the best chance being a NP Pradeep freekick which just went wide. But in the second half of extratime it was a different story as Dempo went all out for the winner. Mahindra was playing to get into the penalties, while Dempo wanted to avoid them knowing what Mahindra United had done to Sporting Clube de Goa. In the last couple of minutes substitue Jerry Zirsanga and Climax Lawrence could have been the heroes for Dempo, but on both occasions Mahindra keeper Sandip Nandy, who had a great game, was there to deny them the victory.
In the penalty shootout Subhashish Roy Chowdhury came into his act and Mahindra United have now copied two-thirds of Mohun Bagan's exploits last year where the Calcutta giants won their quarterfinal, semifinal and final match on penalties to lift the Fed Cup trophy.
Something which will worry East Bengal as history does repeat itself...

DEMPO: 1-Abhijit Mondal; 18-Valeriano Rebello, 3-John Charles Dias, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 16-Samir Naik, 6-Peter Carvalho (98' 12-Jerry Zirsanga), 8-Climax Lawrence, 11-Roberto Mendes Silva, 15-Clifford Miranda (105' 22-Nicolau Borges, 9-Ranty Martins Soleye, 30-Chidi Edeh.
MAHINDRA UNITED: 24-Sandip Nandy (120' 1-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury); 7-Sushanth Mathew, 5-Harpreet Singh, 2-Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, 14-Dhanraj Ravanan, 17-Sukhwinder Singh, 29-Djidjia Douhou Pierre, 4-Krishnan Nair Ajayan, 19-Izumi Arata (56' 11-M Mohammed Rafi), 26-Edson Dico Minga (67' 10-Andrews Pomeyie Mensah), 12-Manjit Singh.
YELLOW CARDS: Samir Naik (61', Dempo); Edson Dico Minga (42'), Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep (64'), Krishnan Nair Ajayan (70'), Sushanth Mathew (81'), Harpreet Singh (90', all Mahindra).
REFEREE: A Arjunan (Services).
More information, post-match comments and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com Federation Cup section

Mumbai Elite Division - Group B: Mumbai FC 1-2 Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers - Goals: 0-1 Dhananjay Yesare (4'), 0-2 Kailash Patil (45+1'), 1-2 Dane Pereira (90+1').
RCF caused somewhat of a surprise on the opening day of the Mumbai league season at the Cooperage ground, defeating the much vaulted Mumbai FC in an entertaining encounter. The newly formed big-money outfit coached by David Booth and managed by Henry Menezes, got off to a wrong start right form kick-off, as RCF's Dhananjay Yesare pounced on the confusion in the Mumbai FC defence following a long Lawrence Dias throw-in to tap the ball in from close range. Having got the early lead, RCF happily played on the counter for the rest of the half, looking to contain the Essel groups' team, being watched on by the company bigwigs. Mumbai FC were showing there lack of match-sharpness, this being their first competitive game of any sort, as only the seasoned Noel Wilson seemed to be trying to get a grip on things and make things happen. However, he was not helped much by his team-mates for the most part. In first half injury time, Rajib Shukla's unnecessary bookable offence resulted in RCF scoring again off the set-piece, this time Kalyan Chaubey erring in gauging the flight of the incoming free-kick, as Kailash Patil doubled the lead. The introduction of former Sporting Clube de Goa man Papiah Jagadish Kumar helped in give more creative thrust to Mumbai FC's play, but Abhishek Yadav was often left holding his head in his hands as he shot wide from quite a few good chances to reduce the deficit. Ashirwad Hegde did his team no favours by being sent off for a second bookable offence following a rash challenge. Former Mahindra youth winger Dane Pereira, being used in central defence by David Booth, managed to offer some respectability to the score-board on Mumbai FC's first outing, as he tapped in a deflection following a corner in injury time. But it was too little too late. RCF goalie Suhas Patil was adjudged man of the match for some crucial saves and timely collections off aerial balls aimed towards Abhishek.
The self-styled 'giants' of Mumbai FC now have it all to do if they hope to qualify for the play-off stage of the Mumbai league, as only two will make it from their preliminary group of eight. RCF would be happy to have thrown their hat into contention for the play-offs following this impressive showing.
Mumbai FC: Kalyan Chaubey; Lolendra Singh, Dane Pereira, Balpreet Singh, L Romenjit Singh (74' Jerome Sebastine), AJ Shemeer, Noel Anthony Wilson, Rajib Shukla (46' Papiah Jagadish Kumar), Nishant Mehra (35' Bengkok Nameirakpam), Alex Ambrose, Abhishek Yadav.
RCF: Suhas Patil; Allan Dias (66' Shayresh Bawkar), Ashirwad Hegde, Baleshwar Sharma, Avinash Dabodiya, Souvaid Ansari, Lawrence Dias, Monish Bhamre, Nigel D'Souza (72' Bhagwan Padhi), Kailash Patil, Dhananjay Yesare (83' Manoj Adhikari).
Yellow Cards: Rajib Shukla (45+1'), L Romenjit Singh (53', both Mumbai FC); Ashirwad Hegde (18', RCF).
Yellow-Red Card: Ashirwad Hegde (78', RCF).
Referee: Dhanraj More.
Man of the Match: Suhas Patil (RCF).

