NEWS FOR THE MONTH OF July 2008
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Today is a big day in the history of Indian football, but most likely not even diehard Indian football fans will know that on this very day, July 31 in London at the 1948 Olympic Games the Indian national football team played against the mighty France and lost 1-2. This was 60 years ago and the first official football match of the new independent India. A day to remember and think about where our football has gone over the years.
A lot of promise, but the real international breakthrough has sadly never happened though there was early promise. One will have to wait and see when India will again play in an Olympic football tournament or finally make it to a FIFA World Cup.
But on this memorable day lets hail captain Talimeren Ao and his men, who in those days mostly played barefoot against the Europeans who played in shoes.
A beginning was made that day 60 years ago...
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AFC Challenge Cup 2008 | Group B | Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad | 18.30 IST
Myanmar 3-0 Nepal
Goals: 1-0 Yaza Win Thein (66'), 2-0 Myo Min Tun (76'), 3-0 Soe Myat Min (86')
MYANMAR: 1-Aung Aung Oo; 2-U Min Thu [C], 5-Moe Win, 6-Khin Maung Lwin, 7-Aung Myo Thant (58' 10-Soe Myat Min), 8-Zaw Htet Aung, 9-Yan Paing, 12-Soe Thiha Aung (80' 29-Aung Kyaw Moe), 16-Yaza Win Thein, 26-Pai Soe (71' 11-Myo Min Tun), 28-Htay Aung
Unused Substitutes: 22-Kyaw Zin Htet, 13-Han Win Tun, 15-Tun Tun Win, 17-Aye San, 18-Si Thu Win, 20-Kyaw Zayar Win, 24-Tun Min Oo
NEPAL: 1-Bikash Malla; 3-Suman Subedi, 4-Rakesh Shrestha [C], 7-Bijay Gurung, 11-Ju Manu Rai, 13-Vishad Gouchan "Thakali" (76' 12-Nirajan Khadka), 14-Anjan KC, 16-Sandip Rai, 18-Santosh Shuhukhala (70' 9-Nirajan Rayamajhi), 19-Sagar Thapa, 23-Parbat Pandey
Unused Substitutes: 22-Ritesh Thapa, 44-Samit Bajbhandari, 2-Rabin Shrestha, 5-Chun Bahadur Thada, 6-Lok Bandhu Gurung, 8-Anant Raj Thapa, 21-Biraj Maharjan, 28-Yugal Kishor Rai, 35-Bhola Nath Silwal
YELLOW CARDs: Santosh Shuhukhala (11', Nepal)
ATTENDANCE: 150
REFEREE: Khalid Jasim Khalifa Jasim Al-Senan (UAE)
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Saadon Mohamad (Malaysia), Taman Hamdoun (Syria)
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Masaaki Iemoto (Japan)
MATCH COMMISSIONER: Kemel Tokabaev (Kyrgyzstan)
MATCH REPORT:
Myanmar scored three second-half goals to register an opening 3-0 win against Nepal in Group B of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup at Gachibowli stadium on Thursday. Myanmar opened the scoring after 66 minutes through Yaza Win Thein before substitute midfielder Myo Min Tun doubled the advantage. Striker Soe Myat Min sealed the game with a header four minutes from time.
Myanmar started the better side but it was Nepal who produced the first threat on the goal when a powerful shot from Anjan KC was saved by Myanmar goalkeeper Aung Aung Oo. Nepal created another chance to open the scoring after 21 minutes when Sandip Rai struck a free-kick from 30-yards out but the ball went directly into the hands of the Myanmar goalkeeper. Myanmar's first opportunity came two minutes later when midfielder Pai Soe made a good run towards the area before firing a powerful shot that was comfortably saved by Nepal goalkeeper Bikash Malla. Myanmar had another chance in the 26th minute when Soe Thiha Aung set up Yan Pain with a header but the Myanmar striker couldn't put enough strength into the shot much to the relief of goalkeeper Malla. Malla kept his side in the game two minutes later when Aung continued his good form and fired a shot from outside the area that the Nepal goalkeeper pushed behind for a corner.
The second half kicked off seven minutes late due to a power failure at the Gachibowli stadium and it was Myanmar who had the upper hand when action resumed. But Nepal should have opened the scoring 11 minutes after the break when Ju Manu Rai made a good run into the area before passing to Santosh Shahukhala but the Myanmar defenders cleared the ball for a corner. Myanmar started to get back into the game and replied after 63 minutes when Pai Soe sent a cross from the right into the area to Yaza Win Thein, who had enough time to place his shot but ended up firing straight at the goalkeeper. However, Win Thein atoned for his miss three minutes later when he picked up a cross inside the area before firing a powerful shot into the top of the net. Myanmar doubled their advantage after 76 minutes when substitute Myo Min Tun beat Nepal skipper Rakesh Shrestha to the ball before going into the area and firing the ball off the left upright and into the net. With four minutes left on the clock Myanmar put the game beyond any doubt when Khin Maung Lwin crossed from the left for Soe Myat Min, who headed home his side's third goal. (AFC report)
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AFC Challenge Cup 2008 | Group B | Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad | 16.00 IST
North Korea 3-0 Sri Lanka
Goals: 1-0 Waduge Madushka (5' own Goal), 2-0,3-0 Pak Song Chol (9',27')
NORTH KOREA: 1-Kwang Min Ju; 8-Kwang Ik Jon, 2-Chol Ryong Pak (74' 17-Hak Su Ro), 5-Nam Chol Pak, 19-Myong Ho Choe, 3-Kwang Hyok Ri, 7-Yong Il Yun, 23-Kyong Il Kim, 9-Song Chol Pak (82' 12-Kwang Chol So), 15-Kuk Jin Kim, 16-Jong Min Ho
Unused Substitutes: 20-Yun Choi Ri, 21-Yu Chol Ri, 4-Kyong Nam Mun, 11-Chol Min Pak, 13-Jin Hyok Ri, 18-Hyok Il An, 22-Song Hyok Han, 24-Tae Song So
SRI LANKA: 21-Asanka Viraj; 17-Thilina Suranda Bandara, 10-Channa Ediribandanage, 3-Janaka Sanjay Silva, 2-Lakshan Nirantha Perera (46' 23-Chamira Krishantha), 19-Gafoor Raheem, 18-Jeewantha Dhammika Rathnayaka, 24-Waduge Madushka Peiris, 25-Gunrathna Wellala Hettige, 16-Handi Nadeeka Pushpakumara (86' 22-Chathura Lakruwan Samarasekera), 11-Weerarathna Jayasuriya
Unused Substitutes: 1-Sugath Dammika Thilakaratne, 20-Sooriyaaarachche Sandun Devinda, 5-KN Cristeen Fernando, 6-Izzadeen Mohamed Naufer, 7-Chathura Maduranga Weerasingha, 8-Kankanamge Lahiru Tharaka, 12-Elpitiya Badalge Nuwantha Charaka, 29-Tharusa Rangana Warnakulasuriya Arachchige Lesly
YELLOW CARDs: Thilina Suranda Bandara (47'), Janaka Sanjay Silva (61', both Sri Lanka)
ATTENDANCE: 100
REFEREE: Minh Tri Vo (Vietnam)
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Shaji C Kurien (India), Ali Ahmed Al Qasimi (Oman)
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Ali Saleem (Maldives)
MATCH COMMISSIONER: Alisher Nikimbaev (Uzbekistan)
MATCH REPORT:
A Pak Song-chol brace helped North Korea to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Sri Lanka in their first match in Group B of the AFC Challenge Cup on Friday.
Sri Lanka had conceded the lead in unfortunate circumstances when Maduskha Peiris turned a corner kick into his own goal in the fourth minute. The goal stunned Sri Lanka who, despite a glut of injuries, had harboured hopes of causing an upset. And even before the 2006 finalists could recover, Pak curled a free kick into the net from 20 yards out. He added another halfway through the first half as the Koreans marched off into the break with the result all but decided.
Jo Tong-sop's North Korea are favourites to progress to the semifinals from the group and they could do it with ease should they play as well as they did against the Sri Lankans. They looked at ease although conditions were less than favourable thanks to a couple of short, sharp showers that drenched players and left the ground soft just before kick-off. The Koreans immediately threatened with Choe Myong-ho, Ho Jong-min and Pak combining well. They brought intense pressure on the Sri Lankan defence, which looked shaky from the offset. Then Yun Yong-il sent in a corner that skimmed the head of a defender at the near post before landing at Peiris' boot. With a clearance to make, the defender only succeeded in booting the ball into his own goal. Pak then increased the advantage when he stepped up to take a free kick from just out side the area and sent the ball into the right-hand corner of the net. The North Koreans had looked decidedly dangerous on set pieces throughout, but Pak's third goal came after a scramble at the edge of the area. He latched on to the loose ball and fired home.
