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1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 14 | Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta | 18.00 IST: Mohun Bagan AC 2-1 Churchill Brothers SC Goals: 1-0 Baichung Bhutia (4'), 2-0 Habibur Rehman Mondal (31'), 2-1 Mboyo Iyomi (38'). MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 3-Nanjangud Shivananju Manju, 26-Nallappan Mohanraj; 22-Lal Kamal Bhowmick (83' 32-Anit Kumar Ghosh), 2-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 13-Douglas da Silva (54' 9-Pachau Lalam Puia), 7-Rauf Sher Khan (58' 23-Tapan Maity); 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto, 15-Baichung Bhutia [C]. Unused Substitutes: ... CHURCHILL BROS: 1-Vinay Singh; 8-Thokchom Naoba Singh (87' 38-Jaison Valles), 19-Moirangthem Gouramangi Singh, 6-N Govind Singh, 17-Robert Lalthalma; 12-Reisangmei Vashum, 14-Chitrasen Chandam Singh (70' 13-Mashangva Genius Zenith), 21-Ogba Kalu Nnanna, 11-Khemtang Paite (76' 15-D Raju); 9-Mboyo Iyomi, 10-Odafe Onyeka Okolie. Unused Substitutes: ... "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Habibur Rehman Mondal (Mohun Bagan). YELLOW CARDS: Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (7'), Nallappan Mohanraj (55', both Mohun Bagan). REFEREE: S Suresh (Tamil Nadu). ASSISTANT REFEREES: ... FOURTH OFFICIAL: ... Match Report: Mohun Bagan AC beat Churchill Brothers SC 2-1 in an inaugural I-League match at the floodlit Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Mohun Bagan moved back into fourth place with now 24 points from 14 matches, leaving them with a chance to try and finish second in the league. This second spot is currently being held by Churchill Brothers who remain on 26 points, but are now four points behind league leaders Dempo SC with only four matches remaining.

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 14 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Dempo SC 2-1 JCT, Phagwara Goals: 0-1 Sunil Chetri (18'), 1-1,2-1 Climax Lawrence (43',90'). DEMPO: 1-Abhijit Mondal; 16-Samir Naik, 3-John Charles Dias, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 4-Cressan Antao; 14-Anthony Pereira (86' 17-Joaquim Abranches), 7-Nacimento Silveira (20-Riston Rodrigues), 8-Climax Lawrence, 22-Nicolau Borges; 9-Ranty Martins Soleye [C], 30-Chidi Edeh. Unused Substitutes: 31-Tyson Caiado, ... JCT: 1-Karanjit Singh; 2-Jaspal Singh, 3-Anwar Ali, 4-Julius Irabor Akpele, 12-Daljit Singh (46' 24-Gurwinder Singh); 13-Baldeep Singh Sr, 27-Baldeep Singh Jr, 20-Marcos de Carvalho Pereira, 6-Baljit Singh Sahni; 11-Sunil Chetri, 10-Eduardo da Silva Escobar. Unused Substitutes: 21-Mukhwinderjit Singh, ... "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Climax Lawrence (Dempo). YELLOW CARDS: Eduardo da Silva Escobar (38'), Gurwinder Singh (51'), Jaspal Singh (57', all JCT). REFEREE: Rizwan ul Haq (Delhi). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Minangshu Bhattacharya (West Bengal), ... FOURTH OFFICIAL: ... Match Report: Defending NFL champions Dempo SC brought their I-League championship campaign back on track with a late 2-1 victory against Phagwara's JCT in a Round 14 match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. After two losses in a row Dempo today moved to 30 points from 14 matches, four clear of closest rivals Churchill Brothers on 26, who lost later in the day to Mohun Bagan; while JCT remain third with 25 points from the same number of matches and a mountain to climb if they want to win the inaugural I-League title. The man who made the difference for Dempo today was Indian international Climax Lawrence, who went on to score both his teams goals, besides playing a crucial role in midfield.

::: 1st Futsal tournament in Nagaland :::
by Xavier Rutsa: Merhiilitsa FC, Legend Club, Ziekiezou SC, Unity Club, Youth Care and Little Star scored wins here at the ongoing 1st Futsal tournament, 5 A-Side football , played at local ground, Kohima.
Merhiilitsa FC beat Spartan Club, New Market 5-1 in first match on Thursday. The goal scorers for Merhiilitsa FC were Deitho and two each were netted by Medoselie and Seyie. The lone goal for Spartan was scored by Ketoulezo James.
In the 2nd match Legend Club, Jalukie, Peren district drubbed JCYO 5-1. Kekusamgsing scored a hattrick, the third in the tournament and one each by Emsaolung and Heilambe.Vilasetuo score the only goal for JCYO.
In the 3rd match Ziekiezou SC edged out Young Excel's Club 5-3. ZSC found the target through Kevisazo (2 goals) and one each came from Neilakholie, Khriekeduotuo and Vilhulie. Megoreizo Chase grounded home two goal and Mhieseielhu Chase one for the Young Excel.
Unity Club humiliated Flex-Ki Club 10-1 in the 4th match, with Namzang Putlang , scoring three goals, to become the 4th player to score a hattrick, two goals were by Azam Zem and Puluto Swu, while one goal each came from Abi Newmai, Khetovi Swu and Poujaigai. The face saver for Flexi-Ki came through Kekhrieneito.
In the 5th match - Youth Care down Rongmei SC 4-2. Soren netted two goals, while one each came from Mhonthung Ezung and Eyovoto, The RSC scorer came though Lungali and Poujanpu.
Little Star edged out Flying High 3-2 in the last match of the day. Little Star netted the goals through Hoinato, Akavi and Blisto, while the scorers for Flying High were Lulun and Ruzellie.

January 30

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 14 | Cooperage Ground, Mumbai | 15.30 IST: Mahindra United 2-2 Salgaocar SC Goals: 0-1,2-2 Shylo Malswam Tulunga (25',64'), 1-1 M Mohammed Rafi (45+1' pen), 2-1 Khangemban Thoi Singh (63'). MAHINDRA UNITED: 24-Sandip Nandy; 7-Sushanth Mathew, 26-Bello Rasaq, 2-Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep; 16-Sunil Kumar, 20-Bhola Prasad (41' 28-Sushil Kumar Singh), 23-Steven Dias, 17-Sukhwinder Singh, 11-M Mohammed Rafi (61' 15-Khangemban Thoi Singh); 29-Pierre Djidjia Douhou, 8-Andrews Pomeyie Mensah. Unused Substitutes: 1-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 5-Harpreet Singh, 27-Noel Fernandes, 9-Surajit Bose, 12-Manjit Singh SALGAOCAR: 1-Milagrio Medeira, 12-Remus Gomes, 3-Peter Costa, 8-Agnelo Colaco, 23-William Colaco; 19-Shylo Malswam Tulunga, 22-Hery Habimana, 25-Rocus Lamare [C], 29-Joe Rodrigues (89' 6-Nicholas L Rodrigues), 7-Felix Chimaokwu, 10-Boniface Ngairah Ambani (59' 26-Milagres Gonsalves) Unused Substitutes: 2-Marcus Basumatari, 4-Vincent Brice Pires, 16-Nicolau Colaco, 30-Francis Fernandes, 11-PK Anil Kumar "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Shylo Malswam Tulunga (Salgaocar). YELLOW CARDS: Remus Gomes (31'), Peter Costa (38), Felix Chimaokwu (71', all Salgaocar). REFEREE: A Arjunan (Services). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Deepak Singh (Delhi), Pratap Singh (Services). FOURTH OFFICIAL: R Rowan (Services). MATCH COMMISSIONER: Ghayas ul Haq (Bihar). Match Report: ...

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 14 | Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta | 18.00 IST: East Bengal Club 0-0 Air-India Goals: none. EAST BENGAL: 24-Subrata Pal; 17-Surya Bikash Chakraborty [C], 3-Majekodumni Bolaji (61' 26-Mehraj din Wadoo), 12-Anupam Sarkar, 5-Debabrata Roy; 6-Dipankar Roy (14' 34-Snehasis Chakraborty, 74' 10-Dipendu Biswas), 23-Mehtab Hussain, 4-Julius Owino, 9-Alvito D'Cunha, 19-Syed Rahim Nabi; 30-Edmilson Marques Pardal. Unused Substitutes: ... AIR-INDIA: 1-Arnab Das Sharma; 2-Haobijam Napoleon Singh (76' 18-Hamza Zaheer Abbas), 3-Nirmal Chetri, 22-Suley Musah, 4-L Dhanachandra Singh, 6-L Uttam Singh; 13-Hirohito Elangbam (63' 10-T Narender Meetei), 12-Michael Segum Tayo, 20-Paresh Shivalkar; 27-Bashiree Mohammed Abbas, 8-Kumar Samson Singh (79' 11-Hringsolal Thomte). Unused Substitutes: ... "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Arnab Das Sharma (Air-India). YELLOW CARDS: Edmilson Marques Pardal (85', East Bengal); Suley Musah (18'), L Dhanachandra Singh (85', both Air-India). REFEREE: K Shankar (Tamil Nadu). ASSISTANT REFEREES: ... FOURTH OFFICIAL: ... MATCH COMMISSIONER: Joginder Singh (Delhi). Match Report: ...

::: 18th NYC Trophy - AVC lose 4th consecutive final :::
by Gasper Crasto: Kuwait Goans Association won the prestigious 18th NYC Trophy football tournament organized by Navelim Youth Centre beating AVC Overseas Association 1-0 in the final played at Salmiya Municipality Grounds, Kuwait on Friday, January 25.
AVC failed to break the jinx of winning the prestigious NYC trophy yet again in their fourth consecutive final. They lost the earlier 3 finals to G.O.A Maroons, Curtorcares United and DHL respectively. There is no other available instance in world football of a side losing 4 straight finals. While Bombay holds the record for most consecutive titles in the world (15 Ranji Trophy championships in a row from 1958-59 to 1972-73), AVC Overseas Association, known as Real Madrid of Kuwait Indian football have broken the record of English Premier giants Arsenal of 3 consecutive runners-up titles. Arsenal were League runners-up from 1999 to 2001.
The final played in chilling temperatures (8°C in Kuwait City) was watched by a sizeable number of spectators, many ladies were drawn to watch as well. But the match failed to live up to the expectations. The first half was so dreary, not a single hard shot was taken on the goal. Some of the players made more show of themselves than play good football. It was pathetic to see some players turn around with a glare and give that 'I will kill you' kind of a look for even a slight touch or a fair tackle and scream 'ref' every for every body contact. Some played like enemies instead of playing like true opponents.
"Gone are the days where teams like Navelim, Goa Maroons, Incredible, United Goans, Rising Stars to name a few, used to dish out magical football," sighed a star footballer of yesteryears, "Spectators used to watch 'those' games with excitement, never taking their eyes off the ball. Today's players come to the ground laughing, joking and showing off their looks and 'expensive' boots. There's a lack of seriousness or a feeling of competitive anxiety towards the game..."
The match gained momentum only in the second half after KGA shot into the lead taking advantage of a defense lapse. KGA's Vico D'Souza rushed forward and passed the ball to unmarked Russel Rodrigues whose crisp shot beat goalkeeper Alvaro Dias in the AVC goal (1-0).
There was plenty of action in the last quarter of play with AVC moving the ball forward with alacrity, trying hard to get an equalizer. They peppered KGA's goal with a flurry of scoring opportunities with tries from Lucian D'Souza, Ronnie Fernandes and Francisco Fernandes. AVC came up with all out efforts in the dying minutes of the match which forced KGA goalkeeper Martin Dias to make splendid saves off Joseph Quadros and Leroy Rodrigues. Jubilant supporters of KGA rushed on the ground to hug their players on the final whistle of the match.
Sarto Baptista affiliated to Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA) officiated the match assisted by Tony D'Costa and Phillip Ferrao.