Bangalore Super Division: Army Service Corps 0-0 SAI, Bangalore - Goals: none.
Bangalore 'A' Division: Nationals FC 9-0 HMT - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Rajeev Verma (12',22'), 3-0 Robin D'Souza (45'), 4-0,5-0,6-0 Kiran (47',48',59'), 7-0,8-0 S Dhruv Kumar (67',73'), 9-0 Om Prakash (79').

48th ATPA Shield - Quarterfinal: ASEB, Guwahati 0-0,3-0 2nd Assam Special Reserve Force, Diphu [penalties]

::: INDIA U15 beat VfB Stuttgart U15 in friendly :::
The INDIA U15 scored an impressive 2-0 victory against the U15 team of German Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart yesterday afternoon at one of the clubs training grounds in Stuttgart. Both sides played an attacking, but fair game, where the young Indians scored of their chances.
After reaching Stuttgart, the INDIA U15 boys got a reception at the VfB Club Restaurant and also had lunch together with their opponents the VfB Stuttgart U15 boys. The boys took a tour of the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium which included having a feel of the ground, the players tunnel, changing rooms, mixed zone, the press working area plus the Hospitality area. In the evening the two sides had dinner together at the VfB Club Restaurant before taking the bus back to their base in Augsburg.
To see all the pictures go to the >>Indian National Team section

::: Mumbai Football League starts today :::
The Mumbai Football League's top division, the Mumbai Elite Division, kicks-off today with newly formed Mumbai FC taking on Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers in their first official match. The Mumbai Super Division would have their first match on September 17.
For the Mumbai Elite Division fixtures .
For the Mumbai Super Division fixtures .

::: Manipur name State U16 team :::
The All-Manipur FA hve named their 20 member squad for the 30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (Under-16 Nationals) to be played in Haldwani, Uttarakhand from September 16.
MANIPUR U16: N Goutamjit, M Johny Singh, N Priyokumar, P Romesh Singh, Y Maheshchandra Singh, Kh Bony Singh, M John Singh, S Meiraba Singh, Th Johnson Singh, A Romesh Singh, O Tomba Singh, T Lalchandra Singh, Kh Satish Singh, Moahmmed Belal, K Reisaugmi, K Chingajek Muivah, Sh Dhaveshwar Singh, M Tomba Meitei. W Khogen Singh (Coach); M Ranjit Singh (Manager).

::: Kerala name State U16 team :::
The Kerala FA hve named their 20 member squad for the 30th Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (Under-16 Nationals) to be played in Haldwani, Uttarakhand from September 16.
KERALA U16: Goalkeepers: R Sreeraj (Trivandrum), TP Rehenesh (Calicut), AG Midhun (Thrissur). Defenders: Alex Thomas (Thrissur), Arun Thomas (Thrissur), Abhishek N Joshy (Ernakulam), KA Ajmal (Palakkad), TM Abilash (Kottayam). Midfielders: Aby S Pappalayil (Kollam, Captain), P Shameel (Mallapuram), P Vishnu (Mallapuram), TS Faizal (Thrissur), Akil Sathyan (Idukki). Forwards: K Sabin (Kottayam), Rahul Appukuttan (Pathanamthitta), KS Sanoop (Ernakulam), VT Ajmal Ali (Palakkad), M Kiran Kumar (Kasargod), K Harsheed (Mallapuram), V. Vipin (Palakkad). R Dinesh Chandran (Coach); M Mohanan (Manager).

September 11

RESULTS & NEWS

::: LIVE COVERAGE - 29th Federation Cup - Matchday 8 :::
The newly revamped IndianFootball.Com's MATCH CENTER will be covering as many matches as possible from the 29th Federation Cup. Today we continue the coverage...
>>> LAUNCH THE INDIANFOOTBALL.COM MATCH CENTER

29th "Hero Cycles" Federation Cup 2007 - Semifinal: East Bengal Club 3-2 Mohun Bagan AC
Goals: 0-1 Baichung Bhutia (12'), 1-1 Irungbam Surkumar Singh (25'), 2-1 Dipendu Biswas (35'), 3-1 Ashim Biswas (47'), 3-2 Jose Ramirez Barreto (71').