The chaos in Sri Lanka's defence was epitomized when goalkeeper Viraj Asanka injured his full back Janaka Silva while attempting to clear a corner. Sri Lanka's lone striker Kasun Jayasuriya hardly got a touch although the speedy striker did have a little more possession in the second half. However, the Koreans continued to dominate play after the break and only disappointing finishing saved Sri Lanka from an even more embarrassing margin of defeat. (AFC report)
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Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-1 Calcutta Port Trust - Goals: 1-0 Mike Okoro (36'), 1-1 Kausik Prasad (88').
Mohammedan Sporting: 1-Naseem Akhtar; 25-Amla Francis Nova (63' ??-Tarak Roy), 2-V Prem Kumar, 6-Sheikh Azim, 23-Rajib Ghosh, 8-Satyajit Bose (90+1' 18-Vimal Pariyar), 7-Roque Barreto (50' 34-Lalchhuan Awma), 12-Prasanta Chakraborty, 30-Bijoy Das, 10-Mike Okoro [C], 11-Theodore Sunday Wrobeh.
Calcutta Port Trust: Gopal Das; Satyajit Dutta, Simanto Das, Ayeni Bedemi Daniel, Rajib Rao, Kaushik Prasad, Emmanuel Nnamani, Sovan Das, Avinash Thapa (58' Sheikh Hasanur Zaman), Rajib Ekka (82' Sanjib Ghosh), Subrata Bhattacharjee (21' Avijit Ghosh).
Man of the Match: Mike Okoro (Mohammedan Sporting).
Referee: Tushar Kanti Guha.
Calcutta Super Division: Police AC 0-1 Mohammedan AC
Punjab State Super League: Border Security Force - Punjab Police = match abandoned due to heavy rain and water logging in the ground, it will now be held on August 5.
::: IndianFootball.Com interview: NP Pradeep :::
Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, better known as NP Pradeep, hails from a small village named Moolamattam in Kerala and he has had a long journey in his still young football career... But the journey was more than fruitful, as Pradeep is one of India's rising football stars! The young Keralite has made his way to the Indian national team and has shown several outstanding performances in the last few years.
IndianFootball.Com Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director Chris Punnakkattu Daniel had the opportunity to interview Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep about his career, the current situation of football in the country, his private life and the upcoming AFC Challenge Cup 2008.
Click here to read the complete >>NP Pradeep interview .
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AFC Challenge Cup 2008 | Group A | Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad | 18.30 IST
INDIA 1-0 Afghanistan | <click here for LIVE updates>
Goals: 1-0 Climax Lawrence (90+2')
INDIA: 1-Subrata Pal; 17-Irungbam Surkumar Singh (67' 20-Samir Naik), 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 5-Anwar Ali, 12-Deepak Kumar Mondal (81' 14-Mahesh Gawli); 28-Bungo Thokchom Singh (76' 25-Clifford Miranda), 7-Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, 30-Climax Lawrence, 8-Potsangbam Renedy Singh; 11-Sunil Chetri, 15-Baichung Bhutia [C]
Unused Substitutes: 24-Subhashish Roy Chowdhary, 2-Govin Moirangthem Singh, 4-Krishnan Nair Ajayan, 6-Baldeep Singh Jr, 18-Sushil Kumar Singh, 21-Abhishek Yadav, 22-Syed Rahim Nabi, 23-Steven Benedict Dias, 27-Mehraj din Wadoo
AFGHANISTAN: 1-Shamsuddin Amiri; 2-Bashir Ahmad Saadat, 3-Zohib Islam, 5-Ali Ahmad Yarzada, 16-Djelaluddin Shirtyar; 21-Ata Mohammad Yamrali, 8-Sayed Bashir Azimi, 7-Israfeel Kozhistani, 14-Masood Hashemi; 10-Hafizullah Qadami, 22-Abdul Saboor Aser (90+3' 12-Mohammad Salem Nahemi)
Unused Substitutes: 18-Emal Gariwal, 4-Qudratullah Hussaini, 6-Mohammed Ibrahim Jebran, 9-Hamidullah Rastagar, 11-Maqadar Uazizadah, 13-Faisal Sakhi Zada
YELLOW CARDs: Djelaluddin Shirtyar (57'), Israfeel Kozhistani (90+5', both Afghanistan)
ATTENDANCE: 300
REFEREE: Iemoto Masaaki (Japan)
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Mohammad Jaber Dharman (Qatar), Eng Wah John Chia (Singapore)
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Tayeb Hasan Shamsuzzaman (Bangaldesh)
MATCH COMMISSIONER: Alisher Nikimbaev (Uzbekistan)
MATCH REPORT:
 Climax Lawrence netted a stoppage-time winner as hosts India began their AFC Challenge Cup campaign with a 1-0 win over Afghanistan on Wednesday. Lawrence converted a loose ball in the area to give Bob Houghton's side a winning start in Group A and propel India to the top of the standings.
India started well and should have taken the lead after five minutes when captain Baichung Bhutia headed wide. Sunil Chetri then failed to test Shamsuddin Amiri, firing straight at the Afghanistan goalkeeper from 25 yards. The hosts continued to press forward and went close again when Lawrence crossed from the left for Bhutia, who just failed to apply the finishing touch. Shamsuddin was forced to turn over a Bungo Singh cross-cum-shot after 23 minutes before Afghanistan had their first chance of the contest. Afghanistan broke quickly and the ball moved to Hafizullah Oadami. Oadami shot from the edge of the area, but India goalkeeper Subrata Pal turned the ball around the post for a corner. The striker then had the best chance of the half, going through one-on-one with Paul moments before the break. But the goalkeeper was once again equal to the shot as the half ended goalless.
Afghanistan started the better in the second period but could not pressurise the India goal. The hosts' had an early opportunity but Anwar Ali fired over from long range after 58 minutes. Oadami and Abdul Saboor Aser both failed to connect with Sayed Bashir Azimi's cross as Afghanistan continued to struggle in front of goal. And they were nearly made to pay when Shamsuddin almost gifted India a goal. The goalkeeper dropped a straightforward cross in front of Bhutia but the striker could not force the ball through a forest of bodies before the ball was cleared away.
But India then netted a late winner as substitute Clifford Miranda drove down the right wing three minutes into stoppage time. His cross was not dealt with by the Afghanistan defence and Lawrence capitalised, firing in for the winner to put his side at the top of the group ahead of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, who shared a goalless draw in the opening fixture. (AFC report)
For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>Indian National Team section.
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AFC Challenge Cup 2008 | Group A | Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad | 16.00 IST
Turkmenistan 0-0 Tajikistan
Goals: none
TUKMENISTAN: 12-Bayramniyaz Berdiyev [C]; 38-Aleksey Pronchenko, 19-Mekan Nasyrov, 2-Parahat Annaberdyyev, 4-Begli Annageldiyev; 35-Vitaliy Alikperov, 31-Guvanchmuhamed Ovekov (83' 16-Begench Muhammed Kuliyev), 30-Bahtiyar Hojaahmedov, 24-Vyaceslav Krendelev; 11-Dovletmurad Atayev (58' 34-Parahat Meredov), 9-Mamedaly Karadanov (62' 7-Berdy Shamuradov)
Unused Substitutes: 1-Maskatmyrat Shamuradov, 15-Guvanch Rejepov, -25-Gahrymanberdi Chonkayev, 26-Rustam Saparov, 37-Yusup Orazmamedov, 39-Yakup Ekezov, 42-Serdar Geldiyev, 43-Guvanch Hangeldiyev
TAJIKISTAN: 1-Tuvchiev Alisher; 6-Davronjon Ergashev, 3-Naim Nasirov, 12-Eradzh Radzhabov, 2-Dalerdzhon Tukhhtasunov; 18-Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev (83' 17-Sohib Savankulov), 22-Yusuf Rabiev, 14-Samad Shohzukhurov, 9-Anvar Norkulov [C]; 19-Dzhomikhon Muhidinov (74' 11-Numondzhon Khakimov), 20-Davrondzhon Tukhtasunov (90+2' 15-Zafardzhon Zuvaydov)
Unused Substitutes: 16-Mirali Murodov, 24-Suhrb Mansurov, 27-Isomiddin Qurbonov, 29-Dzhakhongir Dzhalilov, 31-Eraj Kholov, 40-Amonsho Sodatsayrov
YELLOW CARDs: Mamedaly Karadanov (44'), Mekan Nasyrov (48', both Turkmenistan)
ATTENDANCE: 150
REFEREE: Valentine Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Wei Han (China), Denis Silk (Australia)
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Khalid Jasim Khalifa Jasim Al-Senan (UAE)
MATCH COMMISSIONER: Kemel Tokabaev (Kyrgyzstan)
MATCH REPORT:
Turkmenistan held defending champions Tajikistan to a goalless draw in the opening match in of the AFC Challenge Cup on Wednesday. Tajikistan will be relieved to have earned a point after a shaky start in the Group A contest.