NYC President Mario Carneiro was all praise for Kuwait Goans for inscribing their name on the prestigious trophy for the first time. He congratulated them "for being the new champions of Kuwait Indian football."
Shri Wilson Coelho, honorable President of Goan Welfare Society was chief guest on the occasion and spoke at the prize distribution ceremony. He praised Navelim Youth Centre for successfully conducting the 18 editions of the trophy. He also acknowledged the efforts of Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF) to promote football among the Indian expatriates living in Kuwait. While hailing the publicity given to the tournament in Arab Times, www.indianfootball.com and other websites, Mr. Coelho promised all support on behalf of Goan Welfare Society and in his own capacity to look into the prospects of further promoting the sport. He also assured to take up the matter with the Indian and Kuwaiti authorities for an appropriate and a regular playing field for Indians.
Lawry Pinto, Ex-President of KIFF was the guest of honour. Other distinguished dignitaries that presided were Cajetan Pereira - President of United Friends Club, Manuel D'Costa -Vice-President of KIFF, Thomas Fernandes - Founder member of Navelim Youth Centre, and Nicholas Monteiro, ex-player of Navelim Youth Centre.
Wilson Coelho presented the Trophy to the winners to a big applause of the KGA supporters. NYC Rolling Trophy, perhaps one of the most uniquely sculpt trophies worldwide was instituted in the year 1993, Saligao Sports Club being the winners in the inaugural year. 19 registered teams affiliated to Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF) participated in the 18th edition. The tournament played under the auspices of KIFF provides players with the opportunity to showcase their soccer skills while emphasizing teamwork, discipline and fair play -- in perhaps one of the most prestigious football tournament among Indians abroad.

Gasper Crasto compered the prize distribution function. General Secretary of NYC, Allan Fernandes proposed a vote of thanks and in a special way thanked Arab Times, www.goa-world.com , Goanet, www.indianfootball.com, www.mangalorean.com and goa.kranti.blogspot.com for exclusive coverage of the tournament.

::: 1st Futsal tournament in Nagaland :::
by Xavier Rutsa: Zealous FC and Hilly Kids Club registered easy wins in the 1st Futsal tournament, 5 A-Side football, played at local ground, Kohima.
On Wednesday, in the opening match, Zealous FC blanked Vie Club 4-0, with Shevi of Zealous, scoring the first ever goal in a Futsal tournament in Nagaland and also became the first player to notch up a hattrick, as he netted the 3rd and 4th goals. The other goal came through the boots of Kezevituo Kikhi. At half time both team remained goalless.
Riding on an immaculate hattrick (2nd in the tournament) from Akho, Hilly Kids Club crushed Wind Blockers 7-0 in the second match. Akho scored the 1st, 3rd and 6th goals. Kezevituo netted two goals (2nd and 5th), while Vizovor Liezietsu of Hilly Kids created another history by becoming the first goalkeeper to score a goal in the Futsal tournament and Domenic rounded off the scoring by netting 7th goal.
The tournament was formally declared opened by chief guest P Atuo Mezhur, Nagaland FA president. In his address he lauded the GATD for taking a bold step to organize the tournament, first of its kind in the state. Mr. Mezhur, who is also vice president of the AIFF disclosed that the AIFF is keen to organise a national Futsal tournament in the country.
Earlier the function was chaired by Khotuo Kuotsu, invocation prayer was given by Fr. Philip Magh, asst parish priest SFS, Kohima, welcome address delivered by Dziesesakuo Rutsa, president GATD, Kohima and a special number presented by Dzisekho-ii Kenguriisie.
It may be mentioned that the first prize of Rs.15,000 is sponsored by Ariikuo Solo, Rs.10,000 second prize is sponsored by Neitsu Kuotsu and third prize of Rs.5000 is sponsored by Neikepe-u Kuotsu Solo and the individual prizes (Player of the tournament, best goalkeeper and highest scorer) is sponsored by Keneingulie Kuotsu, informed the organisers GATD, Kohima. Altogether 16 teams from two districts - 15 from Kohima and one from Peren are taking part in the four day meet.

January 29

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 14 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Sporting Clube de Goa 3-0 Viva Kerala Goals: 1-0 Harmanot Singh Khabra (20'), 2-0,3-0 Elijah Obagbemiro Junior (33',61'). SPORTING CLUBE: 30-Luis Xavier Barreto; 4-Chinta Chandrashekar, 6-Philip Gomes, 3-Mathew Gonsalves, 8-N Rajesh Meetei (74' 22-Joseph Pereira); 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra, 26-Micky Fernandes, 27-L Bisheshwor Singh, 14-Wilton Gomes (64' 34-Mohammed Ghafari); 20-Elijah Obagbemiro Junior (82' 9-Freddy Mascarenhas), 11-Lawrence Adjei. Unused Substitutes: 1-Felix D'Souza, 15-Mauricio Freeman Peixoto, 2-Parwinder Singh, 12-Lavino Fernandes VIVA KERALA: 1-TG Purushothaman (59' 25-MV Nelson); 5-Akshay Das (45' 22-KV Lalu), 3-Khelemba Singh, 4-Tutu George, 6-Tabia Othallo; 16-Shahbas Shaleel, 18-Chanambam Jatin Singh, 8-Sargolsem James Singh, 21-Santa Saikhom Singh (81' 7-Bimanyu Bimal Birua); 10-Badmus Baba Thunde, 17-Wisdom Abbey. Unused Substitutes: 14-C Shineraj, 19-Sabbarayan Satish Kumar, 28-Somy PT, 27-TK Manoharan "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Luis Xavier Barreto (Sporting Clube). YELLOW CARDS: Luis Xavier Barreto (77', Sporting Clube); Wisdom Abbey (41'), Badmus Baba Thunde (48', both Viva Kerala). REFEREE: P Bhaskar (Tamil Nadu). ASSISTANT REFEREES: T Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu), Minangshu Bhattacharya (West Bengal). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Shirzad Bathena (Maharashtra). Match Report: ...

::: Futsal tournament starts today at Kohima :::
by Xavier Rutsa: Altogether 16 teams from two districts - 15 from Kohima and one from Peren will battle it out in the 1st Futsal tournament, 5 A-Side football, starting on Wednesday at local ground, Kohima in Nagaland.
The GATD, Kohima, organizers of the tournament informed all the participating teams to attend the inaugural function, starting 1.00 pm on January 30.
The tournament will be formally declared opened by chief guest P Atuo Mezhur, the Nagaland FA president.
The teams are - Zealous FC, Dziiviirii, Vie Club, Ziekiezou SC, Young Excel's Club, Spartan Club, New Market , Merhiilitsa FC, Unity Club, Flex-Ki Club, Hilly Kids, Wind Blockers Youth Care, Rongmei SC, JCYO, Little Star, Flying High, all from Kohima and Legend Club, Jalukie, Peren district are taking part in the four day tournament.
In the opening ceremony the function was be chaired by Khotuo Kuotsu, invocation prayer by Fr. Philip Magh, asst parish priest SFS, Kohima, welcome address by Dziesesakuo Rutsa, president GATD, Kohima, special number by Dzisekho-ii Kenguriisie and speech by chief guest and declaration of the tournament open.

January 28

RESULTS & NEWS

::: 3rd Oil Challenge Gold Cup in Duliajan, Assam :::
The 3rd Oil Challenge Gold Cup will be held at the Nehru Maidan in Duliajan, Assam from January 30 to February 9. Many I-League Division 2 clubs will participate in the tournament as preparation for the upcoming league. In total 11 teams from across India will be taking part. They are Mohammedan Sporting Club; Chirag United SC; ONGC, Mumbai; Vasco SC; Punjab Police; Arhima Club, Shillong; Rising Students Club, Cuttack; Assam State Electricity Board, Guwahati; Duliajan Town Club; Sher-E-Bengal, Chattisgarh and hosts Oil India Limited.

January 27

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 13 | Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta | 18.00 IST: East Bengal Club 1-0 Dempo SC Goals: 1-0 Mahesh Gawli (69' own Goal). EAST BENGAL: 24-Subrata Pal; 17-Surya Bikash Chakraborty [C], 3-Majekodumni Bolaji, 12-Anupam Sarkar, 5-Debabrata Roy; 27-Irungbam Surkumar Singh (29' 6-Dipankar Roy), 23-Mehtab Hussain, 4-Julius Owino, 9-Alvito D'Cunha (87' 34-Snehasis Chakraborty), 19-Syed Rahim Nabi; 30-Edmilson Marques Pardal. Unused Substitutes: 21-Abhra Mondal, 32-Madhab Das, ... DEMPO: 1-Abhijit Mondal; 4-Cressan Antao, 3-John Charles Dias, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 16-Samir Naik; 14-Anthony Pereira, 11-Roberto Mendes Silva, 8-Climax Lawrence, 22-Nicolau Borges (89' 17-Joaquim Abranches); 9-Ranty Martins Soleye [C], 30-Chidi Edeh. Unused Substitutes: 31-Tyson Caiado, 29-Clifton Gonsalves, ... "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Alvito D'Cunha (East Bengal). YELLOW CARDS: none. REFEREE: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat). ASSISTANT REFEREES: S Suresh (Tamil Nadu), ... FOURTH OFFICIAL: ... Match Report: Former NFL champions East Bengal Club returned to winning ways with a lone goal victory against current I-League leaders Dempo SC at the floodlit Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. East Bengal still remain in the relegation zone with now 11 points from 13 matches but closed in on Viva Kerala and Sporting Clube de Goa just one and two points respectively behind their rivals. For defending NFL champions Dempo it was their second defeat in a row but they remain top of the I-League with 27 points but Churchill Brothers and JCT are now breathing down their neck. Both the title and relegation races have heated-up even more with five rounds to go. East Bengal looked a much better organised team and played with dedication and conviction under new coach Manoranjan Bhattacharjee, who was the second match in charge. Manoranjan took a defensive approach against the league leaders to avoid running into Dempo's dangerous attack. Former Dempo defender Majekodumni Bolaji and Anupam Sarkar had a great game denying Ranty Martins Soleye and Chidi Edeh, while Julius Owino along with the other East Bengal midfielders denied Roberto Mendes Silva and Climax Lawrence to play with their usual fluency. Dempo after their loss against Mahindra United and the serious injury to their coach Armando Colaco didn't look the team which everybody has become to fear in Indian football. The midfielder and attack upfront didn't look sharp, while the defence had their problems with East Bengal's Brazilian striker Edmilson. East Bengal, who hadn't won since December 3 and had not scored a goal since December 23, tried their best to finally break the jinx. But their approach initially was always the same with the long ball forward to Edmilson, but the Brazilian did trouble Dempo defenders Mahesh Gawli and John Dias on numerous occasions, but his attempts went either wide or Abhijit Mondal blocked them in the Dempo goal. But the chance of the first half came Dempo's way when a cross from the right travelled across the face of the goal to Nicolau Borges but his shot was blocked by Subrata Pal in the East Bengal goal. After the breather East Bengal upped their tempo and remained in control of the midfield but Alvito and Mehtab attempts just missed the target. Around the hour mark Dempo got better into the game but Chidi Edeh wasted the best chance when he shot wide with an open goal infront of him. In the 69th minute East Bengal finally broke the deadlock. After a foul on Edmilson, Alvito D'Cunha took a freekick from the right which he curled into the box with his left foot and Dempo's dependable defender Mahesh Gawli shot the ball into his own goal with the Saltlake Stadium erupting in joy. Thereafter East Bengal concentrated on their defence with Dempo putting pressure on them, but the Goans couldn't get back into the match with Anthony Pereira missing the best chance at the end of regulation time when his shot just went over the crossbar with Subrata Pal out of position. East Bengal earned a deserving victory to keep their fight for survival alive, while Dempo will have to do some soul searching ahead of their top of the table clash with JCT.

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 13 | Cooperage Ground, Mumbai | 15.30 IST: Air-India 0-0 Mohun Bagan AC Goals: none. AIR-INDIA: 1-Arnab Das Sharma; 2-Haobijam Napoleon Singh, 26-Amrit Pal Singh, 22-Suley Musah, 4-L Dhanachandra Singh, 6-L Uttam Singh; 15-Sanju Pradhan (78' 13-Hirohito Elangbam), 12-Michael Segum Tayo, 5-Vijith Shetty (65' 10-T Narender Meetei); 27-Bashiree Mohammed Abbas, 8-Kumar Samson Singh (83' 11-Hringsolal Thomte). Unused Substitutes: 30-Sarath EC, 16-Covan Lawrence, 9-Jiten Rai, 24-Ravinder Singh MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 16-James Lukram Singh, 14-Peter Odafe, 12-Peter Siddiqui, 26-Nallappan Mohanraj; 2-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 29-Jonathan Bobo, 22-Lal Kamal Bhowmick (54' 9-Pachau Lalam Puia), 18-Dharamjit Singh (77' 11-Ishfaq Ahmed); 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto, 15-Baichung Bhutia [C]. Unused Substitutes: 19-Pralay Datta, 7-Rauf Sher Khan, 32-Anit Kumar Ghosh, 23-Tapan Maity, 28-Muttath Sudheesh "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Michael Segum Tayo (Air-India). YELLOW CARDS: none. REFEREE: Benjamin D'Silva (Goa). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Deepak Singh (Delhi), R Rowan (Services). FOURTH OFFICIAL: A Arjunan (Services). MATCH COMMISSIONER: Ghayas ul Haq (Bihar). Match Report: ...