East Bengal Club won 3-2 against archrivals Mohun Bagan AC, who were the defending champions, to reach the finals of the 29th Federation Cup at the floodlit Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. East Bengal would now await tomorrow's other semifinal between Dempo SC and Mahindra United to know who they would face for the title decider on Saturday.
Sadly the biggest derby of Indian football was played infront of nearly empty galleries up north, though a few Bengalis did make the trip there from the "City of Joy". And they were surely not disappointed as they and the other fans where treated to a great derby match.
Both sides missed some key players. East Bengal were forced to replace their Brazilian hitman Edmilson, who had scored four goals in two matches, due to a hamstring injury; while Mohun Bagan had to replace their midfielder Shanmugam Venkatesh due to food poisoning. While Edmilson did sit on the bench for an emergency on the ground, Venkatesh couldn't even make it to the stadium.
For the start both sides fought for possession and control of the midfield. East Bengal looked the more organised outfit in the initial stages while Mohun Bagan needed some time to settle down. But when they did, they took the lead. In the 12th minute Jose Ramirez Barreto moves-up on the left and takes an angular shot on target to the far corner of the goal, to which Subrata Pal can only get his hands to it, but he puts it in the path of Baichung Bhutia, who makes no mistake to beat his India teammate. East Bengal coach Subrata Bhattacharya realised after going a goal behind that he has to do something to strengthen his attack as Alvito D'Cunha seems somewhat wasted as a striker and he wasn't an ideal partner for Ashim Biswas. In the 16th minute he took off Debabrata Roy and brought on Dipendu Biswas to move into attack while Alvito went back to his regular left winger position. And this move was to change the completion of the match in favour of East Bengal. East Bengal got the equaliser in the 25th minute when Jayanta Sen moves up with the ball squares it to Dipendu Biswas, who finds Surkumar Singh on the right and Surkumar takes a placed shot to the far corner of keeper Sangram Mukherjee. East Bengal had their rhythm back and took the lead in the 35th minute when Dipendu Biswas played a clever double pass with Syed Rahim Nabi and finished it off with a deflected shot past Sangram. Just before the breather Mohun Bagan upped the tempo in search of the equaliser. The best chance had Nigerian Mohammed Gafari, who received the ball from Barreto and was free on the left, but his shot went wide. Mohun Bagan coach Carlos Roberto Pereira decided to go more offensive by taking off Suman Datta and bringing on Lal Kamal Bhowmick just two minutes before the break, but East Bengal took the lead into the break.
And less then two minutes into the second half East Bengal were 3-1 up. Dipendu Biswas sprinted towards the Mohun Bagan goal, but found a better positioned Ashim Biswas on the right, who dodged Peter Odafe and Rauf Khan to place the ball cleverly into the near corner past Sangram. Coach Pereira had no option, but to go all out and brought on young striker Pachau Lalam Puia in place of Rauf Khan. East Bengal looked a little overconfident at this stage as they allowed their opponents to attack and they had to pay the price with Jose Ramirez Barreto scoring off a brilliant header past a charging Subrata Pal. East Bengal keeper Subrata Pal was now often in the focus as he made numerous exceptional save to keep his side infront. East Bengal did get a few chances through counter attacks, but nothing worth another goal as Mohun Bagan pressed hard in the final minutes of the match. Baichung Bhutia had the best of the chances in the first minute of injury time as he turned sideways and blashed the ball goalwards, but Subrata made an exceptional save to keep the goal out of goal.
Tonights win was sweet revenge for East Bengal, who had last month lost 3-4 to Mohun Bagan in their Calcutta Premier League derby las month.

EAST BENGAL: 24-Subrata Pal; 27-Irungbam Surkumar Singh, 3-Majekodumni Bolaji, 2-Muttath Suresh, 29-Saumik Dey; 19-Syed Rahim Nabi, 26-Mehraj din Wadoo (84' 17-Abdul Samed Okocha), 7-Jayanta Sen, 5-Debabrata Roy (16' 10-Dipendu Biswas); 25-Ashim Biswas, 9-Alvito D'Cunha.
MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 20-Sanjeev Kumar Maria, 7-Rauf Sher Khan (55' 9-Pachau Lalam Puia); 16-James Lukram Singh, 30-Mohammed Gafari, 27-Suman Datta (43' 22-Lal Kamal Bhowmick), 18-Dharamjit Singh; 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto, 15-Baichung Bhutia.
YELLOW CARDS: Subrata Pal (80', East Bengal); Sanjeev Kumar Maria (72', Mohun Bagan).
REFEREE: K Shankar (Tamil Nadu).
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat), ???.
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Benjamin D'Silva (Goa).
More information, post-match comments and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com Federation Cup section

Bangalore Super Division: Karnataka State Police 1-0 Southern Blues FC - Goal: 1-0 Karthik (14').
Bangalore 'A' Division: Universal FC 1-5 Dharmaraja Union - Goals: 0-1,1-4,1-5 Allwyn (11',58',90'), 0-2,0-3 Sam (14',16'), 1-3 Raju (24').
Calcutta Super Division: Aryan Club 1-0 Police AC
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 2-2 Indian Air Force, Barrackpore

::: Goa Pro League restarts on September 17 :::
The Goa Professional League will restart after the end of the ongoing 29th Federation Cup. The remaining nine rounds will be held from September 17 to October 21 across the state at the Nehru Stadium, Margai; Duler ground; and Tilak Maidan in Vasco.
For the Goa Professional League fixtures .