Turkmenistan dominated, particularly in the first half, beginning on an ominous note when Mamedaly Karadanov hit the post immediately after kick-off. But Rahim Kurbanmamedov's side continued to waste opportunities - several of them from close range.
Tajikistan came into the game late in the second session, but they too could not convert with Dzhomikhon Muhidinov, Yusuf Rabiev and Davrondzhon Tukhtasunov all missing clear-cut chances. After Karadanov was denied by the upright, Vitaliy Alikperov had a further chance to put Turkmenistan ahead as early as the second minute when he took possession of a cross from Vyaceslav Krendelev from the left. But Alikperov contrived to miss, driving over when only a placed shot was required. Alikperov had another half-chance which he wasted soon afterwards and Mekan Nasyrov had a full-blooded drive stopped by goalkeeper Alisher Tuychiev as Turkmenistan failed to make their dominance tell.
Krendelev, who had started on the right and had driven the attack with moves down the left, then shifted to the centre and was presented with Turkmenistan's best opportunity of the entire match after 22 minutes. Dovletmurad Atayev charged down the right and crossed towards Karadanov and Krendelev in the centre. Karadanov dummied perfectly, letting the ball through for Krendelev, who had time and space but shot straight into the palms of Tuychiev. Tukhtasunov produced Tajikistan's first shot on goal late in the first half but the half ended level.
The teams cancelled each other out throughout the early stages of the second half before Tajikistan applied pressure on the Turkmenistan goal. Muhidinov attempted to dribble his way into the area and score on his own only to be foiled by a defender, while Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev had a fine opportunity after 77 minutes. But he again shot off target, missing the chance to apply the winning touch as Tajikistan were left frustrated. (AFC report)
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Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: State Bank of Travancore 2-0 Titanium XI - Goals: 1-0,2-0 MA Abdul Hakkim (7',83').
State Bank of Travancore have defended their Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division!!!
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: St.George FC 0-3 St.Mary's FC
::: Ranty Martins Soleye on trial in Norway :::
Nigerian Ranty Martins Soleye, who has been captain and a key striker at I-League champions Dempo SC in the last few seasons, is in northern Europe for a trial with Norwegian Division 2 side IF Start Kristiansand. Ranty is one of three Nigerians on trial with Kristiansand.
::: Kingfisher National Corporate Football 5's - Bangalore starts the national series :::
The Kingfisher National Corporate Football 5's seven cities tournament started-off last weekend in Bangalore with Tesco winning 2-1 against SAP Labs on penalties after normal play and extratime finished two-all.
The Kingfisher National Corporate Football 5's organised by Bangalore-based SPT Sports is promoting interaction and camaraderie among corporates is now entering its 8th edition covering 7 cities in 2008. This year's event is covering football enthusiasts in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi and Calcutta with the winners from each city flown down to Bangalore for the National Finals. This year's event has live DJ's performing, food stalls, Fooseball and activities such as Paintball in select cities.
The Bangalore event saw 32 corporate teams taking part. The teams were divided into 8 groups of 4 teams each and on Day One the league matches. The winners of each group qualified for the Cup and the Runners-up of each group qualified for the Plate Knockouts. The Plate finals had Infosys BPO take on Cognizant in which Infosys BPO emerged 3-0 winners. The Cup finals had Tesco taking on SAP Labs with Tesco winning 2-1 on penalties after a two-all stalemate. By winning the Hyderabad tournament Tesco became the first team to qualify for the National Finals scheduled to be held in Bangalore in October, similarly each city will have one team that would qualify for the National finals.
The winners of the IndiaFootball.com Fair Play team award were Philips.
Jayant of Infosys BPO was the highest scorer of the event with 13 goals, while Tesco's Samiksha was adjudged the Best Goalkeeper of the event.
::: IndianFootball.Com interview: Anil Kumar (SportzIndia) :::
IndianFootball.Com's Harmit Singh Kamboe was fortunate to catch up with Anil Kumar, a basketball player that after his playing days found his calling as the Country Head for SportzIndia and sees football as a commercial possibility in India.
Anil Kumar was recently named to the executive committee of the World Basketball Club (WBC) for the India-Middle East region. The WBC, which is being organised by American Basketball Association (ABA), will have professional basketball teams from around the world competing for the title and the tournament will be held in July 2010.
For more insight on what Anil thinks of Indian sports and football in particular do read the interesting interview.
Click here to read the complete >>Anil Kumar interview
Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club 1-0 Chirag United SC - Goals: 1-0 Ashim Biswas (49').
East Bengal: 31-Arnab Das Sharma; 20-Poibang Pohshna, 12-Anupam Sarkar, 4-Suley Musah (79' 5-Khelemba Singh), 29-Saumik Dey; 28-Chhangte Malswamkima, 7-Jayanta Sen [C], 14-Mehtab Hussain, 9-Alvito D'Cunha (43' 25-Parveen Kumar), 32-Goutam Kujur (28' 6-Dipankar Roy), 10-Ashim Biswas.
Chirag United: 31-Somnath Khara; 18-Sukhen Dey, 2-Louis Nigi Ebami, 4-Kinshuk Debnath, 5-Debabrata Roy; 8-Sasthi Duley (63' 9-Maximilian Fabian Alvares), 27-Lalmalswama Hmar [C], 29-Achinta Saha (73' 7-Hardip Singh Saini), 30-Gouranga Datta (90+1' 12-Ratan Das); 35-Soumik Chakraborty, 25-Shankar Oraon.
Yellow Cards: Saumik Dey (90+3', East Bengal); Ratan Das (90+3', Chirag United).
Man of the Match: Ashim Biswas (East Bengal).
Referee: Dilip Ghosh.
Punjab State Super League: Harbhajan SC 1-1 JCT Football Academy - Goals: 1-0 Manjinder Singh (39'), 1-1 Vijay Kumar (52').
Yellow Cards: Navtej Singh (77', Harbhajan SC); Chandandeep Singh (73', JCT FA)
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Coastal Club 0-0 Black Arrows - Goals: none.
::: AFC Challenge Cup: Arindam Bhattacharya and Tarif Ahmed left out :::
Goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya and striker Tarif Ahmed have been left out of the final 23 players strong squad for the AFC Challenge Cup 2008 to kickoff tomorrow in Hyderabad. This decision by chief coach Bob Houghton means that defender Mahesh Gawli and winger Steven Dias both still carrying niggling injuries are part of the squad, but would miss tomorrow's opening match against Afghanistan.
But these injuries aren't the only worries of the coach. Training facilities aren't to the liking of Bob Houghton.
Houghton said earlier today, "It is a disaster. If you are splashing the headlines 'Coach slams AIFF for worst facilities', you are welcome."
INDIA: Goalkeepers: Subrata Pal, Subhashish Roy Chowdhary. Defenders: Govin M Singh, Irungbam Surkumar Singh, Mahesh Gawli, Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Anwar Ali, Syed Rahim Nabi, Sameer Naik. Midfielders: Baldeep Singh Jr, Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, Clifford Miranda, Bungo Thokchom Singh, Krishnan Nair Ajayan, Mehraj din Wadoo, P Renedy Singh. Forwards: Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chetri, Abhishek Yadav, Sushil Kumar Singh.
::: Mohun Bagan Day celebrated :::
Mohun Bagan AC, Asia's oldest club, today celebrated the Mohun Bagan Day on the occasion of their team defeating the East Yorkshire Regiment by 2-1 in the finals of the 1911 IFA Shield. To commemorate this great victory the club organised three exhibition matches at the clubs Maidan ground. The first match between the Mohun Bagan Juniors and Veterans' Sports Club Juniors ended in a draw, the second match was between Ex-players of the club, while the final match of the day was between Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club and Artists' Forum which the journalists won.
The football action on the field was followed by a cultural function in the evening. Olympian footballer MA Sattar was conferred with the "Mohun Bagan Ratna", presented a citation and a scroll besides a purse of Rs 50,000.
This was followed by Baichung Bhutia being given a citation and a silver plaque, but the club captain is away on India duty at the AFC Challenge Cup and therefore his wife Madhuri received these in his name.
Thereafter the members of Mohun Bagan's Junior Team, which won the Calcutta Nursery League and the Yakult Danone U12 Nations' Cup qualifiers in Delhi, were also felicitated.
::: 41 teams vying for 14th Youth Soccer Championships starting August 1 :::
by Xavier Rutsa: A total of 41 teams will take part in the 14th Youth Soccer Championship under the theme "football for unity", organized by Classic Club, Kohima; starting from August 1 in Nagaland.