::: I-League Core Committee makes some key decisions :::
The I-League Core Committee met today at Football House, Dwarka on the outskirts of New Delhi today. And some key decisions were taken in regard to the I-League and local leagues.
The AIFF will have a set calendar for the I-League. The I-League from next season onwards would be played only on Saturday's & Sunday's from September to March.
All state leagues will be played in the same period from September to March, but matchdays would be Wednesday's & Thursday's.
An exception has been made for the IFA organised Calcutta Football League for the 2008/09 season due to non-availability of grounds. The IFA has been allowed to organise the Calcutta Premier League between May to September 2008, but must resolve the ground problem in time to ensure that the local league for 2009/2010 is held between September and March.
In one of the most discussed issues it has been decided that players playing in an I-League match for more than 45 minutes will not be allowed to participate in the subsequent state league match.

::: Baichung's state club ecstatic over Padmashree award :::
UNI report: United Sikkim Sporting Club has extended their congratulations to the club's chief patron Baichung Bhutia for receiving the Padmashree award.
"We are proud that he was recognised for his distinguished career and contribution to the game in the country," said USSC in a press statement.
With this distinction, Bhutia has once again brought laurel and glory to Sikkim, after having bagged the Arjuna Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and numerous other laurels, the club said.
Despite his hectic schedule, Bhutia has always guided the club and has given his hundred percent for the development of football in Sikkim, USSC added

January 26

IndianFootball.Com wishes all INDIANS around the world all the best on the occasion of INDIAN REPUBLIC DAY !!!

::: IndianFootball.Com interview: Harsh Piramal (Director - Ashok Piramal Group, owners Pune FC) :::
IndianFootball.Com's Harmit Singh Kamboe had the chance to interview Harsh Piramal, Director of the Ashok Piramal Group, who are the owners of one of the new corporate clubs Pune FC. They chat about Pune FC, Indian football and more...
Click here to read the complete >>Harsh Piramal (Director - Ashok Piramal Group, owners Pune FC) interview

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 13 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Churchill Brothers SC 1-0 JCT, Phagwara Goal: 1-0 Mboyo Iyomi (10'). CHURCHILL BROS: 1-Vinay Singh; 8-Thokchom Naoba Singh, 19-Moirangthem Gouramangi Singh, 6-N Govind Singh, 17-Robert Lalthalma; 12-Reisangmei Vashum (90+1' 13-Mashangva Genius Zenith), 14-Chitrasen Chandam Singh, 21-Ogba Kalu Nnanna, 11-Khemtang Paite; 9-Mboyo Iyomi, 10-Odafe Onyeka Okolie. Unused Substitutes: 29-Arindam Bhattcharya, 2-Villroy D'Cruz, 4-Rowilson Rodrigues, 15-D Raju, 18-Saran Thangjam Singh, 38-Jaison Valles JCT: 1-Karanjit Singh; 13-Baldeep Singh Sr (73' 28-Shivraj Singh, 3-Anwar Ali, 4-Julius Irabor Akpele, 12-Daljit Singh; 27-Baldeep Singh Jr, 2-Jaspal Singh, 20-Marcos de Carvalho Pereira, 15-P Rennedy Singh (46' 6-Baljit Singh Sahni); 11-Sunil Chetri, 10-Eduardo da Silva Escobar. Unused Substitutes: 21-Mukhwinderjit Singh, 32-Prasanta Dora, 5-Narinder Singh, 8-Jaswinder Singh, 25-Sakatar Singh "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Robert Lalthalma (Churchill Bros). YELLOW CARDS: Reisangmei Vashum (15', Churchill Bros). REFEREE: T Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu). ASSISTANT REFEREES: P Bhaskar (Tamil Nadu), Shirzad Bathena (Maharashtra). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Rizwan ul-Haq (Delhi). Match Report: ...

January 25

RESULTS & NEWS

::: Baichung Bhutia gets Padma Shri :::
Baichung Bhutia has been conferred the Padma Shri award, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his contribution to Indian football!
What great news this is the lone current brand ambassador of Indian football. Baichung deserves this national recognition for his contribution to Indian football.
Baichung is the fifth footballer to be awarded the Padma Shri after Gostho Pal (1962), Sailen Manna (1971), Chuni Goswami (1983) and PK Banerjee (1990), but he is the first footballer to get the award while still playing. In 1999 Baichung had received the Arjuna Award.
AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and General Secretary Alberto Colaco congratulated Baichung being conferred the Padam Shri and wished him great success in the coming years.
IndianFootball.Com would also like to congratulate Baichung on the Padma Shri!

::: Orlando Pirates not to take part in IFA Shield :::
South African giants Orlando Pirates will not be able to take part in 113rd IFA Shield to be played from February 25 to March 7. Pirates had to decline the offer from the IFA to take part due to ABSA league commitments at home which could not be shifted to accomodate the Shield.

January 24

RESULTS & NEWS

::: Baichung Bhutia nominated for Padma Shri :::
IANS report: India football captain Baichung Bhutia has been nominated for the Padma Shri award, in recognition of his distinguished career and service to the game in the country. According to sources close to Bhutia, he is not over-excited about the nomination as the final list is yet to be cleared by the government before the announcement on then eve of the Republic Day.
Bhutia, who was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1998, will become the fifth Indian footballer after Gostho Behari Paul (1962), Sailen Manna (1971), Chuni Goswami (1983) and PK Banerjee (1990) to receive the prestigious civilian award.

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 13 | Municipal Corporation Stadium, Calicut | 16.00 IST: Viva Kerala 0-2 Mahindra United Goals: 0-1 Andrews Pomeyie Mensah (47'), 0-2 M Mohammed Rafi (72') VIVA KERALA: 25-MV Nelson; 2-Ebin Rose, 3-I Khelemba Singh, 4-Tutu George, 6-Tabia Othallo; 16-Shahbas Shaleel, 7-Bimanyu Bimal Birua (18-Chanambam Jatin Singh), 28-Somy PT (19-Sabbarayan Satish Kumar), 22-KV Lalu; 10-Badmus Baba Thunde, 17-Wisdom Abbey. Unused Substitutes: 1-TG Purushothaman, 5-Akshay Das, 14-C Shineraj, 21-Santa Saikhom Singh, 27-TK Manoharan MAHINDRA UTD: 24-Sandip Nandy; 16-Sunil Kumar, 7-Sushanth Mathew, 2-Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, 26-Bello Rasaq; 23-Steven Dias (21-Gautam Debnath), 20-Bhola Prasad (9-Surajit Bose), 17-Sukhwinder Singh, 11-M Mohammed Rafi; 29-Pierre Djidjia Douhou, 8-Andrews Pomeyie Mensah (15-Khangemban Thoi Singh). Unused Substitutes: 1-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 27-Noel Fernandes, 12-Manjit Singh, 28-Sushil Kumar Singh "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Andrews Pomeyie Mensah (Mahindra Utd). YELLOW CARD: Ebin Rose (20', Viva Kerala). REFEREE: Franky Fernandes (Goa). ASSISTANT REFEREES: P Bhaskar (Tamil Nadu), G Thambiraj (Tamil Nadu). FOURTH OFFICIAL: R Gosavi (Goa). Match Report: ...

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 13 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Sporting Clube de Goa 1-1 Salgaocar SC Goals: 0-1 Felix Chimaokwu (26'), 1-1 Denzil Franco (64' pen) SPORTING CLUBE: 30-Luis Xavier Barreto; 4-Chinta Chandrashekar, 6-Philip Gomes, 8-N Rajesh Meetei (86' 2-Parwinder Singh); 18-Denzil Franco, 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra, 23-Bibiano Fernandes (60' 11-Lawrence Adjei), 27-L Bisheshwor Singh, 14-Wilton Gomes [C]; 20-Elijah Obagbemiro Junior, 21-Olushola Ogundare (46' 9-Freddy Mascarenhas). Unused Substitutes: 31-Gerald D'Mello, 15-Mauricio Freeman Peixoto, 26-Micky Fernandes, 12-Lavino Fernandes SALGAOCAR: 2-Marcus Basumatari; 16-Nicolau Colaco, 22-Hery Habimana, 18-Samson Fernandes (21' 17-TV Biju Kumar); 19-Shylo Malswam Tulunga, 25-Rocus Lamare [C], 31-Fabio dos Passos, 6-Nicholas L Rodrigues (73' 11-PK Anil Kumar), 29-Joe Rodrigues; 7-Felix Chimaokwu, 26-Milagres Gonsalves. Unused Substitutes: 20-Navjot Singh, 12-Remus Gomes, 23-William Colaco, 30-Francis Fernandes, 27-Bevan D'Mello "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Felix Chimaokwu (Salgaocar). YELLOW CARDS: Denzil Franco (90', Sporting Clube); Marcus Basumatari (64'), TV Biju Kumar (85', both Salgaocar). REFEREE: Minangshu Bhattacharya (West Bengal). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Rizwan ul-Haq (Delhi), Shirzad Bathena (Maharashtra). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Dhanraj More (Maharashtra). Match Report: ...

::: St. Stephen's FA, Chandigarh win MU u-15 Premier Cup :::
St. Stephen's Football Academy, Sector 45 from Chandigarh brought laurels to the City Beautiful by winning the Nike-Manchester United Premier Cup India 2008 Under-15 held in Goa from January 16 to 20. In the finals, St. Stephen's Football Academy snatched a well-deserved 1-0 victory against Mahindra United. The all-important goal was scored by captain Harpreet Bedi in the 28th minute.
As champions, Stephen's FA also qualified for the Asian Qualifying Round which will be held at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) in June. The victorious team members returned home last night.
Director-Principal Harold Carver, who introduced the football academy concept in Chandigarh in 1998, congratulated the boys for their outstanding performance and bringing glory to the school as well as the state.
From North East Zone St Stephen's FA, East Bengal, Sarv Siksha Abhiyan, Mizoram and Sant Baba Hazara Singh Football Academy of Gurdaspur and from the West-South Zone Salgaocar SC, Cosmos FA Tamil Nadu, Sporting Clube de Goa and Mahindra United qualified for the national finals.
St Stephen's FA top their pool A by beating Salgaocar by 2-0 and SSA Mizoram by 2-1. They drew with Cosmos FA of Tamil Nadu 1-1 to qualify for semifinals.
Meanwhile, Harpreet Bedi and Taranjit Kumar have been selected for the India Under-16 coaching camp at Goa. Their talents were spotted by the National U16 coach Colin Toal.
List of players with officials. Team: Shubham Sahai Gupta (goalkeeper), Harpreet Bedi (captain), Jony Chand Singh, Taranjit Kumar, Rahul Anand, Nitin Negi, Sandesh Jhingan, Golmei Mariamdun, Vikas Kumar, Umakanta Singh, Satpal Singh, Nitin Kaushal, Waris Rashid, Manish Mundri, Navin Roshan, Suraj Singh Sidhu.
Officials: Surinder Singh (coach), Sandeep Singh (manager) and Manjit Singh (asstt coach).

January 23

RESULTS & NEWS

2nd Manipur State League: Eastern Sporting Union 1-2 Manipur Police SC
2nd Manipur State League: Southern Sporting Union 2-1 Tiddim Road Athletic Union
2nd Manipur State League: YWC, Thambalkhong 1-1 NEROCA
2nd Manipur State League: NISA, Thangmeiband 1-0 United Sports Association, Khurai
2nd Manipur State League: RACC, Churachandpur 2-2 Kakching FC
2nd Manipur State League: AMOFA, Moirang 0-0 Phoudel Youth Club, Thoubal

7th All-India BSNL Football Trophy, Bangalore - Final: Karnataka 2-0 West Bengal

::: EXCLUSIVE NEWS: Pune FC Coach Stewart Hall: 'Treat 'em to be pros, they'll function like pros' :::
by Micky Aigner: Pune FC coach Stewart Hall is frank and spot-on when it comes to admitting that he's not played professional football. "I was told that I was not good enough," explains the UEFA Pro Licence holder. Signed on by Wolverhampton Wanderers as a 14-year-old, Hall played the game till 18 before assessment turned out to be the turning point of his career as coach.
Sportingly accepting the decision, Hall played semi pro football before making up his mind of getting into the allied options the game offers professionally. In fact since then the British journeyman has been a major success in youth development, which includes earning two F.A National Commendations in 1992-93. From Europe, South Africa, Asia, North America and the Caribbeans, Hall has 'delivered' football.
In a freewheeling talk, Hall, who has landed his first Indian job, on his departure to Bhubaneshwar for his club's first assignment, spoke to The Indian Express about his plans and ideologies.