::: Malabar United: A young Team and with lot of hopes :::
With a young Team and with lot of hopes, Malabar United FC, Calicut's new professional football club, take its steps in the football arena. Malabar United FC is the third professional club Kerala ever had, though the first one FC Kochin disappeared from the scene all of a sudden, the second is Pro League team Viva Kerala. The club, which is registered in Kochi, but has its training base in Calicut, Malabar United will play in the Ernakukalm District league from this season itself.
The club started its first training sessions last month at EMS Corporation stadium in Calicut. With football climbing the popularity ladder in a big way, Malabar United - which has many NRIs on its board and prominent businessman Mannil Mohammed as its chairman - plans to fight its way through the district and State leagues and into the National League. The club has already signed agreements with 23 players including four former state players and plans to sign three Africans. Lodging facilities for the players have been arranged in a rented house at Eranhipalam and the city Corporation is learnt to have given the nod to use EMS Corporation stadium. The players were selected by a technical committee comprising former Indian players CC Jacob, Victor Manjila, Malappuram Azeez, Haris Rahman Areacode Kunhimohammed and Paulose. PK Rajeev, a sports development officer with State Sport Council is the coach.
"He has six years of experience as a coach, and the Sports Council has given permission to make use of his training abilities," Mannil Mohammed said.
The new club, being floated by Malabar Football Academy (P) Limited, has seven promoters, most of them NRIs. "We will have more promoters in near future and this venture aims promotion of football in Malabar," chairman and managing director Mannil Mohammed told IndianFootball.Com.
Malabar United FC Team: RA Renjith, CK Jitheesh, Amal Raj, R Rajeev, S Vincent, Jackson Sebastian, Sujith K Thomas, Roshan Davis, A Jafer, PG Vijeshmon, O Sarath, Daison Devadas, MV Kalesh, K Ranjith, C Ratheesh, P Pramod, CA Sanandh, SM John, PU Vijesh Kumar, MP Sakeer, A Rejulesh, M Rasheed, PU Saneesh.

::: 56th Bordoloi Trophy in November :::
The Guwahati Sports Association in its Golden Jubilee year is working hard to make the 56th Bordoloi Trophy a grand success. The GSA is planning to hold the tournament from November 8 to 25 at the Nehru Stadium. Two foreign teams in Port Authority of Bangkok, Thailand and Abahoni Limited, Bangladesh have confirmed their participation with second tier national sides like Mohammedan Sporting Club, Vasco SC, ONGC and Tata Football Academy also set to take part besides top teams from across the Northeast.

::: Subroto Cup starts on Friday in Delhi :::
India's national school football tournament, the Subroto Cup, will kickoff on Friday at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi. 66 school teams in the U14 and U17 sections will be seen in action in the month long tournament. The U14 finals will be on October 15, while the U17 finals will be a day later on October 16. Eight foreign school teams from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Malaysia and for the first time the United Arab Emirates will be taking part.
The prize money has been doubled this year. In the U17 category (Junior) the champions would take home Rs 100,000, while the runners-up would receive Rs 50,000. In the U14 category (Sub-Junior) the winners would pocket Rs 50,000, while the runners-up would receive Rs 30,000.

September 10

RESULTS & NEWS

::: LIVE COVERAGE - 29th Federation Cup - Matchday 7 :::
The newly revamped IndianFootball.Com's MATCH CENTER will be covering as many matches as possible from the 29th Federation Cup. Today we continue the coverage...
>>> LAUNCH THE INDIANFOOTBALL.COM MATCH CENTER

29th "Hero Cycles" Federation Cup 2007 - Quarterfinal: Dempo SC 2-0 Churchill Brothers SC
Goals: 1-0 Ranty Martins Soleye (14'), 2-0 Chidi Edeh (37').