Defending champions and two time winners (2006, 2007) Penguin Club; 1995 & 1998 winners New Market 'A'; one time winner (2002) Naga Boys Club; last year runner-up GATD Fitness Club, now re-christen as Excel United Club; Nagaland Police Junior; 2005 runner-up Kuki Youth Club, Medziphema; and New Reserve Youth Organization, Night Hawk, Kohima are some of the renowned teams taking part in the 14-day championships. New Market 'A' is the only team, which has played in all the 13 Youth Soccer Championships since 1995.
Top two contenders New Market and Naga Boys Club, are also fielding their junior teams as well naming - New Market 'B' and Junior Naga Boys Club.
The matches will be played in two venues - Kohima Local Ground and IG Stadium, while the final match is scheduled on August 15 at Kohima's local ground.
click here for the 14th Youth Soccer Championships fixtures .
::: Inter-School Football - Pune City : JN Petit High School win double header :::
by Amod Kulkarni: JN Petit High School defeated Loyola HS and St.Vincent's in the the under-17 and under-14 categories respectively to lift the 1st NCP Youth Inter-School Football Trophy at the SSPMS Grounds. The knockout tournament which kicked off the Inter-School Football calendar in Pune City, was organised by Vikram Nikam, General Secretary, NCP Students Wing, Pune City. Sixteen schools from Pune participated in both U-14 and U-17 Categories.
Under-14 category
Semifinals: St.Vincents 1-0 Angels Loni; JN Petit 1-0 SSPMS B
Final: JN Petit 2-0 St. Vincents
Best Player: Lohit Suri (Hutchings)
Best Goalkeeper: Omkar Jagtap (JN Petit)
Best Defender: Mark Borjes (St. Vincents)
Under-17 category
Semifinals: JN Petit 2-1 Hutchings; Loyola 2-0 St Vincents
Final: JN Petit 0-0,3-1 Loyola [penalties]
Best Player: Chetan Chowdhari ( Erin Nagarwala D)
Best Goalkeeper: Prerit Goyal (Loyola)
Best Defender: Vaibhav More (JN Petit)
The competitions next in line are the Subroto Mukherji Cup, Zilla Parishad Football Tournament, PSAA Championships and Abhijeet Kadam Memorial Inter-School Tourney.
In the latest IndianFootball.Com Guest Column by Gasper Crasto titled "Indian Football in Kuwait - The Winners and Losers" looks at the season gone by in the expat Indian league in Kuwait.
Read the complete article here >>IndianFootball.Com Guest Column - Gasper Crasto .
Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC 1-2 Mohammedan Sporting Club - Goals: 0-1 Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (23' pen), 1-1 Pachau Lalam Puia (56'), 1-2 N Mohanraj (90+3' own Goal).
Mohun Bagan: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal (34' 2-S Naveen Kumar), 14-Peter Odafe, 29-Joseph Anandavasan, 26-N Mohanraj; 19-Shylo Malswam Tulunga, 7-Lal Kamal Bhowmick [C], 16-James Lukram Singh, 23-Lalramluaha (68' 8-Tapan Maity); 9-Pachau Lalam Puia, 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto.
Mohammedan Sporting: 1-Naseem Akhtar; 23-Rajib Ghosh, 2-V Prem Kumar, 6-Sheikh Azim, 30-Bijoy Das, 8-Satyajit Bose (81' 18-Vimal Pariyar), 7-Roque Barreto, 12-Prasanta Chakraborty, 5-Mir Farooq Hyder (60' 25-Amla Francis Nova), 10-Mike Okoro [C], 11-Theodore Sunday Wrobeh.
Yellow Cards: Peter Odafe (22'), N Mohanraj (53', both Mohun Bagan); Bijoy Das (33'), Mir Farooq Hyder (38'), Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (84', all Mohammedan Sporting).
Man of the Match: Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (Mohammedan Sporting).
Referee: Rathin Mukherjee.
Calcutta Premier League: George Telegraph SC 0-0 Railway FC - Goals: none.
Punjab State Super League: Border Security Force 4-0 Rail Coach Factory - Goals: 1-0,3-0 Gurjit Singh Atwal (11',58') 2-0 Harjit Singh (56'), 4-0 PH Boy Singh (86').
Yellow Cards: Kabul Singh (Border Security Force).
Punjab State Super League: Punjab Police 2-0 PSEB, Hoshiarpur - Goals: 1-0 Harpreet Singh (45'), 2-0 Parminder Singh (60').
Yellow Cards: Kuldip Singh (36'), Sunil Kumar (43', both PSEB).
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: State Bank of Travancore 2-0 St.Mary's FC - Goals: 1-0 Martyn John (10'), 2-0 KM Abdul Naushad (15').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Titanium XI 1-0 Kerala State Electricity Board - Goals: 1-0 T Usman (1').
::: Manchester United looks at India :::
Current UEFA Champions League and English Premier League title winners Manchester United FC are looking to play a friendly match in India in the next couple of years. So after the visit of Bayern Munich in May and Real Madrid showing initial interest to come to India it is now the turn of the Red Devils.
And this was made public last week by none other then the Chief Executive of Manchester United David Gill during the teams South Africa pre-season trip.
Manchester United surely have a strong fan following in India, but as with the other European Super Clubs one will have to ask United what would they do for the development of Indian football or if they are just interested to play in India and take home their match fee.
They will surely have seen the financial dimensions of Cricket's Indian Premier League, but do not know or maybe don't want to see where Indian football is. But still a club like Manchester United could surely help in the development and spread of the beautiful game across India, only they would need to be engaged in such activities.
But surely the legion of Manchester United fans in India would look forward to such a visit to catch their stars live in action...
::: Selection Trials for PIFA - Colaba Youngstar FC now on August 1 :::
Due to heavy rains PIFA - Colaba Youngstar FC have postponed their trials from today to August 1.
Eligible are only those player, who have played football at University and/or Super Division level or above and are between 18 to 25 years, then this is your chance to be selected for a young football club in Mumbai.
PIFA - Colaba Youngstar FC have been promoted and will this season play in the Mumbai Elite Division of the Mumbai District FA and will compete against Mumbai's I-League teams Mahindra United, Air-India and Mumbai FC and ONGC.
The trials will be held at the following venue:
Venue: Campion back-garden ground
Time: August 1 at 17:30 IST
::: Indian children visit Tottenham Hotspurs training ground :::
Children from the Premier India Football Academy had the privilege to visit the Spurs training ground as well as be trained for a day by ex-Tottenham Hotspur manager - Peter Shreeves.
Premier India Football Academy organized the second PIFA - London tour to England - a football tour for children 10-18 years. This was also their seventeenth camp to Europe. Fifteen children participated in this exciting camp from July 4 to 13, mainly made up of children from International Schools in India. The children were accommodated in a hotel in London.
The tour was specifically designed by PIFA to help children appreciate and understand the history of Arsenal FC as well as Chelsea FC and what makes them so special. The children got a guided tour of the Emirates Stadium and Stamford Bridge.
PIFA Foundation for the benefit of sports fully sponsored a young talented football player - Hussain Vahanvaty for the camp.
The training was organized by Inspire Academy. Coaches Gary Lewis, (UEFA 'A' licence) a coach with the Everton Youth Academy and Tony Leatherborrow (UEFA 'B' licence) from Liverpool conducted the sessions through the week on 4G all weather artificial grass pitches at the Football Academy in Loughton. The children were privileged to a two hour long session by Peter Shreaves (ex-Tottenham Hotspurs manager). Later in the week, the boys got a guided tour of the Tottenham Hotspurs FC training ground at Luxborough Lane by Chris Ramsey (Assistant Academy Manager/Head of Player Development).
The campers got to use the Soccer Park and Ice Rink at the Football Academy. Skills test, fitness test as well as some fun quiz contests were conducted at the camp.
The children played friendlies against the Boca Juniors U15. Every child underwent fitness and skill tests. The Inpsire skills test was won by PIFA student Ryuju Osamura. Each participant received a Certificate.
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 1-0 Calcutta Customs
Calcutta Super Division: Police AC 0-4 Bengal-Nagpur Railway
Calcutta Super Division: SAIL 0-3 Eastern Railway SC
Calcutta Super Division: Indian Air Force 2-2 West Bengal Police
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: St.George FC 0-1 Black Arrows - Goals: 0-1 Shibu (57').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: State Bank of Travancore 2-0 Kerala State Electricity Board - Goals: 1-0 Martyn John (32'), 2-0 KM Abdul Naudhad (60').
::: AFC Challenge Cup: Houghton cuts down on probables :::
Indian chief coach Bob Houghton has cut down on the probables from 31 to 25 ahead of the AFC Challenge Cup. Houghton has been forced to release goalkeeper Sandip Nandy, defender NS Manju and midfielder Manjit Singh due to injury while Rakesh Masih, Denzil Franco and Sampath Kumar Kuttimani have also been left out.