Excerpts:
Q: Did you ever dream of landing up in India... would you call it a challenge?

To be one among the 11 coaches on AIFF's short-list for the National coach job, which Bob Houghton eventually landed, was a big task and a challenge. It forced me to understand Indian football, which I did on the internet. To be associated with football in a country with such excellent cricket culture -- wherein imagination and flair are a natural instinct -- is a dream.

Q: On the professional set-up in India...

Cricket is your 'National sport' and everyone has some knowledge about the game that sadly is not the case with football. It is the biggest difference between Europe from where I have traded my expertise mostly, and India. Pro by name but not thinking professionally seems to be the state of affairs here. Take a normal practice day for example: everybody thinks it's ok to be late. It's sacrilege.

Q: So what ideology would you impart?

It's simple. I would like the players to be well paid, fed, housed.. basically looked-after and be treated like professionals. Expectation in return would be to simply act like professionals. Though Pune FC is a 'new' team, players are fined for coming late. Every good organisation is built on culture and discipline.

Q: The management has voiced huge expectations of qualifying to the elite I-League this year. What is your take?

The reason I took the job was the challenge on hand, missing the first transfer window, no team, no ground and no training kit. It was like a blank piece of paper with me being asked to write a story. It only meant working with belief and I think the management's demands are fair, as they have given me whatever I asked for. Cyd Gray's signing justifies their intentions.

Q: After having been involved with youth development assignments, you are handling a pro senior team. Will handling players of that level be a problem?

I've handled 'big' players at Birmingham City. Being in-charge of the Premiership reserve team meant dealing with $5, 6 and 8 million players, which includes World Cupper Cristoph Dugarry, who was down with injury, was an experience. In fact, all who those got injured came to me to stage a comeback. Head coach of Kidderminster (II-Div) who had their best season in 2002 finishing one-short of the play-off, apart from guiding the semi professional Halesowen Town FC to the FA Cup proper have been my senior stints. At Halesowen I've even sold players for $1 million to pro clubs, which kept the club rich too.

Q: What formation do you wish to play at Pune FC?

The 4-3-3 system. And that's because I've had a lot of success with it. The formation helps transform the attacking system to defensive easy. I've noted that all Indian clubs play 4-4-2.

Q: What are you working with players assembled at Pune FC?

Missing the first transfer window was a major blow. So the focus was to get maximum out of fitness and mental strength. Simply put, the objective was to maximise the potential of the players.

Q: How do you find the facilities at your disposal?

Overall, it is very poor. In fact, Bob Houghton in an interview rightly pointed out that some training grounds were 'dangerous.' I guess a lot of money needs to get into infrastructure development, but the reason why it cannot be helped is possibly because the infrastructure needs to be more functional, which I guess will change the face of football.

Q: Did you have any criterion in selecting the players who were shown to you?

It was personality-based, for it helps build team spirit. Also, I was interested in players who wanted to improve themselves. I guess I've put that together.

January 22

RESULTS & NEWS

In the latest IndianFootball.Com Guest Column our Vijay Sharma under the title "My encounter with the Real Fans" looks at the passion that surrounds an Indian football match. Vijay had been to the I-League match Mahindra United vs East Bengal Club in Mumbai.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Guest Column - Vijay Sharma .

::: Dempo coach Armando Colaco injured in accident :::
News this morning out of Goa is that Dempo's very successful coach Armando Colaco is in a hospital after a road accident. Armando was on his way hom on his bike when he hit a cow at Curtorim. Due to the impact Armando's right leg is fractured and will be operated on later today.
For title contenders Dempo this is a major setback as the team could be without their chief coach for a while. In his absence Mauricio Afonso would take over the role of coaching the team.
We from IndianFootball.Com wish Armando all the best & a speedy recovery.

::: MUPC U15 India Finals becomes a farce :::
This seasons Manchester United Premier Cup (U15) India Finals held in Goa over the last few days sadly ended in a farce. On the day of the final four of the eight participating teams were scratched from the competition for fielding overaged players based on MRI testing.
Besides the finalists SSA Football Academy of Mizoram and SBHS Football Academy, Punjab, also Calcutta giants East Bengal Club and Cosmos Club, Tiruvallur from Tamil Nadu were disqualified.
In the new final St Stephen Football Academy, Chandigarh beat Mahindra United 1-0, while in the third place match Salgaocar SC beat Sporting Clube de Goa 3-0.
One has to question the organisers what sense such testing makes at this stage of the tournament with regional qualifiers held earlier and those children missing out are the big losers. But it is a good and positive step that the overage malice is being fought, the only question remains have all culprits been punished or did some just sneak through the system?

January 21

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 12 | Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta | 16.00 IST: East Bengal Club 0-2 Mohun Bagan AC Goals: 0-1,0-2 Baichung Bhutia (29',62'). EAST BENGAL: 24-Subrata Pal; 27-Irungbam Surkumar Singh, 3-Majekodumni Bolaji, 4-Julius Owino, 29-Saumik Dey (46' 34-Snehasis Chakraborty, 71' 6-Dipankar Roy); 19-Syed Rahim Nabi [C], 23-Mehtab Hussain, 26-Mehraj din Wadoo, 9-Alvito D'Cunha, 5-Debabrata Roy; 15-Macdonald M Mukansi (74' 10-Dipendu Biswas). Unused Substitutes: 21-Abhra Mondal, 12-Anupam Sarkar, 17-Surya Bikash Chakraborty MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 3-Nanjangud Shivananju Manju, 26-Nallappan Mohanraj; 16-James Lukram Singh, 22-Lal Kamal Bhowmick (57' 2-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury), 13-Douglas da Silva, 18-Dharamjit Singh; 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto, 15-Baichung Bhutia [C]. Unused Substitutes: 19-Pralay Datta, 7-Rauf Sher Khan, 12-Peter Siddiqui, 11-Ishfaq Ahmed, 28-Muttath Sudheesh, 9-Pachau Lalam Puia "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Baichung Bhutia (Mohun Bagan). YELLOW CARDS: Saumik Dey (3', East Bengal); Douglas da Silva (9'), Sangram Mukherjee (84', both Mohun Bagan). YELLOW-RED CARD: Douglas da Silva (48', Mohun Bagan). REFEREE: Dinesh Nair (Gujarat). ASSISTANT REFEREES: A Arjunan (Services), P Bhaskar (Tamil Nadu). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Dipak Kumar Dey (Assam). MATCH COMMISSIONER: MG Suvarna (Maharashtra). Match Report: How does one feel when the champion of the topmost knock-out football tournament of a country loses its right to play in the first division of the country's professional league? Well the answer is not known but East Bengal Club of Calcutta may be at the receiving end of this situation at the end of February this year when the inaugural I-League gets concluded. East Bengal Club, who had won the Federation Cup earlier this season, suffered their eighth loss of this I-League as they went down 0-2 to arch rivals Mohun Bagan AC in the crunch derby played at the Saltlake Stadium on Monday, January 21. Both the goals of the match came from Mohun Bagan and India skipper Baichung Bhutia, who thus increased his tally to eight goals and remains the only Indian among the top ten scorers of this I-League. East Bengal was playing the first match since the appointment of their new coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya and the target was clear in front of them. They needed no less than three points to loosen the noose of relegation. On the other hand, Mohun Bagan was also looking for full points in order to secure a position in the top three. The atmosphere was tensed from the beginning and two yellow cards, one for each side, within the first ten minutes do justify the perseverance of the two teams. Mohun Bagan started as the clear favourites, but it was East Bengal who looked more organised at the start. The red-and-gold outfit had a good chance of scoring in the 14th minute when Mehtab Hussain got a little bit of free ground but Bagan was saved by defensive medio Douglas da Silva, who barely avoided scoring an own goal. A couple of minutes later, Bagan fullback NS Manju made a defensive howler and deposited the ball into Surkumar Singh's legs, but his shot went wide over the crossbar. Two minutes later, in the 18th minute of the match, a chance was created on the other side of the field. Bagan right-back Habibur Rehman Mondal let in a cross and the ball slipped out of East Bengal goalie Subrata Pal's grip. Jose Ramirez Barreto who was in close vicinity was just evaded by Surkumar. The teams were desperate to put on some show, but the game never reached top gear and the players were frequently seen arguing among themselves. The green-and-maroon brigade took the lead in the 29th minute. The striking duo of Jose Ramirez Barreto and Baichung Bhutia ran into the East Bengal half; Barreto, running though the left, received a ball from the centre circle and sent a measured pass for Baichung, keeping three East Bengal defenders Surkumar, Bolaji and Debabrata stranded. The India captain, running into the right edge of the box, got hold of the ball and shot past the rival goalie from a difficult angle. The goal pumped confidence into the Mariners and they could have doubled their lead five minutes later, when a James Singh cross was missed by Baichung and fell for Dharamjit Singh via Douglas, but Dharamjit's goal-bound shot got deflected off a defender for a corner. Baichung Bhutia got a chance to increase his tally in the 40th minute, but he was denied by Subrata Pal. However, the same Subrata might have paid for his howler just four minutes before the breather, when his goal-kick went straight to Baichung, but the final shot taken by James Singh was cleared well by Subrata himself. The East Bengal coach brought Snehasis Chakraborty as a half-time substitute in place of left-back Saumik Dey in order to strengthen his attacks. Three minutes into the second half, the red-and-gold got an unexpected lifeline. Brazilian Douglas da Silva, who was booked earlier, ran out of his temper and made a nasty challenge on Mehraj din Wadoo. He picked up his second yellow of the match and thus Bagan was reduced to ten men for the rest of the match. A sending off which had been waiting to happen as Douglas in the last few matches should have been send off. The one man advantage seemed to have some effect on East Bengal, as the effecting Alvito free-kick went just a few inches above the crossbar. Alvito undertook the role of playmaker and started organising attacks into the Bagan box. He nearly found the net in the 54th minute but his shot from the edge of the box was just diverted out by the Bagan goalie Sangram Mukherjee. The game was confined to the Bagan half and the equaliser seemed to be just a matter of time. Defender Subhashish Roy Chowdhury was introduced in place of medio Lal Kamal Bhowmick to add strength to the Bagan defence, which showed no sign of giving in to the immense pressure built up by the East Bengal frontmen. It was in the 62nd minute that Bagan was finally able to fend off the pressure. A counter attack was organised by the trio of Barreto, Baichung and Dharamjit. Dharamjit, on receiving the ball from Barreto, let a pass to Baichung, who got into the box, but stumbled on his way between defenders Surkumar and Owino. The ball flew over and Subrata Pal, flying over the goal-line, just managed to keep the ball out. Dharamjit had a try on the rebound, but Subrata's legs came in the way. This time Baichung pushed the rebound in. Subrata got hold of the ball, but it was well behind the goal-line, and thus the scoreline read 2-0 in favour of Bagan. This goal rejuvenated the Mariners and seven minutes later, it could have been three in their favour, but James Singh messed up a beautiful move created between him and Dharamjit. East Bengal could have pulled one back in the 74th minute, but Dipankar Roy, who came as a substitute for Snehasis, shot wide over the crossbar, with no Mohun Bagan player in his vicinity. Time was running out for East Bengal and Dipendu Biswas was introduced in place of the ineffective South African Macdonald M Mukansi. Baichung could have had his hattrick in the 77th minute when he got the ball off a Subrata Pal howler, but his shot was somehow deflected off an East Bengal defender. Alvito, Surkumar and Dipankar Roy built up a good move in the 88th minute but it ended in an equally good save by Sangram Mukherjee. East Bengal were creating chances in the dying minutes of the game via Dipendu Biswas and Syed Rahim Nabi, but all the attempts ended up going wide. The final whistle signified three points for Mohun Bagan and provided some more misery for East Bengal. With just 8 points from 12 matches and having recorded the maximum number of losses in the league so far, East Bengal remain in the drop zone. The team is placed ninth, and trails eighth-placed Viva Kerala by four points. Mohun Bagan remain in fourth spot with 20 points from 12 matches. They next play Air-India in the Cooperage on January 27, while East Bengal host leaders Dempo SC on the same day in Calcutta.