National League champions Dempo SC beat a depleted Churchill Brothers SC 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the 29th Federation Cup at the floodlit Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. Dempo will face Mahindra United in the second semifinal on Wednesday evening.
Many expected a thrilling derby between the two Goan sides, but Dempo stamped their superiority against the young Churchill Brothers side from the start. Dempo took the lead in the 14th minute through a Ranty Martins Soleye header of a cross from Chidi Edeh. Only three minutes later Churchill Brothers were reduced to ten men, when their goalkeeper Vinay Singh wanting to stop an onrushing Ranty touched the ball with his hands outside the box. Referee Rizwan ul-Haq had no option but to show Vinay the red card and young Lalit Thapa took his place under the bar. The Churchill Brothers defence was having its problems in controlling the marauding Nigerians Ranty and Chidi for Dempo upfront. In the 32nd minute Vinu Jose couldn't stop Chidi without a foul, which resulted in a penalty for Dempo. But young Lalit Thapa denied Chidi and his team their second goal of the evening. Diving to his left Lalit parries the ball away. But in the 37th minute Dempo doubled their lead and Chidi did get his goal on the night by heading in a Clifford Miranda cross. Thereafter Churchill Brothers coach Karim Bencharifa substituted defender Vinu Jose with young N Govind Singh as Vinu, after having picked-up a yellow card, was close to getting also send-off having problems with Chidi and Ranty.
The second half saw much less action. Dempo where content with their two goal lead, while 10 men Churchill Brothers tried their best to reduce the deficit and maybe get back into the match. But their Nigerian hitman Odafe Onyeka Okolie had a rather quiet match being kept under the control of the Dempo defence, who had an outstanding day in office.

DEMPO: 1-Abhijit Mondal; 18-Valeriano Rebello, 3-John Charles Dias, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 16-Samir Naik, 12-Jerry Zirsanga (73' 6-Peter Carvalho), 8-Climax Lawrence, 11-Roberto Mendes Silva, 15-Clifford Miranda (77' 22-Nicolau Borges), 9-Ranty Martins Soleye, 30-Chidi Edeh.
CHURCHILL BROTHERS: 1-Vinay Singh, 8-Thokchom Naoba Singh, 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 27-Vinu Jose (39' N Govind Singh), 17-Robert Lalthalma, 14-Chitrasen Chandam Singh, 13-Mashangva Genius Zenith, 15-D Raju (18' 30-Lalit Thapa), 11-Khemtang Paite (62' 18-Thangjam Saran Singh), 10-Odafe Onyeka Okolie, 9-Stephen Njon Mbanyam.
YELLOW CARDS: Vinu Jose (32'), Odafe Onyeka Okolie (87', both Churchill).
RED CARD: Vinay Singh (17', Churchill Brothers).
REFEREE: Rizwan ul-Haq (Delhi).
More information, post-match comments and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com Federation Cup section

Bangalore Super Division: Royals SC 0-3 Oriental FC - Goals: 0-1,0-2 Immanuel Raj (9',66'), 0-3 Shekar (86').
Bangalore 'A' Division: Bangalore United FC 1-1 Sri Gajanana - Goals: 1-0 Chetan (51', 1-1 Gautam (63').
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 0-0 Calcutta Customs
Calcutta Super Division: Railway FC 2-1 FCI, Calcutta

::: INDIA U15 in Augsburg, Germany :::
The INDIA U15 team had arrived in Augsburg, Germany on last Thursday. Since then our boys have been training hard, but they have also enjoyed themselves seeing something of the town of Augsburg, the surrounding areas and yesterday they watched an Icehockey match of the Augsburg Panthers. Yes Icehockey and not field hockey, a sport which is very popular in some parts of Germany. The boys enjoyed this new experience, though the home side lost their German Icehockey League match against the Hanover Scorpions.
Tonight the boys enjoyed an evening in the Middle Ages at the "Welser-Küche" restaurant in Augsburg. The boys and officials got the taste of an eight course menu in the ambience of the 15th/16th century.
The INDIA U15 team are guests of German 2.Bundesliga side FC Augsburg and they have been training under the watchful eyes of India Technical Director Colin Toal at the clubs Paul-Renz-Anlage. Tomorrow they play their first friendly match against a Junior side of German Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart.
More reports and pictures will follow in the coming days...