The final squad of 23 players will be named on Tuesday ahead of the start of the tournament in Hyderabad on wednesday. And Houghton has further worries with defender Mahesh Gawli and winger Steven Dias still recovering from their injuries. While Gawli looks certain to recover for the tournament, Steven is still doubtful.
Meanwhile the organisers have decided to shift the tournament matches back to the modern Gachibowli Stadium from the Lal Bahadur Stadium due to monsoonal rains which has left the Lal Bahadur Stadium in a not to good state. Now the Lal Bahadur Stadium would only host three matches of the tournament.
Calcutta Premier League: Peerless SC 0-0 Calcutta Port Trust - Goals: none.
Punjab State Super League: Rail Coach Factory 2-0 Harbhajan SC - Goals: 1-0 Pankaj Sura (9'), 2-0 Sukhraj Singh (65').
Yellow Cards: Jatinder Singh (Harbhajan SC).
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Coastal Club - Black Arrows = match postponed
::: ESPN to broadcast AFC Challenge Cup :::
Pan-Asian broadcaster ESPN will be showing the Asian Football Confederation organised AFC Challenge Cup to be played in Hyderabad from July 30 to August 10.
The group matches would kickoff at 16.00 and 18.30 IST; while the semifinals, the third place playoff and final would be played at 16.00 and 19.00 IST on August 7 and 10.
::: Indian School Boys to participate in 18th Arsenal International Soccer Festival :::
16 School footballers from across India trained in 'The Arsenal Way' by Paul Shipwright (Arsenal Soccer School) and Martin Davis (Arsenal FC Development Officer) will participate in the 18th Arsenal International Soccer Festival in London. The team under the name of "Tata Tea Arsenal Soccer Stars" was chosen amongst 400 children who took part in a national school football tournament. The 30 best amongst those were chosena and then trained for a couple of weeks at the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club with the best 16 chosen for the tournament in London.
The Squad: Goalkeepers: Avijit De (ASC School, Bangalore), Arindam Mitra (Basudevpur Pally Hitashdhani HS. Calcutta); Defenders: S Kiran Kumar (St. Angels English HS, Bangalore), Shane Anthony (St. Britto HS, Goa), Sumit Das (Shyambazar AV School, Calcutta), Rickin Dang (Don Bosco HS, Mumbai), Jaksram Sangma (Edmunds School, Shillong); Midfielders: Daniel Lalhrwaitlwanga (Air Force School, New Delhi), Jitu Das (Basudevpur Pally Hitashdhani HS, Calcutta), Siddharth Singh (Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai), Yan Cheng Law (La Martiniere School for Boys, Calcutta), Mohd Jaffar Ali (Basudevpur Pally Hitashdhani HS, Calcutta); Strikers: Ajay Gujral (Shri Ram School, New Delhi), Ravi Deepak (St Angels English HS, Bangalore), Jessammy Tariang (St Edmunds, Shillong), Karim Mistry (St Lawrence HS, Calcutta).
Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-3 George Telegraph SC - Goals: 0-1 Beikhokhai (2'), 0-2 Subho Kumar (5'), 1-2 Mike Okoro (47'), 1-3 Biswajit Saha (68').
Mohammedan Sporting: 21-Imran Khan; 23-Rajib Ghosh, 3-Subhas Mondal (46' 18-Vimal Pariyar), 6-Sheikh Azim, 30-Bijoy Das, 8-Satyajit Bose (60' 25-Amla Francis Nova), 7-Roque Barreto, 34-Lalchhuan Awma, 5-Mir Farooq Hyder (72' 2-V Prem Kumar), 10-Mike Okoro, 11-Theodore Sunday Wrobeh.
George Telegraph: Swarup Das;, Suman Dey, Safar Sardar, Debkumar Sashmal, Biswajit Saha, Subho Kumar, Gautam Debnath, Pradip Roy (89' G Pau), Beokhokhai, Dipendu Biswas (34' Freebone), Francis Chibueze Maduako.
Man of the Match: Subho Kumar (George Telegraph).
Referee: Dhanapati Roy.
Punjab State Super League: JCT Football Academy 1-2 Punjab Police - Goals: 0-1 Rohit Kumar (16'), 0-2 Parminder Singh (25'), 1-2 Ajay Singh (56').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: St.George FC 0-2 State Bank of Travancore - Goals: 0-1 T Asif Saheer (21'), 0-2 AB Kabeer (60').
::: Olympian footballer Chandan Singh Rawat no more :::
Former International footballer Chandan Singh Rawat passed away yesterday aged 82 in Darjeeling, West Bengal. Rawat had been part of the Indian team which had won the 1951 Asian Games gold medal and also was part of the team at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Rawat had played for East Bengal Club, Mohun Bagan AC and Rajasthan Club on the Calcutta Maidan in the 1950s.
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Friendly Match | US Tour | Schoenbaum Stadium, Charleston, West Virginia
Reading Rage, Pennsylvania 2-2 INDIA U16
Goals: 0-1 Prem Kumar (14'), 1-1 Kevin Mathews (21'), 1-2 Tirthankar Sarkar (50'), 2-2 Tyler Regan (90')
READING RAGE: ...
Unused Substitutes: ...
INDIA U16: ...
Unused Substitutes: ...
YELLOW CARDs: ...
REFEREE: ...
ASSISTANT REFEREES: ...
FOURTH OFFICIAL: ...
MATCH REPORT:
West Virginia Soccer International 2008 wrapped up the exposure and training tour for the India Under-16 Boys with a final match against the United Soccer Leagues Super Y League Reading Rage from Pennsylvania. The highly anticipated pitted a three time National Super Y League Finalist against the AFC U17 Championship finalists and undefeated India Juniors. The international match would not be the first for the Reading Rage, in the previous match the Rage defeated a Bermuda team that featured players from the Bermuda Under-17 National Team 2-0. India held an unprecedented 13 wins and one draw coming into the match over their pervious 14 matches that has spanned three continents and seven countries.
After FS Sports WV, LLC contacted the Bermuda National team, Bermuda's Technical Director Derek Broadley used the common connection that he and FS Sports WV, LLC's Technical Director Rudy Roediger had with the Premier Development League of the United Soccer Leagues. Broadley previously was the Technical Director for the Reading Rage's PDL and Super Y League teams while Roediger had been the West Virginia Chaos PDL Director of Operations/Media Relations. Broadley used the connection to put FS Sports WV, LLC in touch with Reading Rage's Coach, Kevin Costello.
India would take advantage first in the 14th minute with a Prem Kumar goal. Kumar became the benefactor of a Malasawmfela challenge to Rage Goalkeeper Tim White. Fela went up for a header against White and won the challenge sending the ball to the waiting Kumar who sent the ball sailing into the back of the old onion bag giving India the lead. The Rage would answer with a goal of their own just seven minute later when Kevin Mathews got a toe on a miss played ball and flicked it over the outstretched arms of 6'4 tall Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. The teams would continue to battle in the midfield creating a number of chances but would go to the break deadlocked at one a piece.
The second period's score line would be opened by Tirthankar Sarkar in the 50th minute. Tirthankar would smash home a volley just inside the penalty area. The teams would battle against one another looking for the decisive goal that would change the match. With just three minutes remaining the teams continued to battle. The Rage then India would nearly be gifted goals, the Rage first would see Indian miss clear slip out for a corner nearly missing the goal mouth, then Rage midfielder Kevin Mathews would get a through ball eluding the India defence leaving him with a one on one chance against India keeper Jayanta Paul. The shot would get by Paul only to have it cleared off the line by India Defender Tonmoy Gosh. India who had been reeling for the previous 5 minutes would then see a Rage's defender back header to their keeper nearly sail past him for an own goal, but after a fumble the ball would be secured.
Just after the announcement of three added minutes, Kevin Mathews would get around the India defence, sliding the ball across the box towards a host of Rage attackers. Rage front man Tyler Regan would finish the chance drawing the visitors level. Despite several more attacking chances neither team would break the draw through stoppage time ending the match level 2-2.
For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>Indian National Team section.
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Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club 1-1 Railway FC - Goals: 1-0 Parveen Kumar (16'), 1-1 Suraj Mondal (33').
East Bengal: 1-Abhra Mondal; 33-Saikat Saha Roy, 5-Khelemba Singh, 12-Anupam Sarkar, 29-Saumik Dey; 6-Dipankar Roy (32-Goutam Kujur), 7-Jayanta Sen, 14-Mehtab Hussain (28-Chhangte Malswamkima), 9-Alvito D'Cunha, 25-Parveen Kumar (30-Edmilson Marques Pardal), 10-Ashim Biswas.