Delhi Senior Division - Final:Indian National FC 0-1 New Delhi Heroes
Goal: 0-1 Gyan Moin Thapa (83').
Osian's sponsored New Delhi Heroes won the Delhi Senior Division title, their seventh Delhi league title, but it was their first title in 49 years. And this is the start that their new owners Osian's and their coach Chima Okorie would have liked ahead of their quest to make it to the I-League's Premier Division.

Favourites Osian New Delhi Heroes annexed the SAIL-ONGC DSA Annual Senior Division League Championship 2007/08 with a solitary goal victory over Digi Max Indian National FC in the final match held today at the Ambedkar Stadium. It was the second straight defeat for Indian National after losing in the same stage to IAF last year.
Cheered on by a sparse crowd, the match started brightly but neither teams could take any advantage of it. The best chance of the half fell to ND Heroes Nigerian striker Baba Tunde who failed to finished from close range after a brilliant through ball from Harvinder Singh. Indian National look threatening down the flanks with both Manish Khattri and Robin Singh doing excellent job but the Nigerian strike duo of Anthony Agbarje and Iefine Nkenchor failed to create any goal scoring opportunities. After the lemon break neither team could create any clear cut openings, some poor finishing and the poor ground conditions didn't help much. The deadlock was finally broken after a swift counter attack on the 83rd minute from ND Heroes after National's Manish Khattri failed to score one on one with the keeper. In the ensuing counter attack ND Heroes Gyan Moin Thapa struck a superb half volley from just outside the box to beat the halpless Rajat Guha to give ND Heroes the championship.
The prizes were distributed by SAIL deputy General Manager (Sports) - TK Bhowmik, COSCO India Managing Director NK Jain, former Delhi State player NR Bhatia, DSA President Subhash Chopra and former DSA President Nawbuddin Zaheer.

Winners Osian ND Heroes and Runners-Up Indian National FC were awarded 1 lakh and 50,000 Rupees each with the trophy's. The losing semifinalists were awarded Rs 25,000 each. 'A' and 'B' Division winner and runners-up were awarded Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 each.
'A' Division winners: Indian Air Force (Palam); Runners-up: Royal Rangers FC
'B' Division winners: Cosmos FC; Runners-up. Union FC
Match Commissioner for the tournament: Melvyn D'Souza

Delhi Senior Division - Prize winners:
Fair Play Trophy: Garhwal Heroes
Best Goalkeeper: Rajat Guha (Indian National FC)
Best Defender: Jasbir Singh (Ahbab FC)
Best Midfielder: Arup Sarkar (Tarun sangha)
Best Forward: Harvinder Singh (New Delhi Heroes)
Best Coach: Chima Okorie (New Delhi Heroes)

::: DD Sports to show I-League round-up tomorrow :::
Doordarshan Sports will tomorrow show a round-up of the 12nd Round of the inaugural I-League at 19.30 IST. The live programme will have Ghaus Mohammed and Novy Kapadia looking back at the round gone by.

::: 18th NYC Rolling Trophy - Kuwait Goans to clash with AVC in finals :::
by Gasper Crasto: Kuwait Goans Association scored a convincing 2-0 victory over Fahaheel Brothers while AVC Overseas Association hammered Don Bosco Oratory 4-1 in the semifinals of the 18th NYC Trophy played at Salmiya Grounds. Kuwait Goans sponsored by Siemens will now lock horns with AVC in the finals on Friday, January 25 at Salmiya Municipality grounds (behind Salmiya Co-operative) starting 08.30 local time.
It is moment of pride for both teams to be in a prestigious final. Kuwait Goans established in 2005 has shown tremendous progress in the tournament. "We want to win the Trophy... We shall win it for Christovam, our player who got injured in the quarterfinals," said an emotional KGA captain Vico D'Souza.
AVC Overseas Association are in the forefront of Indian football in Kuwait for the past few years now. Since winning the Expatriate Overseas Championship held at Bahrain in 2004, AVC have won a number of tournaments. They hold a strange record of losing the last 3 consecutive finals of the NYC Trophy. "We will definitely break the jinx this time," promised AVC captain Francis Fernandes after the semifinal victory.
KGA were on top after taking the lead off a superb goal by striker Andre Dias from outside the box. He added another one to his tally five minutes from end. Andre tops the scoring list with 7 goals in the tournament. Except for Fahaheel Brothers striker Liyakat Ali, no one really came close to scoring. Caridade D'Souza, Vico, Jacob Dias and substitute Zelito Cardozo shone for the winners in midfield play. Referee Tony D'Costa did not allow any close contact between players, at times he was too harsh to carry on with the game, pulling fouls which were not there. He flashed yellow cards to Fahaheel Brothers' Sulaiman and Riyaz for dangerous play. KGA's Zelito Cardozo was also flashed with a yellow.
The other semifinal started on a high, Don Bosco fighting to be in the finals for the first time. However, AVC defence marshaled by captain Francis and Joseph Quadros was too strong for the inexperience of Don Bosco. The less said about Don Bosco team the better. One thing, the youngsters have to learn much not to concede a goal before venturing out to score - especially in a semifinal of a prestigious tournament - where not many teams get to reach that top. It looks they never learnt from their semifinal defeat in the UG Trophy tournament to the same opponent last year. AVC dominated the match and outplayed Don Bosco in all departments of the game. Some of Don Bosco's players never looked they were playing a semifinal. While their stars Alex Sequeira, Roshan Dias, Diago D'Souza, Custodio Ataide, Ratan Dogra, etc existed in the match, Steven Rodrigues was the lone fighter running tirelessly throughout the match. Vicky Bob (2 goals), Peter Crasto and Leroy Rodrigues scored for AVC. Substitue Phillip Duarte pulled one back for Don Bosco in the dying minutes of the match.
The tournament organized by Navelim Youth Centre (NYC) is played under the auspices of Kuwait Indian Football Federation and officiated by Indian Football Referees Association.
Meanwhile, the Managing Committee of Navelim Youth Centre has extended invitation to all member clubs, affiliates and football lovers to come and witness the grand finale.

January 20

RESULTS & NEWS

In the latest IndianFootball.Com Guest Column lecturer Dr. Maibam Chourjit Singh under the title "AFC: Vision Manipur" looks at the success story of the Vision India's Manipur project. What has been done and implemented so far.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Guest Column - Dr. Maibam Chourjit Singh .

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 12 | Cooperage Ground, Mumbai | 15.30 IST: Air-India 1-0 Sporting Clube de Goa Goals: 1-0 Bashiree Mohammed Abbas (90') AIR-INDIA: 1-Arnab Das Sharma; 2-Haobijam Napoleon Singh, 3-Nirmal Chetri, 22-Suley Musah, 4-L Dhanachandra Singh, 6-L Uttam Singh; 15-Sanju Pradhan, 12-Michael Segum Tayo, 20-Paresh Shivalkar [C]; 27-Bashiree Mohammed Abbas (90+5' 11-Hringsolal Thomte), 8-Kumar Samson Singh (72' 10-T Narender Meetei). Unused Substitutes: 30-Sarath EC, 16-Covan Lawrence, 26-Amrit Pal Singh, 24-Ravinder Singh SPORTING CLUBE: 30-Luis Xavier Barreto; 4-Chinta Chandrashekar, 6-Philip Gomes, 3-Mathew Gonsalves; 18-Denzil Franco, 2-Parwinder Singh (90+3' 21-Olushola Ogundare), 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra, 26-Micky Fernandes (76' 23-Bibiano Fernandes), 14-Wilton Gomes [C], 20-Elijah Obagbemiro Junior, 11-Lawrence Adjei (70' 9-Freddy Mascarenhas). Unused Substitutes: 31-Gerald D'Mello, 8-N Rajesh Meetei, 27- L Bisheshwor Singh, 12-Lavino Fernandes "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Bashiree Mohammed Abbas (Air-India). YELLOW CARDS: Nirmal Chetri (20'), Kumar Samson Singh (63', both Air-India). REFEREE: Minangsu Bhattacharya (West Bengal). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Negi (Delhi), VN Aravindakshan (Kerala). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Rizwan ul Haq (Delhi). MATCH COMMISSIONER: SM Balu (Karnataka). Match Report: ...

2nd Manipur State League: Manipur Police SC 2-2 Tiddim Road Athletic Union
2nd Manipur State League: United Sports Association 1-1 Southern Sporting Union
2nd Manipur State League: AMOFA, Moirang 0-0 NISA, Thangmeiband
2nd Manipur State League: Eastern Sporting Union 0-4 NEROCA
2nd Manipur State League: YWC, Thambalkhong 2-0 Kakching FC

Don Bosco-Father Gerard Football Trophy, Chennai - Final: Indian Bank 1-0 Reserve Bank of India, Chennai - Goal: 1-0 Subash Singh (42').

January 19

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 12 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Churchill Brothers 2-1 Salgaocar SC Goals: 0-1 Rocus Lamare (42'), 1-1 Mboyo Iyomi (75'), 2-1 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (90+7') CHURCHILL BROS: ... Unused Substitutes: ... SALGAOCAR: ... Unused Substitutes: ... "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Chitrasen Chandam Singh (Churchill Bros). YELLOW CARD: Hery Habimana (Salgaocar). REFEREE: ... ASSISTANT REFEREES: ... FOURTH OFFICIAL: ... Match Report: ...

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1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 12 | Cooperage Ground, Mumbai | 15.30 IST: Mahindra United 3-1 Dempo SC Goals: 1-0 Sukhwinder Singh (18'), 2-0 Andrews Pomeyie Mensah (32'), 3-0 Pierre Djidjia Douhou (56'), 3-1 Ranty Martins Soleye (89') MAHINDRA UTD: 24-Sandip Nandy; 2-Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, 4-Krishnan Nair Ajayan (66' 6-Manas Das), 7-Sushanth Mathew; 20-Bhola Prasad (57' 11-M Mohammed Rafi); 23-Steven Dias, 17-Sukhwinder Singh, 16-Sunil Kumar, 26-Bello Rasaq; 29-Pierre Djidjia Douhou, 8-Andrews Pomeyie Mensah (82' 19-Izumi Arata). Unused Substitutes: 1-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 27-Noel Fernandes, 9-Surajit Bose, 15-Khangemban Thoi Singh DEMPO: 1-Abhijit Mondal; 18-Valeriano Rebello (74' 4-Cressan Antao), 3-John Charles Dias (62' 23-Dominic Noronha), 28-Mahesh Gawli, 16-Samir Naik; 14-Anthony Pereira, 11-Roberto Mendes Silva (65' 7-Nascimento Silveira), 8-Climax Lawrence, 22-Nicolau Borges; 9-Ranty Martins Soleye [C], 30-Chidi Edeh. Unused Substitutes: 31-Tyson Caiado, 20-Riston Rodrigues, 17-Joaquim Abranches, 29-Clifton Gonsalves "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Pierre Djidjia Douhou (Mahindra United). YELLOW CARDS: M Mohammed Rafi (71'), Manas Das (77', both Mahindra). REFEREE: Rizwan ul-Haq (Delhi). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Negi (Delhi), VN Aravindakshan (Kerala). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Minangsu Bhattacharya (West Bengal) MATCH COMMISSIONER: SM Balu (Karnataka). Match Report: ...

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1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 12 | Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana | 14.00 IST: JCT, Phagwara 2-0 Viva Kerala Goals: 1-0 Eduardo da Silva Escobar (58'), 2-0 Sunil Chetri (62') JCT: 32-Prasanta Dora; 13-Baldeep Singh Sr, 24-Gurwinder Singh 4-Julius Akpele [C], 12-Daljit Singh; 27-Baldeep Singh Jr (57' 8-Jaswinder Singh), 2-Jaspal Singh, 20-Marcos Pereira, 23-Harish Sharma; 11-Sunil Chetri, 10-Eduardo da Silva Escobar (72' 25-Sakatar Singh) Unused Substitutes: 21-Mukhwinderjit Singh, 5-Narinder Singh, 28 Shivraj Singh, 15-P Renedy Singh, 17-Parveen Kumar VIVA KERALA: 1-T.G.Purushothaman; 2-Ebin Rose, 3-I Khelemba Singh, 6-Tabia Othallo, 5-Akshay Das, 7-Bimanyu Bimal Birua, 9-Awudu Adama (70' 21-Santa Saikhom Singh), 23-Sunil Kumar (72' 18-Chanambam Jatin Singh), 8-Sagolsem James Singh; 10-Badmus Baba Thunde, 17-Wisdom Abbey. Unused Substitutes: 25-MV Nelson, 22-KV Lalu, 14-C Shineraj, 16-Shahbas Shaleel, 28-Somy PT "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Sunil Chetri (JCT). YELLOW CARDS: Gurwinder Singh (42'), Sakatar Singh (76', both JCT); Sunil Kumar Thakur (1'), Sagolsem James Singh (39', both Viva Kerala). REFEREE: PK Bose (Madhya Pradesh). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Deepak Singh (Delhi), Dhanapati Ray (West Bengal). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Bikramjit P (Delhi). MATCH COMMISSIONER: Rakesh Kumar Bakshi (Chandigarh). Match Report: ...