::: Fed Cup: East Bengal - Mohun Bagan preview :::
by Dr Aniruddha Ghosh: The Mohun Bagan coach, Carlos Roberto Pereira da Silva was seen jubilantly pumping his fist in the air, as Jose Barreto scored his team's first goal, off a well rehearsed set piece corner movement, against Viva Kerala, in the second quarterfinal encounter of the 29th Federation Cup, at Ludhiana on Sunday. But Carlos knows too well that to keep his jubilation alive in this edition of the Fed Cup, his boys will have to perform several notches higher as they take on arch rivals, East Bengal Club, in the first semifinal, scheduled for tomorrow evening.
This will be the second time this season that the Calcutta giants will clash, the first being in the Calcutta Premier League, where the Green&Maroon brigade had defeated their Red&Gold counterparts, by 4-3. Whatever the score line suggests, Mohun Bagan's dominance on that day was near total, with the team leading 4-1 at one stage of the match. But this semifinal will be very different ball game! It will be a totally resurgent East Bengal that Mohun Bagan will take on at Ludhiana, and there lies Pereira's problems.
The inclusion of their National squad players, Subrata Paul, Surkumar Singh, Mehraj din Wadoo, Syed Rahim Nabi and Debabrata Roy, seems to have transformed the entire East Bengal team beyond recognition. On the other hand, this is exactly the same area where Mohun Bagan, have been worst hit, pun intended! The injuries to Deepak Mondal and NS Manju, have robbed their defence of the necessary solidity. Additionally,with Baichung Bhutia down with viral fever, and half of the side recovering from a serious bout of food poisoning, the Mohun Bagan 'dream' team is having a few night mares ahead of the derby.
Position to position too, East Bengal seem to have the edge. With Subrata Paul, being in the best form of his young career, the East Bengal citadel seems very secure. The same cannot be said of Mohun Bagan, with Sangram Mukherjee, at best having a mediocre season. On current form, the combination of Suresh and Bolaji as the central defenders appears more formidable than the two Bagan Peters - Odafe and Siddiqui. But the main difference lies in the balance of the midfield. With Bagan's Venkatesh, Dharamjit Singh, Lal Kamal Bhoumick and James Singh all being essentially attacking mideos, the half line lacks a genuine defensive blocker, the part being played by Mehraj for East Bengal. Mohammed Gafari ,with his lack of speed and wide turnings, has not done anything yet to cheer up the Bagan fans. It will be interesting to see how Pereira thwarts the dangerous runs of Nabi and Surkumar down the right and Alvito on the left. That I believe will hold the key to this match as also will be Subrata Bhattacharya's tactics of handling Barreto and Baichung's guile.
All said and done, this promises to be a cracker of a match. A revitalised East Bengal, long starved of success will be like a tiger on the prowl. But remember, Mohun Bagan as the defending champions, with an unparalleled record in the Federation Cup, is most lethal when they appear as underdogs!

September 9

RESULTS & NEWS

::: LIVE COVERAGE - 29th Federation Cup - Matchday 6 :::
The newly revamped IndianFootball.Com's MATCH CENTER will be covering as many matches as possible from the 29th Federation Cup. Today we continue the coverage...
>>> LAUNCH THE INDIANFOOTBALL.COM MATCH CENTER

29th "Hero Cycles" Federation Cup 2007 - Quarterfinal: Viva Kerala 1-3 Mohun Bagan AC
Goals: 0-1 Jose Ramirez Barreto (16'), 0-2 Ishfaq Ahmed (40'), 1-2 P Sajesh (51'), 1-3 Pachau Lalam Puia (55').

Defending champions Mohun Bagan AC overcame a fighting Viva Kerala to win 3-1 in their quarterfinal match of the 29th Federation Cup at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana. Mohun Bagan would now await the winner of tonights clash between local side JCT and Calcutta rivals East Bengal Club to know who their opponents would be in Tuesday's semifinal.
Mohun Bagan were weakened by a bouth of "Delhi belly" which forced coach Carlos Roberto Pereira to replace captain Baichung Bhutia and Peter Siddiqui, also taking of Lal Kamal Bhowmick. Their places in the starting eleven were taken by Anit Kumar Ghosh, James Lukram Singh and Pachau Lalam Puia.
Both sides initally had their attempts on goal with Viva Kerala not as defensive as many people would have thought. But it was Mohun Bagan who took the lead in the 16th minute. A shot James Singh corner reached Dharamjit Singh, who chipped the ball to the far side of the goal, where Peter Odafe headed the ball back to the other side, where Brazilian Jose Ramirez Barreto was lurking to slot home. Mohun Bagan was forced to take off their captain on the day Dharamjit Singh in the 36th minute also due to the "Delhi Belly" virus and Ishfaq Ahmed was brought on. And the substitution paid four minutes later when Ishfaq Ahmed doubled the lead. Mohammed Gafari played a long ball to the left which Othallo Tabia missed giving Ishfaq the chance to have a shot on goal with only keeper Purushothaman to beat and the Kashmiri lad made no mistake to slot home.
Seasoned Viva Kerala coach Sreedharan made a wise substitution at halftime bringing on the agile OK Javeed for Praveen Rawat. And Viva Kerala come out of the break firing as they attacked Mohun Bagan with all that they had. But it was a cross from the right from P Sajesh that dipped into the goal over Sangram Mukherjee to get Viva Kerala the much needed goal to reduce the deficit. Viva Kerala seemed to be too attacking wanting too much and the Calcutta giants are too experienced not to utilise this. Only four minutes later James Singh on the right flank, takes the place from his right to his left foot to cross the ball goalwards, Jose Barreto doesn't get to it but young Pachau Lalam Puia is there at the far post to score his first Fed Cup goal. For the rest of the match Mohun Bagan are again mainly in control with Viva Kerala mainly taking long range shots which do not really bother Sangram Mukherjee. Mohun Bagan always look dangerous on the counter attacks, but they seem to preserve their energy for the semifinals.