Railway FC: Rakesh Prasad; Muzaffar Rehman, Avijit Dutta, Sundar Mandi, Santosh Oraon (Sangram Nandi), Munna Mallick, Hira Roy, Biplab Naskar, Kaltu Hembram (Sankha Roy Choudhury), Suraj Mondal (Sanjib Mishra), Tarak Nath.
Man of the Match: Suraj Mondal (Railway FC).
Referee: Kashinath Sen.
Calcutta Super Division: Police AC - Mohammedan AC = match abandoned
Calcutta Super Division: SAIL 0-0 Calcutta Customs
Calcutta Super Division: Indian Air Force 1-2 Bengal-Nagpur Railway
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 1-0 Eastern Railway SC
Punjab State Super League: PSEB, Hoshiarpur 0-2 Border Security Force - Goals: 0-1 Gurjit Singh Atwal (67'), 0-2 Harjit Singh (80').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Kerala State Electricity Board 2-0 Coastal Club - Goals: 1-0 Aneesh (20'), 2-0 Ramesh (66').
::: Selection Trials for PIFA - Colaba Youngstar FC :::
Only if you have played football at University and/or Super Division level or above and are between 18 to 25 years, then this is your chance to be selected for a young football club in Mumbai.
PIFA - Colaba Youngstar FC have been promoted and will this season play in the Mumbai Elite Division of the Mumbai District FA and will compete against Mumbai's I-League teams Mahindra United, Air-India and Mumbai FC and ONGC.
The trials will be held at the following venue:
Venue: Campion back-garden ground
Time: 28 July at 17:30 IST
Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club - George Telegraph SC = match postponed due to heavy rains
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Titanium XI 4-0 St.George FC - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Shajahan (41',46'), 3-0 Johnson (51'), 4-0 Binraj (61').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: St.Mary's FC 2-0 Black Arrows - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Earnest (43',83').
::: Dempo's AFC Cup tie may be shifted away from Goa :::
PTI report: The delay in installation of floodlights at the Nehru stadium in Margao, Goa, has forced the state's football association to ask the AIFF to shift Dempo's AFC Cup quarterfinal to another venue. This is a big blow to India's I-League champions, who are scheduled to play their AFC Cup home match against Singapore's Home United on September 16.
Savio Messias, Goa FA secretary, is extremely disappointed on missing out hosting a high-profile match.
"I have no option but to inform the All India Football Federation to shift the match to any other venue. We cannot have the match on September 16 as scheduled as the lights will not be ready," Messias said.
Messias blamed the state government for the delay.
"I have persuaded the matter with the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) director Prabhudesai, but the government has been unable to act and get the floodlights ready."
"The AFC officials are due for a visit at the end of August to inspect the Nehru stadium, and the deadline to have the lights in place expires on August 16," he said.
::: Mithun Chakraborty's ICL club to sponsor Howrah Union :::
Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty is known to be a big football in Bengal and today he took his passion further.
A few month's back Mithun Chakraborty had become the owner of the Indian Cricket League's Calcutta franchise the Royal Bengal Tigers and today they signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Howrah Union, who are currently playing in the Calcutta Football League's First Division Group A, the third division from the top. The deal would come into effect in the 2009/10 season with the Royal Bengal Tigers helping Howrah Union construct their own infrastructure, with player recruitment and training facilities.
Present on the annoucement of the partnership where also Howrah Union president Russi Modi, Howrah Union secretary Indranath Dey plus Indian Cricket League and Zee Sports business head Himanshu Modi. The club would from next season be known as Royal Bengal Howrah Union under the management of the Royal Bengal Sports Private Limited with a budget of Rs 3,6 Million for the next season.
"The alliance between my team and Howrah Union Club is one of its kind initiative, which aims to take Bengal's local sports talent, across sporting disciplines, on the path of creating national sports icons from Bengal," Mithun said.
He added, "I could have adopted some leading club, but I did not do it as I wanted to build a team from scratch and carry it to a glorious height."
This is the first official link between football and cricket though numerous clubs from the Indian Premier League have mentioned that they would be interested to venture into professional football.
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Friendly Match | Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad | 18.00 IST
INDIA 1-1 Malaysia
Goals: 1-0 Baichung Bhutia (57'), 1-1 Indra Putra Mahayuddin (80' pen)
INDIA: 1-Subrata Pal; 17-Irungbam Surkumar Singh (16-Sameer Naik), 5-Anwar Ali, 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 12-Deepak Kumar Mondal; 28-Bungo Thokchom Singh, 7-Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep (???), 30-Climax Lawrence, 8-Renedy Singh (22-Syed Rahim Nabi); 11-Sunil Chetri (???), 15-Baichung Bhutia [C] (21-Abhishek Yadav).
Unused Substitutes: ...
MALAYSIA: ...
Unused Substitutes: ...
YELLOW CARDs: Krishnan Nair Ajayan (79', India); Mohammed Zarquan Adhr (75', Malaysia).
REFEREE: ...
ASSISTANT REFEREES: ...
FOURTH OFFICIAL: ...
MATCH REPORT:
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For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>Indian National Team section.
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Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC 0-0 Calcutta Port Trust - Goals: none.
Mohun Bagan: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 29-Joseph Anandavasan, 33-Suman Bose (77' 2-S Naveen Kumar); 19-Shylo Malswam Tulunga, 16-James Lukram Singh (46' 23-Lalramluaha), 25-Sagolsem James Singh, 7-Lal Kamal Bhowmick [C]; 9-Pachau Lalam Puia (58' 12-Branco Vincent Cardozo), 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto.
Calcutta Port Trust: Shibram Dey (65' Gopal Das); Satyajit Datta, Simanta Das, Ayeni Bedemi Daniel, Rajib Rao, Sanjit Saha, Kaushik Prasad, Sovan Das, Soumajit Das, Emmanuel Nnamani, Sujit Dey (Raman Vijayan).
Man of the Match: Peter Odafe (Mohun Bagan).
Referee: Biplab Poddar.
Calcutta Premier League: Chirag United SC 3-0 Peerless SC - Goals: 1-0 Lalmalswama Hmar, 2-0 Sasthi Duley, 3-0 Soumik Chakraborty.
Calcutta Super Division: Indian Air Force 1-2 Mohammedan AC
Punjab State Super League: Punjab Police 0-0 Rail Coach Factory - Goals: none.
Yellow Cards: Shiraz Hassan (48', Punjab Police); Amrinder Singh (65', RCF)
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Coastal Club 2-0 St.George FC - Goals: -.
::: Mridul Banerjee appointed practice coach of East Bengal Club :::
Calcutta giants East Bengal Club have appointed Mridul Banerjee, a former coach of the India U19 team plus numerous clubs in Calcutta and Goa, has been inducted into the clubs squad management as the practice coach.
Mridul Banerjee, who is a holder of the AFC's 'A' licence, will be working with the team coach Manoranjan Bhattacharjee for managing the squad in practice and tournaments.
::: IndianFootball.Com LIVE: Baichung Bhutia at the "Goal4Africa" charity match :::
IndianFootball.Com editors-in-chief Arunava Chaudhuri and Chris Punnakkattu Daniel went to the "Goal4Africa" charity match on July 12 at the Allianz Arena, Munich in which Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia took part. A memorable evening not only for Baichung...
Arunava's report and Chris' pictures from the gam are now online in the IndianFootball.Com LIVE section...
Go to the IndianFootball.Com LIVE .
Calcutta Super Division: SAIL 0-3 Tollygunge Agragami
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 1-1 Calcutta Customs
Calcutta Super Division: Eastern Railway SC 0-0 Bengal-Nagpur Railway
Calcutta Super Division: Indian Air Force - Mohammedan AC = postponed to tomorrow
Punjab State Super League: Harbhajan SC 1-2 Border Security Force - Goals: 1-0 Surjit Singh (19'), 1-1,1-2 Kamal Kishore (29',48').
Yellow Cards: Surjit Singh, Inderjit Singh (both Harbhajan SC).
Punjab State Super League: PSEB, Hoshiarpur 3-2 JCT Football Academy - Goals: 0-1 Dilshad Ahmed (5'), 1-1 Amarjit Singh (12'), 1-2 Vijay Singh (55'), 2-2 Kuldip Singh (70'), 3-2 Sunil Kumar (80').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Titanium XI 5-0 Black Arrows - Goals: 1-0,2-0,5-0 Shajahan (15',16',55'), 3-0 Usman (19'), 4-0 Johnson (53').
Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club 1-3 Mohammedan Sporting Club - Goals: 0-1,1-2 Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (1',85'), 1-1 Khelemba Singh (75'), 1-3 Mike Okoro (90+2' pen).