January 18

RESULTS & NEWS

Delhi Senior Division - Semifinal: New Delhi Heroes 4-2 Tarun Sangha - Goals: 0-1,4-2 Charles Egmore (20',83' penalty), 1-1 Gyan Moin Thapa (22'), 2-1,4-1 Babatunde (47',65'), 3-1 Harvinder Singh (62').

January 17

RESULTS & NEWS

Delhi Senior Division - Semifinal: Indian National FC 2-0 Ahbab FC - Goals: 1-0 Iefine (82'), 2-0 Trilok Singh Bisht (84').

::: JCT - Viva Kerala match at 14.00 IST :::
According to infos send to us by the Punjab FA the Round 12 I-league match JCT vs Viva Kerala on Saturday, January 19 will kickoff at 14.00 IST at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana.

January 16

RESULTS & NEWS

::: India go down one spot in FIFA World Rankings :::
India dropped a place in the latest FIFA World Rankings to be ranked 144th in the world and 27th in Asia. The leading trio of Argentina, Brazil and Italy and the next 15 positions below remained all unchanged.

::: AIFF inaugurate first National Training Centre :::
Union Minister and AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi inaugurated the AIFF's first National Training Centre today in Goa.
The impressive two-storeyed building, opposite the Nehru Stadium, at Fatorda, has reportedly cost the AIFF Rs 2 crores. The AIFF Training Centre is built to accommodate 32 players during National camps and will help AIFF cut cost and corners during preparatory camps.
The centre will become operational from January 20 when the India Under-16 team will begin its training in preparation for the AFC U16 Championships.
"We are proud to have our own Training Centre here in Goa," AIFF president Das Munshi said after inaugurating it in the presence of Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, National coach Bob Houghton and India captain Baichung Bhutia.
He further added that the AIFF Training Centre was just the beginning as a National Foootball Academy is being proposed in Gurgaon. "The land has been identified for the new project," Mr Das Munshi added. He said the new academy will be raised through support from Public & Private Sector. He informed that Centres will be set up in three or four places in the future for youngsters to train with Guwahati, Calcutta, Chennai/Kochi likely venues. Goa could also be the location for another Football Academy.

::: I-League: East Bengal coach Subrata resigns, while Manoranjan takes over :::
After a terrible run in the ongoing i-League East Bengal Club coach Subrata Bhattacharjee resigned today citing health reasons. Subrata who had a great start to his East Bengal stint winning the Federation Cup title early on in the season now resigned due to the club being ninth in the 10 team I-League, which at the end of the season would mean relegation.
In the evening Manoranjan Bhattacharjee has been appointed coach until the end of the season. For Manoranjan the immediate task will be to regroup the team and start winning matches if the club wants to avoid relegation. Subrata's style of coaching had lately caused numerous problems within the team.

::: First FIFA Official Store opens in Singapore :::
A FIFA Report: Strengthening its ties with football fans across the globe, world football's governing body today (16 January 2008) opened the first FIFA Official Store at Singapore's Changi airport.
FIFA's pioneering concept creates a memorable experience for fans of both football and fashion by offering a unique range of official merchandise inspired by the past, present and future of the game. For the first time, FIFA merchandise will be available to fans all year round and not just in host countries during FIFA events.
"With today's world premiere of the FIFA Official Store, fans now get the opportunity to buy a unique piece of football experience all year round. FIFA and its various World Cup events will become part and parcel of people's everyday lives in the official store, which is only the first of many more to follow," said FIFA Executive Committee member and AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam at the store's opening.
Designers have created five unique clothing lines for the FIFA Official Store, reflecting the heritage and dynamism of football. From vintage-style jerseys that honour FIFA World Cups™ of the past to casual wear and high-end apparel, each item bears the "Official Licensed Product" logo as a seal of quality. The lines - Code, Trophy, Editions, Events and Sports Graphics - will be targeted at male and female consumers of all ages and will appeal to football fans and trendsetters alike.
After Singapore, further FIFA Official Stores are due to open in London, Tokyo and Los Angeles, as well as in important emerging markets such as Latin America, China and India. FIFA's exclusive licensing representative until 2014, Global Brands Group, will operate the stores.
"As FIFA's first permanent retail location, the FIFA Official Store represents an important milestone toward further connecting fans around the world to FIFA's rich heritage dating back to 1904 as well as the excitement and anticipation of future events, including South Africa 2010," said Gary Schoenfeld, president and co-CEO of Global Brands Group.
In addition, a web-based store will open on the official website, FIFA.com, in the autumn of 2008. FIFA products are also sold at various Official FIFA World Cup Stores across South Africa, the host country of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

January 15

RESULTS & NEWS

60th Indian Army Day Celebrations, Siliguri: India 4-2 Myanmar [on penalties]

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Garhwal Heroes 1-0 Indian Air Force, New Delhi

::: EXCLUSIVE NEWS: Pune FC net T&T World Cupper :::
by Micky Aigner: Call it a guarded secret or simply news that was not meant to be disclosed during the launch of Ashok Piramal Group backed Pune FC, close inspection of the team list revealed a 2006 FIFA World Cupper in their midst.
To many Cyd Gray was like any regular signing clubs make in their quest for glory in the I-league. But Gray, as it turned out to be, was part of the Trinadad and Tobago team in all three preliminary round matches of the finals' in Germany registering a goalless draw against Sweden in their opening match, and holding the mighty England goalless for eighty minutes before losing 2-0. T&T lost their final match 2-0 against Paraguay.
Having roped in the services of the 32-year-old defender, Gray undoubtedly becomes biggest signing of the I-League so far. While details about his signing amount was unclear it was given to understand that the Gray is on a five-month loan deal with the club.
Gray, as reports from T&T suggest, was one of the only two local based World Cup players in T&T who did not secure a foreign contract and always wanted to get outside. In March of 2007 Gray had one trial in England with Gillingham during Jabloteh's pre-season in which he returned empty handed, so when the Pune FC offer came along he grabbed it with open arms.
Gray, who was part of TT Pro League Champions Clico San Juan Jabloteh (Kings) campaign in 2007 and signed for the 2008 season will showcase his worth during Pune FC's first assignment in the Kalinga Cup at Orissa on Thursday.
Having secured a place on the Pune FC team, Gray after geting the pre-requesit international transfer clearance, which is issued by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation landed on Indian soil - Pune - on Friday after a 36-hour flight is still to get into a full training schedule with the team.
In fact, it is learnt that Gray, unlike the reat of the team who would be travelling by train will be flying to Orissa for Pune FC's assignment. As coach Stewart Hall put's it, "he's fagged out and I guess deserves rest." For the record the train journey would mean travelling 36 hours, which Hall himself shirks with the thought.

::: 18th NYC Rolling Trophy - :::
by Gasper Crasto: An unforgivable, vicious foul by DHL's Elvis Camelo that crippled Kuwait Goan's young playmaker Christovam Colaco with a broken shin was one of the most horrific incidents seen in the 18 year history of the NYC Rolling Trophy football tournament played under the auspices of Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF).
In chilling temperatures as low as 6°C at Salmiya Grounds, Kuwait Goans Association (KGA) led 2-0 in the second half with goals from Andre Dias and Jimmy Goveia. With less than ten minutes left for the final whistle Christovam was moving diagonally with the ball just after the centre circle when DHL's stopper-back Elvis lunged at his legs with both feet. The studs beneath one of Elvis' boots crashed into the flesh of Christovam's shin grounding the player writhing in pain.
Referee Sarto Baptista, one of the most consistent referees had little hesitation in giving marching orders to the DHL defender. "A two footed tackle, anyone will testify, is the most heinous foul in football," quoted Junnifer Rodrigues, member of the Indian referee's body in Kuwait since 1980. Another official said, "The two-footed tackle in football is always illegal but players get away with just a red card…That's the maximum penalty refs can give on the field..."
KGA officials who reportedly lodged a complaint with KIFF against the brutal tackle said Christovam was operated at Al-Razi Hospital for a broken leg. "Christovam's football activity is ended in most probability and he is in danger of losing his job also. We are afraid he may never be able to play again. He is crippled with the shin bone broken into two. Doctors have advised him complete bed rest to recuperate once discharged from the hospital. It could be as many as 3 months before he can walk again. For the time, all arrangements are being made to fly the player back to his home in Goa for better care and treatment. Many clubs have shown concern and support towards the player..," disclosed KGA Team Manager Nazi Azavedo. The official football rules called the 'Laws of the Game' are revised annually by FIFA, the world football governing body. These rules are adopted by KIFF and the Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA), although many football organizations worldwide have their own set of rules.
"…Perhaps the 'dastardly foul' will be discussed by the disciplinary committee of KIFF. Even then, an offence like this may get a maximum 3 match ban. That's not enough..." remarked an unnamed football administrator.
There were mixed reactions from all circles about the credibility of some teams and players in the aftermath of the fatal injury. Many spectators called the foul 'intentional', 'horrendous' and viewed concern over such tackles perpetrated by some 'frustrated' players in an expatriate 'working' world where games are played only as pastime. "There are some players who disgrace their teams and bring the game to disrepute - especially when they are at the losing end," commented a spectator while another bystander added, "There was no need for such a dangerous tackle knowing they (DHL) were down by 2 goals...No, it was not accidental or 50-50...It was deliberate… Everybody saw that!.. Moreover, it is disgusting to note some of DHL's supporters and substitutes instigating their players from the sidelines to play rough."
"Someone needs to sit him down and educate him about the game he plays," said another observer about the DHL defender, "This player should be kicked out of the game by his club and the federation. It is necessary to improve the game's image... Primarily, it should be every club's responsibility to impress upon players not to commit fouls that get them sent off…"
Christovam was undoubtedly the best player on the field with meticulous dribbling and majestic, untiring runs with the ball. He fed his strikers over and over again with precision passes. Kuwait Goans took the lead through his hard work off striker Andre Dias and were never in real danger from then on. KGA goalkeeper Martin Dias, captain Vico D'Souza, Caridade and defender Teotonio too excelled in the match. In the other quarter-final matche, striker Leroy Rodrigues scored a hatrick to coast AVC Overseas Association to an easy 3-0 victory over C.R.C. Chinchinim. AVC led 2-0 in the first half. The second half was more an ordeal of sorts though AVC held sway and probed persistently for another goal, but lacked that killer finish from their forwards even as Chinchinim looked to be running out of steam and chose to play second fiddle only to come up with occasional raids to release the pressure.
In yet another quarter-final round, Curtorcares United, champions in 2004~05 succumbed to a 4-1 defeat against spirited Fahaheel Brothers. Curtorcares, who scored 11 goals in their last two encounters appeared to have left their scoring boots at home against a middling Fahaheel defense. Strikers Lawrence Furtado and Zico Fernandes could not beat the Fahaheel defense not just because the defenders were outstanding but more so because they did not make that extra effort or showed urgency when it mattered. Muneer and Riyas were the pick of the players for Fahaheel Brothers. Nishad (2 goals), Suleiman and Liyakat Ali scored for Fahaheel. Alex Fernandes reduced the margin for Curtorcares.
In the semifinal line-up on Friday, January 18, 2008, Kuwait Goans will clash with Fahaheel Brothers while Don Bosco Oratory challenge AVC to stake claim for their first final appearance in Kuwait Indian football tournaments.