VIVA KERALA: 1-TG Purushothaman; 12-P Sajesh, 3-Khelemba Singh, 2-Othallo Tabia, 22-V Lalu, 7-Praveen Rawat (46' 19-OK Javeed), 6-Sunil Kumar Thakur, 8-Sargolsem James Singh, 9-Bimanyu Bimal Barua (79' 14-Shine Raj), 5-Sabbarayan Satish Kumar, 21-Santa Saikhom Singh (58' 4-Shabbaz Shaleel).
MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal (57' 27-Suman Datta), 32-Anit Kumar Ghosh, 14-Peter Odafe, 7-Rauf Sher Khan (71' 20-Sanjeev Kumar Maria); 16-James Lukram Singh, 30-Mohammed Gafari, 6-Shanmugam Venkatesh, 18-Dharamjit Singh (36' 11-Ishfaq Ahmed); 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto, 9-Pachau Lalam Puia.
YELLOW CARDS: Othallo Tabia (82', Viva Kerala); Sangram Mukherjee (68'), Ishfaq Ahmed (82', both Mohun Bagan).
REFEREE: Francisco Fernandes (Goa).
More information, post-match comments and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com Federation Cup section

29th "Hero Cycles" Federation Cup 2007 - Quarterfinal: JCT, Phagwara 2-3 East Bengal Club
Goals: 0-1 Irungbam Surkumar Singh (14'), 0-2,1-3 Edmilson Marques Pardal (44',72'), 1-2 Eduardo Escobar (51', pen), 2-3 Renedy Singh (90+5').

In the best match of this 29th Federation Cup so far home side JCT were beaten 3-2 by East Bengal Club under the floodlights at a for the first time well filled Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana. With tonights win East Bengal have earned a berth in the semifinals and there their archrivals Mohun Bagan AC would be waiting on Tuesday in what could be a mouth watering Calcutta derby away from home.
From the kickoff it was evident that both sides wanted to win the match and invested as much was possible on this day to reach the semifinals. The players fought for every ball, but sometimes it got rough with eight yellow cards handed out and nearly 40 fouls committed.
East Bengal started better out of the blocks with their attacking wingers Syed Rahim Nabi and Alvito D'Cunha worrying the two Baldeep's in the back positions for JCT. In the 14th minute Nabi worked his way upto the goalline on the right and then played a back-pass to Surkumar on the top edge of the box, who lobbed the ball over JCT keeper Karanjit Singh into the far corner of the net. JCT around the 20 minute mark had four corner in quick succession troubling the East Bengal defence and the best chance was a Julius Akpele header with hit the post and then went out. Towards the end of the half East Bengal looked stronger again especially Nabi was troubling Baldeep Jr on the right, which forced JCT coach Sukhvinder Singh to replace the youngster with seasoned Harish Sharma in the 38th minute, to block Nabi's constant runs down the right flank. A minute before the break an Alvito D'Cunha freekick from the right travels to Nabi on the far side of the goal, who just makes contact with the ball, and a lurking Edmilson turns infront of goal to score East Bengal's second.
Things looked bad at the lemon break for JCT and their coach Sukhvinder Singh gave his players his mind. The JCT team actually didn't go to their dressing rooms, but stayed on the edge of the field. And after the break the Punjab side came out firing out of all cylinders. And they earned a penalty in the 50th minute when Alvito pulled down Eduardo in the box and the referee Benjamin D'Silva pointed to the penalty spot. Eduardo himself took the penalty and beats Subrata Pal in the East Bengal goal. Thereafter an open game developed with chances for both sides and it did get rough at times with numerous yellow cards flashed in this phase. East Bengal delivered the killer blow in the 72nd minute with an unusual goal. Alvito played the ball forward into a gap with Edmilson and Karanjit Singh trying to get to the ball. Edmilson just got a touch to the ball but then also collided with JCT keeper Karanjit Singh, who lay unconciously on the ground, but after some initial treatment Karanjit had to be taken to hospital for further check-ups. Late evening Karanjit was said to be out of danger. Just before the end of regulation time East Bengal had to substitute Edmilson, who stopped in a charge forward, who had to be substituted and could be out for Tuesday's derby. Due to this injury break the referee played five minutes of injury time and in the last minute of injury time JCT captain Renedy Singh reduced the deficit with a placed right-footer from a Baljit Singh Sahni pass.