East Bengal: 1-Abhra Mondal; 20-Poibang Pohshna, 5-Khelemba Singh, 12-Anupam Sarkar, 29-Saumik Dey; 22-Sanju Pradhan (35' 6-Dipankar Roy, 55' 28-Chhangte Malswamkima), 7-Jayanta Sen [C], 3-Nirmal Chetri (49' 25-Parveen Kumar), 9-Alvito D'Cunha, 14-Mehtab Hussain, 10-Ashim Biswas.
Mohammedan Sporting: 21-Imran Khan; 23-Rajib Ghosh, 3-Subhas Mondal, 6-Sheikh Azim, 30-Bijoy Das, 8-Satyajit Bose (81' 18-Vimal Pariyar), 7-Roque Barreto, 12-Prasanta Chakraborty (66' 34-Lalchhuan Awma), 5-Mir Farooq Hyder (78' 25-Vanlal Rova), 10-Mike Okoro, 11-Theodore Sunday Wrobeh.
Yellow Cards: Nirmal Chetri (East Bengal).
Man of the Match: Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (Mohammedan Sporting).
Referee: Minangshu Bhattacharya.
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: State Bank of Travancore 7-0 Coastal Club - Goals: 1-0 MA Abdul Hakkim (1'), 2-0,7-0 KM Abdul Naushad (15',75'), 3-0 TV Mohammad Harris (43'), 4-0,5-0,6-0 Martyn John (55',60',70').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Kerala State Electricity Board 0-0 St.Mary's FC - Goals: none.
::: Oil India Limited denied entry into Guwahati Super Division :::
Duliajan's Oil India Limited has been denied entry into this seasons Guwahati Super Division. The Guwahati Sports Association at its meeting today decided not to allow Oil India Limited to enter the Super Division as a donor club, which would have meant that OIL would gave sponsored the league to about Rs 450,000.
For Oil India Limited this means a big setback as the team had hoped to shift base from rural Duliajan to the state capital Guwahati to face better opponents and gain ahead of potentially playing better opposition on the national stage.
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Friendly Match | US Tour | Schoenbaum Stadium, Charleston, West Virginia
West Virginia Olympic Development Team 0-6 INDIA U16
Goals: 0-1 Lalrindika (16'), 0-2,0-4,0-5 Malasawmfela (??',78',85'), 0-3 Prem Kumar, 0-6 Deepak Devrani (86')
WEST VIRGINIA: ...
Unused Substitutes: ...
INDIA U16: ...
Unused Substitutes: ...
YELLOW CARDs: ...
REFEREE: ...
ASSISTANT REFEREES: ...
FOURTH OFFICIAL: ...
 MATCH REPORT:
One day following a lopsided victory over the West Virginia Olympic Development State Team even the serious fans would expect the India Under-16 Boys to role over their opposition once again at Schoenbaum Stadium in Charleston, West Virginia. The expectations would be put to rest at the break when India would lead the WV ODP team by a single goal.
India would get on the score sheet in the 16th minute by a Lalrindika "Dika" (Lunglei District, Mizoram, India) goal. Dika became the recipient of a wonderful series by the India National Team when Biru Yadav's touch-on pass come to his feet just a yard in front of the gaping net where Dika smashed the ball into the roof of the net for the lead. The net was left open when WV ODP Keeper Cody Cleavenger (Fairmont, West Virginia) would be beat by Yadav's pass.
Cleavenger picked up an injury would be replaced by Robbie Gerbo in the 23rd minute after making 5 saves. Gerbo would prove an excellent choice for WV ODP Head Coach, Seamus Reilly (Muskingum College, Head Men's Soccer Coach) and WV ODP Assistant Coach Steve Barrett (Concord University, Head Men's Soccer Coach). Gerbo's decision in the 37th minute to charge outside the penalty area looked sure to be costly when he did not beat Prem Kumar (Namashahar, Punjab, India) to the ball. Kumar would play a back pass to Harpreet Bedi (Dehradun, Uttaranchal, India). Bedi had time to take a touch towards the middle of the field and launch a long range effort from over 30 yards to goal. The covering Ryan McWatters (Hurricane, West Virginia) would look to clear the ball away but a glancing ball off of his head looked sure to put the India National team up two before it would spin past the post after going across the entire goal mouth.
Despite being outshot 11-1 the WV ODP team played a very strong and impressive first half. Alex Ryan's (Scott Depot, West Virginia) loan shot did not demonstrate the amount of chances the WV ODP had to draw level controlling the play from time to time. The quality of play by the team along with Gerbo and Cleavenger combining for nine first half saves would leave the first half ending with WV ODP team down just a goal. The single goal lead tied the smallest lead held by the India National team during West Virginia Soccer International 2008, the exposure and training trip to the USA. The last time India only led a match by one goal was to the Marshall University Elite Camp Squad when India led 2-1 at the break.
Another decision by Gerbo to charge outside of the WV ODP penalty area in the 54th minute would prove to be one of the best. A brilliant play in the midfield between Akshay Mall (Baroda, Gujarat, India) and Milan Singh (Imphal, Manipur, India) led Singh to turn and slide a pass to Prem Kumar giving him a chance from 20 yards. Kumar's shot would be blocked outside the area by Gerbo.
Malasawmfela "Fela" (Aizawl, Mizoram, India) has had his way with every opposing defence through the tour found himself on the end of a Subhojit Mazumdar (Calcutta, West Bengal, India) cross to the near post. Fela's first touch and turn would leave Gerbo helpless as he fired the ball to the back post cliping it as the ball crossed the line hitting the side netting. Fela would continue to streatch the lead when his one two combination with Prem Kumar put Kumar in on goal for his first goal of the match.
Fela continued his scoring streak after receiving a cross from Harpreet Bedi (Dehradun, Uttaranchal, India) in the 78th minute and the 85th minute completing his hatrick. Bedi would complete a hatrick of his own in the 86th minute on a corner kick when Deepak Devrani (New Delhi, India) headed home his ball pushing the India lead to 6-0 giving Bedi his third assist in the match.
For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>Indian National Team section.
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Calcutta Premier League: Chirag United SC 0-1 Calcutta Port Trust - Goals: 0-1 Sovan Das (31').
Punjab State 2nd Division League - Final Round: Harbhajan SC 4-1 Mahilpur FC - Goals: 1-0,2-0,3-0 Rajesh (7',26',35'), 4-0 Gurdeep Singh (42'), 4-1 Mandeep Singh (85').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Black Arrows 0-2 Kerala State Electricity Board - Goals: 0-1 Girish (10'), 0-2 Ramesh (50').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Titanium XI 0-0 St.Mary's FC - Goals: none.
TNEB Trophy, Dindigul - Final: Indian Bank 2-1 Integral Coach Factory - Goals: 0-1 Jegan Sr (28'), 1-1 Ilamurugan (46'), 2-1 Manikandan (70').
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Friendly Match | US Tour | Schoenbaum Stadium, Charleston, West Virginia
West Virginia Olympic Development Team 0-10 INDIA U16
Goals: 0-1 Taranjit Kumar (2'), 0-2,0-3,0-8,0-9 Malasawmfela (12',33',86',90'), 0-4,0-5 Prem Kumar (38',50'), 0-6,0-7 R Lalrindika (58,77'), 0-10 Bikramjit Singh (90+3')
WEST VIRGINIA: 91-Cody Cleavange (17-Robbie Gerbc), 14-Dustin Atik, 5-James Boukhemis, 5-Stephen Knight, 4-Kyle Maner, 8-Austin Barrett, 18-Garith Duncan, 21-Jared Morgar, 2-Charlie McElwee, 15-Derik Craft, 10-Alex Ryar.
Unused Substitutes: 11-Michael Shaw, 9-Brandon Foresha, 19-Matthew Blust, 14-Billy Jones, 66-Cody Schwertfeder, 13-Tony Serge
INDIA U16: 2-Jayanta Paul (46' 1-Gurpreet Singh Sandhu); 4-Ashfaq Ali (46' 7-Vishal Kumar), 5-Ashish Chetri (46' 8-Shallum Pires), 6-Deepak Devrani (46' 9-Sumit Rawat), 10-Taranjit Kumar (46' 11-Tanmoy Ghosh), 12-Akshay Vimal Kumar Mall (46' 13-Bikramjit Singh), 16-Milan Singh (46' 14-Biru Yadav), 18-Subhojit Mazumdar (46' 17-R Lalrindika), 19-Tirthankar Sarkar (67' 15-Harpreet Bedi), 22-Malsawmfela, 24-Prem Kumar.
Unused Substitutes: ...
YELLOW CARDs: Dustin Atik (8', West Virginia).
REFEREE: Steve Walker.
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Pat Park, Al Lynch.
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Rich Fulcher.
 MATCH REPORT:
The fifth of seven matches in the West Virginia Soccer International 2008 tour for the INDIA Under-16 Boys featured the West Virginia State Olympic Development Program team. The team featured players from across West Virginia.