::: Uzbekistan to host AFC U-16 Championship :::
AFC Press Release: Uzbekistan will host the AFC U-16 Championship 2008 finals after a successful bid by the central Asian nation, the AFC announced here on Monday.
Sixteen (16) teams will be taking part in the competition where they will be divided by a draw to four groups of four each. The draw for the finals will be held in Tashkent on April 1, 2008 while the finals will be held at Army and Jar Stadiums in the Uzbek capital from October 4-19, 2008.
The last edition of AFC U-16 Championship 2006 (formal known as AFC U-17 Championship) was held in Singapore with Japan emerged champion defeating DPR Korea in the final while Tajikistan took third place ahead of Syria.
This is the second time ever Uzbekistan will host an AFC competition after successfully hosting AFC Futsal Championship 2006.
Twelve (12) teams have qualified so far to the AFC Under-16 Championship. They are as follows:
India (Group C), Syria, Yemen (Group A), Iran, Bahrain (Group B), Uzbekistan (Group D), China, Singapore (Group E), Japan, Indonesia (Group F), Australia (Group G) and Korea Republic (Group H).
Top four teams in AFC U-16 Championship Uzbekistan 2008 will qualify for FIFA U-17 World Cup 2009.

January 14

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 11 | Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana | 13.30 IST: JCT, Phagwara 3-0 East Bengal Goals: 1-0 Baljit Singh Sahni (5'), 2-0 Baldeep Singh Sr (8'), 3-0 Eduardo da Silva Escobar (38'). JCT: 32-Prasanta Dora; 13-Baldeep Singh Sr, 24-Gurwinder Singh, 4-Julius Irabor Apkele [C], 12-Daljit Singh; 6-Baljit Singh Sahni (70' 8-Jaswinder Singh), 2-Jaspal Singh, 20-Marcos Pereira, 27-Baldeep Singh Jr; 11-Sunil Chetri (60' 17-Parveen Kumar), 10-Eduardo da Silva Escobar (81' 25-Sakatar Singh). Unused Substitutes: 21-Mukhwinderjit Singh, 5-Narinder Singh, 23-Harish Sharma, 28 Shivraj Singh EAST BENGAL: 24-Subrata Pal; 5-Debabrata Roy (46' 16-Ratan Das), 32-Madhab Das (13' 9-Alvito D'Cunha), 12-Anupam Sarkar, 29-Saumik Dey; 23-Mehtab Hussain, 4-Julius Owino, 7-Jayanta Sen, 34-Snehasis Chakraborty (25' 10-Dipendu Biswas); 19-Syed Rahim Nabi [C], 15-Macdonald M Mukansi. Unused Substitutes: 21-Abhra Mondal, 17-Surya Bikash Chakraborty, 6-Dipankar Roy, 14-Chandan Das "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Baljit Singh Sahni (JCT) YELLOW CARDS: none. REFEREE: A Arjunan (Services). ASSISTANT REFEREES: BS Negi (Delhi), SB Saha (Delhi). FOURTH OFFICIAL: A Rowan (Services). MATCH COMMISSIONER: DS Bisht (Delhi). Match Report: Punjab's leading soccer outfit JCT blanked East Bengal Club 3-0 in the 11th round match of the ongoing I-League played at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. Brazilian striker Eduardo da Silva Escobar was the star in JCT's victory having a hand in two goals scored by Baljit Singh Sahni in the 6th minute and Baldeep Singh Sr. in the 9th minute of the game with one goal to his credit which came in the 39th minute of the game. JCT was in top form as it took just six minutes to take the lead. Picking up the ball outside the East Bengal penalty area, Eduardo sent a well-calculated pass to Baljit Singh Sahni, whose powerful volley beat the East Bengal custodian to put the home side ahead. Three minutes later, it was again Eduardo who was at the centre of the action in the middle of the field. Moving into the rival area after dogging past three defenders, he sent a pass to Baldeep Sr inside the penalty box who headed the ball gently into the net to increase the lead for JCT. In the 39th minute of the game Eduardo's moment came when he was brought down by an East Bengal defender in the penalty area and Eduardo made no mistake by scoring his own goal to put favourites JCT 3-0 ahead. The second half affairs of the game were lackluster. East Bengal made few attempts at the rival goal, but the JCT defence did not provide enough space to take a shot at the goal. JCT with this win has moved to 22 points from 11 matches, maintaining its second position behind Dempo in the I-League table. East Bengal, which is having a miserable run in the I-League so far remain on 8 points and are now in the relegation zone as ninth.

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1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 11 | Cooperage Ground, Mumbai | 15.30 IST: Air-India 2-1 Salgaocar SC Goals: 0-1 Felix Chimaokwu (23'), 1-1 Paresh Shivalkar (29'), 2-1 Kumar Samson Singh (44'). AIR-INDIA: ... Unused Substitutes: ... SALGAOCAR: ... Unused Substitutes: ... "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Arnab Das Sharma (Air-India). YELLOW CARDS: Vijith Shetty (20'), Arnab Das Sarma (79', both Air-India); Milagres Gonsalves (13'), Felix Chimaokwu (85', both Salgaocar). REFEREE: ... ASSISTANT REFEREES: ... FOURTH OFFICIAL: ... Match Report: ...

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: New Delhi Heroes 1-0 Shastri Club - Goal: 1-0 Joe Colaso (81').

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1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 11 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Churchill Brothers 4-2 Mahindra United Goals: 1-0,2-1,3-2,4-2 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (1',63',65',89'), 1-1 Andrews Mensah Pomeyie (53'), 2-2 Steven Dias (64'). CHURCHILL BROS: 1-Vinay Singh; 8-Thokchom Naoba Singh (62' 4-Rowilson Rodrigues), 6-N Govind Singh, 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 17-Robert Lalthalma; 12-Reisangmei Vasum (62' 15-D Raju), 21-Ogba Kalu Nnanna, 14-Chitrasen Chandam Singh, 11-Khemtang Paite (87' 38-Jaison Valles); 10-Odafe Onyeka Okolie [C], 9-Mboyo Iyomi. Unused Substitutes: 29-Arindam Bhattcharya, 2-Villroy D'Cruz, 13-Mashangva Genius Zenith, 18-Saran Thangjam Singh MAHINDRA UTD: 24-Sandip Nandy; 7-Sushanth Mathew, 5-Harpreet Singh (80' 12-Manjit Singh), 14-Dharmaraj Ravanan (37' 11-M Mohammed Rafi), 26-Bello Rasaq; 23-Steven Dias, 29-Pierre Djidjia Douhou, 2-Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, 4-Krishnan Nair Ajayan; 28-Sushil Kumar Singh (59' 17-Sukhwinder Singh), 8-Andrews Pomeyie Mensah. Unused Substitutes: 1-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 16-Sunil Kumar, 27-Noel Fernandes, 20-Bhola Prasad "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Odafe Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Bros). YELLOW CARDS: none. REFEREE: T Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Rizwan ul-Haq (Delhi), Mohammed Basheer (Kerala). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Shaji Kurian (Kerala). Match Report: ...

January 13

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 11 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Dempo SC 4-1 Sporting Clube de Goa Goal: 1-0,3-0,4-1 Ranty Martins Soleye (16',42',90'), 2-0 Chidi Edeh (23'), 3-1 Freddy Mascarenhas (64') DEMPO: 1-Abhijit Mondal; 18-Valeriano Rebello, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 3-John Charles Dias, 16-Samir Naik; 14-Anthony Pereira, 20-Riston Rodrigues (65' 7-Nascimento Silveira), 8-Climax Lawrence, 22-Nicolau Borges; 9-Ranty Martins Soleye [C], 30-Chidi Edeh (87' 29-Clifton Gonsalves). Unused Substitutes: 31-Tyson Caiado, 4-Cressan Antao, 17-Joaquim Abranches, 19-Johnny D'Cruz, 23-Dominic Noronha SPORTING CLUBE: 30-Luis Xavier Barreto; 4-Chinta Chandrashekar, 6-Philip Gomes, 3-Mathew Gonsalves; 14-Wilton Gomes [C] (80' 12-Lavino Fernandes), 26-Micky Fernandes, 34-Mohammed Ghafari (45'+1' 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra), 22-Joseph Pereira (55' 9-Freddy Mascarenhas), 18-Denzil Franco; 20-Elijah Obagbemiro Junior, 11-Lawrence Adjei. Unused Substitutes: 31-Gerald D'Mello, 8-N Rajesh Meetei, 15-Freeman Peixoto, 23-Bibiano Fernandes "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Ranty Martins Soleye (Dempo). YELLOW CARDS: none. REFEREE: Rizwan ul-Haq (Delhi). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Shaji Kurian (Kerala), Mohammed Basheer (Kerala). FOURTH OFFICIAL: T Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu). Match Report: Defending NFL champions Dempo SC continued their impressive run in the inaugural I-League with a 4-1 trashing of Sporting Clube de Goa at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Dempo moved to 27 points from 11 matches to maintain their top position, while Sporting Clube remain on 12 points from as many matches.

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1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 11 | Municipal Corporation Stadium, Calicut | 16.00 IST: Viva Kerala 0-2 Mohun Bagan AC Goal: 0-1 Baichung Bhutia (36'), 0-2 Ishfaq Ahmed (88') VIVA KERALA: 25-MV Nelson; 2-Ebin Rose, 3-Khelemba Singh, 4-Tutu George, 5-Akshay Das; 16-Shahbas Shaleel (62' 22-KV Lalu), 7-Bimanyu Bimal Birua, 28-Somy PT (30' 6-Othallo Tabia), 8-Sagolsem James Singh; 10-Badmus Baba Thunde, 17-Wisdom Abbey (80' 18-Chanambam Jatin Singh). Unused Substitutes: 1-TG Purushothaman, 23-Sunil Kumar Thakur, 26-Mohammad Helmy, 21-Santa Saikhom Singh MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 3-Nanjangud Shivananju Manju, 2-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury; 13-Douglas da Silva, 6-Shanmugam Venkatesh, 18-Dharamjit Singh (75' 16-James Lukram Singh), 9-Pachau Lalam Puia (70' 11-Ishfaq Ahmed); 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto (89' 22-Lalkamal Bhowmick), 15-Baichung Bhutia [C]. Unused Substitutes: 19-Pralay Datta, 12-Peter Siddiqui, 17-Rahul Kumar "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Douglas Da Silva (Mohun Bagan). YELLOW CARDS: Peter Odafe (65', Mohun Bagan). REFEREE: P Bhaskar (Tamil Nadu). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Vijaya Kumar (Karnataka), Andrew Sekhar (Karnataka). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Francisco Fernandes (Goa). Match Report: Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan AC avenged their 3-1 home defeat to Viva Kerala, while overcoming them 2-0 at Calicut in the 11th Round of the inaugural I-League. Mohun Bagan dominated the match and outplayed the Kerala team in all departments. The win took Mohun Bagan to the fourth position in the table while the club from god's own country still remains in seventh position to give new hope for the bottom placed teams like East Bengal and Air-India. Viva Kerala started with the same eleven which defeated Air-India while Mohun Bagan made a couple of changes to their line-up. Influential midfielder Douglas da Silva returned to the team after missing out the tie against Sporting Clube de Goa and impressive young midfielder Pachau Lalam Puia was also drafted into the starting eleven. The match started off with Bagan attacking and putting the home team under immense pressure in the early minutes of the game. The visitors came close when India skipper Baichung Bhutia netted in the ball from a corner only to be ruled offside by the linesman. But Bhutia within minutes it was the captain himself who helped Bagan to take the lead. The goal came as a result of an excellent run from defender Habibur Rehman Mondal on the right flank. A cross by Mondal found veteran striker Jose Ramirez Barreto, who controlled the ball well and placed it to the near post only to find Bhutia netting the ball in. Viva Kerala came back strongly and tested Sangram Mukherjee on few occasions but failed to find the equalizer before the half-time whistle. The men in blue started the second half brightly and they almost squared the game when Bimanyu Bimal Birua's brilliant shot was pulled out more brilliantly by former India keeper Mukherjee. Viva striker Wisdom Abbey came close to finally equalize when his shot was saved on the goal line by Habibur Rehman Mondal in the 61st minute. Viva Kerala increased the pressure and opened spaces for Bagan to double the lead. The Kolkatans found themselves denied a second goal by Viva goalkeeper MV Nelson on many occasions. But in the 82nd minute of the game substitute Ishfaq Ahmed made it 2-0 for the green-and-maroon brigade. The former Dempo player received a pass from Bhutia, made a run on the left flank and drilled the ball into the right side of the net. The goal took away the game from Viva Kerala and left the 20.000 spectators in the stadium disappointed. Finally it was Douglas da Silva's excellent performance in the midfield, which won the match for Mohun Bagan. He never allowed the 17-year old Shahbas Shaleel to make any movements and closed down all gaps in midfield.