JCT: 1-Karanjit Singh (76' 21-Mukhwinderjit Singh); 13-Baldeep Singh Sr, 3-Anwar Ali, 4-Julius Irabor Akpele, 27-Baldeep Singh Jr (38' 23-Harish Sharma); 6-Baljit Singh Sahni, 20-Marcos Pereira, 16-Rakinderjit Singh (82' 17-Parvee Kumar), 15-P Renedy Singh; 10-Eduardo Escobar, 11-Sunil Chetri.
EAST BENGAL: 24-Subrata Pal; 27-Irungbam Surkumar Singh, 3-Majekodumni Bolaji, 2-Muttath Suresh, 5-Debabrata Roy; 19-Syed Rahim Nabi, 26-Mehraj din Wadoo, 7-Jayanta Sen, 9-Alvito D'Cunha; 30-Edmilson Marques Pardal (87' 10-Dipendu Biswas), 25-Ashim Biswas.
YELLOW CARDS: Eduardo Escobar (57'), Renedy Singh (60'), Marcos Pereira (62', all JCT); Irungbam Surkumar Singh (18'), Mehraj din Wadoo (37'), Muttath Suresh (63'), Jayanta Sen (70'), Dipendu Biswas (88', all East Bengal).
REFEREE: Benjamin D'Silva (Goa).
ASSISTANT REFEREES: K Shankar (Tamil Nadu), ???.
More information, post-match comments and pictures are available at the >>IndianFootball.Com Federation Cup section

Bangalore Super Division: Army Service Corps 0-4 MEG - Goals: 0-1 Shiyad (5'), 0-2 Dipan Thapa (15'), 0-3 Nigilraj (21'), 0-4 Gabrial (85').
Bangalore 'A' Division: Government Press 1-2 BHEL (EPD) - Goals: 0-1 Karthik (80'), 0-2 Dakshinamurthy (84'), 1-2 R Vijaya Babu (90+1').

48th ATPA Shield - Quarterfinal: Nagaland Police 2-0 FCI, Guwahati - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Vizoroo (38',88').

::: 5th Administrator's Challenge Cup, Chandigarh - Services lads down NPS in extra time 3-1 :::
by Balbir Singh: Fleeted footed Services Sports Control Board got the better of unpretentious and stubborn New Public School Football Academy of Sector 18 by 3-1 in extra time after being tied one-all in stipulated period of the 5th Administrator's Challenge Cup Football Tournament Under-17 conducted by the Chandigarh Sports Department at the Sector 17 Football Stadium here this evening. Bobo Singh(75th), Lakhi Ram Murmur (92nd) and Jacki Chand Singh (94th) were the winners scorers. Ramandeep had given NPS lead in the 30th minute.
The teams were evenly matched and exhibited skillful play from the beginning. The Services players relied on short passes in the first 10 minutes while the NPS boys resorted to long high passes. The Services lads tasted the NPS goal in the 15th minute. Sukhi Ram Tudu sent a floater to cross from the left flank where Lakhi Ram Murmur took a powerful header at NPS goal. It was brilliantly saved by custodian Harbir Singh. NPS launched a move in the 30th minute. Raul Lorrie sent a good cross for striker Gurpal Singh whoe grounder struck the hands of stopper Limbkand Singh. Referee Rakesh Sharma awarded a spot kick which was converted by Ramandeep Singh to give NPS the lead. Five minutes later, Lakhi Ram Murmur of Services sent a defence-splitting cross from the left flank. Star striker Jacki Chand Singh trapped it in the penalty area but took a poor short straight into the hands of NPS goalkeeper Harbir Singh.
On resumption, Services put more pressure and in the 49th minute Lakhi Ram Murmur who made a wall pass with Jacki Chand Singh and took a shot at the NPS goal which was saved by keeper Harbir Singh. Mounting relentless pressure, Services had a chance to restore parity in the 59th minute. Lakhi Ram Murmur initiated an impressive move from the right flank and gave a through pass to Sunny Kumar whose shot missed the target with a narrow margin. Services neutralied the lead in the 75th minute. Jacki Chand Singh dribbled past two defenders before giving a square pass to Y Bobo Singh inside the penalty area. Bobo's left footer brooked no denial from the NPS defence and goalkeepr Harbir Singh.
Thereafter both teams raided each other's defence but a goal eluded them as the stipulated session ended in a one-all draw. The first 10-minute half of extra time too failed to resolve the deadlock. Launching their do-or-die battle, the Services lads swarmed the NPS territory. In the 92nd minute Amarjeet Singh of Services gve a cross towards the NPS goalmouth where Lakhi Ram Murmur converted it with a right footer side volley to give his team lead. Two minutes later Jacki Chand Singh scored the third goal for Services with a left footer.
Jacki Chand Singh was adjudged the best player of the tournament. Limdkand Singh of Services was declared the best player of the match. Harbir Singh of NPS got the best goalkeeper's award.
Sixteen teams from all over the country took part in the tournament which was inaugurated on September 1. Adviser to the Chandigarh Administrator Lalit Sharma distributed the prizes today.