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Indian National FC 1-1 City Club - Goals: 1-0 Trilok Singh Bisht (44'), 1-1 PK Thing (81').
Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Hindustan FC 1-2 Tarun Sangha - Goals: 0-1 Prabir Ray (1'), 1-1 Nathan (7'), 1-2 Sudip Banick (75').

::: SBT signs three Nigerians :::
The State Bank of Travancore football team has signed three Nigerians in their attempt to secure a promotion place in the upcoming 2nd Division I-League. SBT sports officer TP Ajith Kumar said that Alex Emeke Okoro (defender), Jeribe Kelechi (midfielder) and Dennis Mark Afam (forward) have been offered a one-year contract with the option to renew the same based on their performances.
The three Nigerians were recruited from among 15 foreigners who attended the selection trials conducted during the last five months.

::: DSA to conduct trials cum coaching camp :::
The DSA will conduct a trial cum coaching camp on Wednesday, 16th January at 14.30 IST at the Ambedkar Stadium to select the Delhi State team for the Under-21 National Championship. The final tournament will be held at Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Interested players can contact the DSA office or DSA Chairman DK Bose with their original Date of Birth certificates at the earliest.

January 12

RESULTS & NEWS

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: New Delhi Heroes 2-0 Garhwal Heroes - Goals: 1-0 Tunde, 2-0 Krispin.

PSPB Inter-Unit Football Tournament - Bangalore - Final: ONGC 1-0 Oil India Limited - Goal: 1-0 Manoj Ratnakumar (1').
PSPB Inter-Unit Football Tournament - Bangalore - 3rd Place Match: BPCL 4-0 CPCL - Goals: M Ali (3x), Suju Alias.

January 11

RESULTS & NEWS

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group B: Ahbab FC 1-0 Indian Air Force, New Delhi - Goals: 1-0 Subhash Negi (30').

::: I-League: Calcutta derby postponed by a day :::
The I-League's Round 12 match-up between East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC has been postponed by a day to be now played on January 21 at 16.00 IST. Due to the then ongoing Gangasagar Mela the Calcutta Police wouldn't be in a position to provide the necessary security at the Saltlake Stadium therefore the match has been pushed back by a day.

::: Manchester United scout visits Simla Young's Academy :::
John Owen, the Welsh-based Manchester United scout, visited the Simla Young's Academy boys numbering about 120. Owen on interaction with the academy boys talked about the functioning and the set-up of Manchester United Youth Academy starting from the under-6 to the reserves. He further talked in brief about the youth set-ups of 6-8 years, 9-11 years and 12-16 years with scholarships awarded to the best performers and chance to play in the reserve team.
Owen emphasis on having a right kind of attitude followed up with strong desire, determination and above all discipline to succeed and become a good professional footballer in the future. The ManU Scout expects that one day there will be an Indian footballer playing for Manchester United and encouraged and applaud the good work done by the Simla Youngs FC.
When asked about the difference between the level of football in India and Britain Owen said the simple basics of football is lacking in India and also mentioned the importance of maintaining a proper diet and good playing surface. In the end he wished the Simla Young's side for a better performance in the upcoming Welsh International Football Tournament in July and was hoping to see at least one of the boys breaking into the Manchester United Youth Academy.

January 10

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 10 | Cooperage Ground, Mumbai | 15.30 IST: Mahindra United 3-1 JCT, Phagwara Goal: 0-1 Eduardo da Silva Escobar (7'), 1-1,2-1 Andrews Pomeyie Mensah (10',65'), 3-1 Pierre Djidjia Douhou (87'). MAHINDRA UTD: ... Unused Substitutes: ... JCT: ... Unused Substitutes: ... "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Andrews Pomeyie Mensah (Mahindra Utd). YELLOW CARDS: ... REFEREE: ... ASSISTANT REFEREES: ... FOURTH OFFICIAL: ... Match Report: ...

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1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 10 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Dempo SC 4-1 Churchill Brothers SC Goal: 1-0 Chidi Edeh (45'), 2-0 Ranty Martins Soleye (67'), 3-0 Anthony Pereira (68'), 3-1 Mboyo Iyomi (85'), 4-1 Joaquim Abranches (90+3'). DEMPO: 21-VP Satish Kumar; 18-Valeriano Rebello, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 3-John Charles Dias, 16-Samir Naik; 14-Anthony Pereira, 11-Roberto Mendes Silva (84' 20-Riston Rodrigues), 8-Climax Lawrence, 22-Nicolau Borges; 9-Ranty Martins Soleye [C] (74' 17-Joaquim Abranches), 30-Chidi Edeh. Unused Substitutes: 1-Abhijit Mondal, 4-Cressan Antao, 23-Dominic Noronha, 19-Johnny D'Cruz, 29-Clifton Gonsalves CHURCHILL BROS: 1-Vinay Singh; 8-Thokchom Naoba Singh, 6-N Govind Singh, 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 17-Robert Lalthalma; 12-Reisangmei Vasum (46' 15-D Raju), 21-Ogba Kalu Nnanna, 13-Mashangva Genius Zenith (71' 38-Jaison Valles), 11-Khemtang Paite (46' 14-Chitrasen Chandam Singh); 10-Odafe Onyeka Okolie [C], 9-Mboyo Iyomi. Unused Substitutes: 29-Arindam Bhattcharya, 2-Villroy D'Cruz, 4-Rowilson Rodrigues, 18-Saran Thangjam Singh "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Anthony Pereira (Dempo). YELLOW CARDS: Climax Lawrence, Anthony Pereira (39', both Dempo), Robert Lalthalma (35'), Khemtang Paite (39', both Churchill Bros). REFEREE: Komaleeswaran Shankar (Tamil Nadu). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Shaji Kurian (Kerala), Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Mohammed Basheer (Kerala). Match Report: ...

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1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 10 | Municipal Corporation Stadium, Calicut | 16.00 IST: Viva Kerala 3-2 Air-India Goal: 1-0,3-2 Wisdom Abbey (52',83'), 1-1 Bashiree Mohammed Abbas (53'), 2-1 Khelemba Singh (62'), 2-2 Suley Musah (64'). VIVA KERALA: 25-MV Nelson; 2-Ebin Rose, 3-Khelemba Singh, 4-Tutu George, 5-Akshay Das; 16-Shahbas Shaleel, 7-Bimanyu Bimal Birua, 28-Somy PT, 8-Sagolsem James Singh (46' 22-KV Lalu); 10-Badmus Baba Thunde, 17-Abbey Wisdom. Unused Substitutes: 1-TG Purushothaman, 6-Othallo Tabia, 23-Sunil Kumar Thakur, 26-Mohammad Helmy, 18-Chanambam Jatin Singh, 21-Santa Saikhom Singh AIR-INDIA: 21-Raju Ekka; 5-Vijith Shetty, 3-Nirmal Chetri, 22-Suley Musah, 6-L Uttam Singh, 19-Santosh Koli (66' 10-T Narender Meetei), 12-Michael Segum Tayo (74' 11-Hringsolal Thomte), 4-Dhanachandra Singh, 20-Paresh Shivalkar [C]; 27-Bashiree Mohammed Abbas, 8-Kumar Samson Singh. Unused Substitutes: 30-Sarath EC, 16-Covan Lawrence, 26-Amrit Pal Singh, 15-Sanju Pradhan, 18-Hamza Zaheer Abbas "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Khelemba Singh (Viva Kerala). YELLOW CARDS: Tutu George (13'), Ebin Rose (66', both Viva Kerala); Suley Musah (82', Air-India). REFEREE: Francisco Fernandes (Goa). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Vijaya Kumar (Karnataka), Andrew Sekhar (Karnataka). FOURTH OFFICIAL: P Bhaskar (Tamil Nadu). Match Report: Viva Kerala overcame Air-India by 3-2 in the 1th round match of the inaugural I-League. It was Viva's first win after suffering three successive defeats in the league whereas it was the opposite for the Mumbai outfit as it was there third defeat from their last four games. The match started with both teams playing more in midfield and the first half was really quiet as both teams in reality never looked capable to score goals. But the second half was lively and it was Viva Kerala who drew the first blood in the game. In the 52nd minute of the game Sagolsem James Singh from the centre found the 17 year old Shaleel who dribbled past two Air-India defenders and gave an inch perfect cross from left which found Ghanian Wisdom Abbey who headed in the ball beautifully into the net. The goal was first goal the men in blue scored from the last four games. But Air-India pulled one back when a Paresh Shivalkar cross found Bashiree Mohammed Abbas who just tapped the ball into the open net. The goal stunned the home fans, but Viva again surged ahead within 10 minutes when they took the lead after their captain Khelemba Singh scored from a stunning free-kick. It was Suley Musah's foul on Baba Thunde that led to the free-kick and the former Churchill Brothers player came forward to take it and his 40 yard screamer went into right side of the post to which the goalkeeper had no answer. But for the second time in the game Air-India snatched an equaliser and this time it was the same Paresh Shivalkar who was the behind the move. His corner which was delivered as a high ball found Bashiree Mohammad Abbas who headed the ball into Viva's box which found the Ghanian defender Suley Musah who drilled in a shot which was deflected of Khelemba Singh and went in. The match turned again but this time in favour of the away team. It looked to be heading for a draw but Viva Kerala found the winner through Wisdom Abbey. It was defender Akshay Das pass that helped Shaleel to make a run from the left and from the outside of the box he gave a cross to Baba Thunde who shot towards the goal deflected off Abbey and found the net to the much delight of the 10,000 people in the Municipal Corporation Stadium. It was Shahbas Shaleel excellent performance in the midfield that enabled Viva Kerala to grab valuable three points in the match. The win helped Viva Kerala to stay on 7th position in the league while Air-India remain in the drop zone after tasting three defeats in their last four games. Viva Kerala will face a revived Mohun Bagan next while Air-India will face the struggling Salgoacar SC from Goa.

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Indian National FC 1-0 Hindustan FC - Goals: 1-0 Anthony (78',pen).

::: DD Sports to show I-League round-up tomorrow :::
Doordarshan Sports will tomorrow show a round-up of the 10th Round of the inaugural I-League at 19.30 IST. The live programme will have Ghaus Mohammed and Novy Kapadia as experts and Tejbir Singh as the anchor.
As per infos given to IndianFootball.Com the programme will tomorrow focus on Maharashtra football with an interview with WIFA'S Wali Mohammed. Last week Goa FA secretary Savio Messias had been interviewed on the state of football in Goa.

January 9

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here

1st "ONGC" I-League | Round 10 | Nehru Stadium, Margao | 16.00 IST: Sporting Clube de Goa 1-0 Mohun Bagan AC Goal: 1-0 Elijah Obagbemiro Junior (85'). SPORTING CLUBE: 30-Luis Xavier Barreto; 24-N Samananda Singh (57' 4-Chinta Chandrashekar), 6-Philip Gomes, 3-Mathew Gonsalves; 18-Denzil Franco, 26-Micky Fernandes, 34-Mohammed Ghafari (62' 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra), 22-Joseph Pereira, 14-Wilton Gomes [C]; 20-Elijah Obagbemiro Junior, 11-Lawrence Adjei. Unused Substitutes: 31-Gerald D'Mello, 9-Freddy Mascarenhas, 12-Lavino Fernandes, 23-Bibiano Fernandes, 27-Lairenjam Bisheshwor Singh MOHUN BAGAN: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 3-Nanjangud Shivananju Manju, 26-Nallappan Mohanraj; 16-James Lukram Singh, 29-Jonathan Bobo, 6-Shanmugam Venkatesh (46' 9-Pachau Lalam Puia), 18-Dharamjit Singh (83' 11-Ishfaq Ahmed); 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto, 15-Baichung Bhutia [C]. Unused Substitutes: 19-Pralay Datta, 2-Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, 12-Peter Siddiqui, 17-Rahul Kumar, 22-Lalkamal Bhowmick "ONGC" MAN OF THE MATCH: Joseph Pereira (Sporting Clube). YELLOW CARDS: Denzil Franco (18', Sporting Clube); Nallappan Mohanraj (28', Mohun Bagan). REFEREE: T Pradeep Kumar (Tamil Nadu). ASSISTANT REFEREES: Rizwan ul-Haq (Delhi), Shaji Kurian (Kerala). FOURTH OFFICIAL: Mohammed Basheer (Kerala). Match Report: ...

Delhi Senior Division - Super League Group A: Shahdara Club 1-0 Tarun Sangha - Goal: 1-0 Kazi Islam (85').

January 8

RESULTS & NEWS

I-League Special with lots of news, stats, pictures and more click here