A week after turning 15 Taranjit Kumar scored his first career goal, thus opening his international and personal goal record in the 84th minute against the Tri-State All-Stars on July 13 but it would only take eight minutes before Taranjit would pick up his second international goal. Taranjit opened the INDIA UU16 team's account in the 2nd minute of their match against the West Virginia Olympic Development State Team. Ten minutes later front runner Malasawmfela "Fela" picked up his first goal of the match and his 9th of within the 5 matches in West Virginia Soccer International 2008 when "Fela" picked the ball up outside the area and beat two defenders moving towards the right side of the goal. There while on the run "Fela" smashed the ball past ODP Team keeper Cody Cleavenger to spread the difference to two goals. "Fela" would score another unassisted goal in 33rd minute before Prem Kumar would wrap up the scoring before the break at the 38th minute.
After the break Prem Kumar would add another goal to his personal count just five minutes after the break. Prem would get on the end of a R Lalrindika through ball before beating the keeper slotting home the goal. In the 58th and 77th minute R Lalrindika completed his bar on two unassisted goals. "Fela" would spur on with the attack with back to back goals in the 86th and 90th minutes completing his first hattrick of the tour and picking up his fourth with assists from Subhojit Mazumdar and Biru Yadav. In stoppage time Bikramjit Singh added another goal by an assist from "Fela". The match would conclude with the score line spread wide by ten goals.
For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>Indian National Team section.
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Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC 3-0 Railway FC - Goals: 1-0,2-0,3-0 Shylo Malswam Tulunga (37',43',81').
Mohun Bagan: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe (84' 2-S Naveen Kumar), 29-Joseph Anandavasan, 33-Suman Bose; 19-Shylo Malswam Tulunga, 7-Lal Kamal Bhowmick [C], 25-Sagolsem James Singh, 11-Ishfaq Ahmed (80' 12-Branco Vincent Cardozo); 9-Pachau Lalam Puia (69' 6-Henry Gangte), 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto.
Railway FC: Rakesh Prasad; Sangram Mandi, Avijit Dutta, Hira Ray, Muzaffar Rehman, Biplab Naskar (69' Gourav Datta), Santosh Oraon, Tarak Nath, Munna Mallick (89' Tamal Mukherjee), Suraj Mondal [C] (76' Sanjib Mishra), Kaltu Hembrem.
Man of the Match: Shylo Malswam Tulunga (Mohun Bagan).
Referee: Prabir Dhar.
::: Now Real Madrid shows interest in India :::
IANS report: European football clubs' interest in India is increasing day by day with the latest being Spanish giants Real Madrid. The day may not be far when top stars from Real Madrid like Raul, Fabio Cannavaro and Ruud Van Nistelrooy come down to India as the club's president Ramon Calderon has written to Sports Minister MS Gill, showing the club's interest in playing in India. It all started with a light discussion between Gill and Calderon during the Wimbledon final.
The sports minister now wants to seize the opportunity and has informed his cabinet colleague and the AIFF chief Priya Ranjan Das Munshi to decide how they make the best out of Real's interest.
"Further to our conversation, we would be delighted that we could establish any kind of relationship between Real Madrid CF and India, through its government, and in particularly, through the ministry of youth affairs and sports," Ramos wrote in his letter.
"In that regard, I am at your disposal to discuss any proposal you might wish to make," he added.
"As you can imagine, our club must plan all their activities with time enough, therefore I would be grateful that any suggestion you may have, can be made in advance in order to be responded properly. I look forward to hearing from you soon," the Real president concluded.
In his reply, Gill has thanked Ramos for showing interest to 153rd ranked India and said that he would get back soon.
"I thank you for your prompt letter. We are, at the moment, busy with political matters in our parliament. Our football association president is a senior minister who recently had a minor medical problem. I will talk to him and others in the near future and will get back to you," Gill wrote.
"I certainly wish to see Real Madrid in India," the sports minister added.
If Real Madrid comes calling, it will be the fifth European club after Manchester United, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Chelsea to make their presence felt in India in the recent past.
Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club 1-1 George Telegraph SC - Goals: 1-0 Alvito D'Cunha (52'), 1-1 Francis Chibueze Maduako (65').
East Bengal: 1-Abhra Mondal; 33-Saikat Saha Roy (46' 3-Nirmal Chetri), 5-Khelemba Singh, 2-Muttath Suresh [C], 29-Saumik Dey; 22-Sanju Pradhan, 7-Jayanta Sen, 9-Alvito D'Cunha, 14-Mehtab Hussain (75' 28-Chhangte Malswamkima), 32-Goutam Kujur (67' 25-Parveen Kumar), 10-Ashim Biswas.
George Telegraph: Swarup Das; Suman Dey, Safar Sardar, Debkumar Sashmal, Biswajit Saha, Beokhokhei, Subho Kumar, Gopal Debnath (83' Sayantan Das Roy), Prodip Roy, Francis Chibueze Maduako, Dipendu Biswas [C] (62' 20-Swapan Mandi).
Man of the Match: Francis Chibueze Maduako (George Telegraph).
Referee: Dhanapati Roy.
Calcutta Super Division: Indian Air Force 0-1 Police AC
Calcutta Super Division: West Bengal Police 1-1 Tollygunge Agragami
Calcutta Super Division: Eastern Railway SC 2-0 Mohammedan AC
Calcutta Super Division: Bengal-Nagpur Railway 1-0 Calcutta Customs
Punjab State 2nd Division League - Final Round: Border Security Force 3-0 Mahilpur FC - Goals: 1-0 Kamal Kishore (18'), 2-0 Gurjit Singh Atwal (25'), 3-0 Harjit Singh (34').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Titanium XI 4-0 Coastal Club - Goals: 1-0,4-0 Renjith (5',73'), 2-0 Shajahan (55'), 3-0 Aneesh (58').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: St.George FC 0-3 Kerala State Electricity Board - Goals: 0-1,0-3 Ramesh (2',73'), 0-2 Noushad (37').
::: AIFF nominates four footballers for Arjuna Award :::
The AIFF has nominated four international footballers for this years Arjuna Award and Dempo SC coach Armando Colaco for the Dronacharya Award. The concerned players are defenders Mahesh Gawli and Deepak Kumar Mondal plus midfielders Renedy Singh and Climax Lawrence, who were all part of last year's "ONGC" Nehru Cup winning Indian team. The last footballer to get the Arjuna Award was IM Vijayan in 2003.
The name of Armando Colaco, who is not only Dempo's coach but also the clubs secretary, was recommended by the Goa FA and then forwarded by the AIFF for this years Dronacharya Award. Armando has been very successful with Dempo over the last few seasons winning the inaugural I-League title, the NFL title twice and also the Federation Cup. If Armando is gived the Dronacharya Award then he would be the second Indian coach to get the award after Syed Nayeemuddin in 1992.
::: Premier India Football Academy launches "YOUNG STAR" soccer program :::
The Young Star is PIFA's soccer program to help identify and develop talented under privileged children in India.
Mumbai's Premier India Football Academy Program Director Nirvan Shah (UEFA B) was encouraged by the PIFA soccer training program and wanted to reach out to the talented underprivileged children who could not afford to get proper training. He believes that the fire and commitment to succeed is very strong in these children and given the right training in football as well as counselling they will be the future of Indian football.
PIFA Foundation for the benefit of sports, an NGO, has launched a soccer program called "Young Star" to develop and train young talented under privileged football players. The players will be recommended by various NGO's and selected through the annual PIFA Skills contest program.
Vedanta Group has been the first donor to the foundation. The donation will help sponsor 11 children for the year 2008/09. The boys amd girls are aged 10-12 years. They will be trained amd counselled by PIFA coach Father Lawrence twice a week at Our Lady of Nazerath Gymkhana in Bhayander.
Indians from the United States have also contributed to help 7 more children, the donors are Tulip Shah, Chong Ae Shah, Zaffer Merchant, Val Sequeira and Dr Francis Saldhana, who has also helped sponsor the India U16 tour to the US.
The children received full football gear, food and travel allowance during their training period. They will be prepared for their school team, PIFA team and for state trials.
The Vedanta group has also contributed towards the maintenance of the training ground in Bhayander.
PIFA foundation for the benefit of sports is looking to raise funds to help develop football in India in the form of players, coaches and facilities from individuals and companies. They will be running a similar program in South Mumbai as well.
A contribution of Rs 20,000 towards the YOUNG STAR Program, will help a talented child between 10-14 years of age by providing:
- Year long training at the academy
- 2 kits with uniforms (sponsor name)
- a pair of football shoes
- travel allowance / food allowance on training days
- For more details on email info@pifacademy.com or call Anjali Shah on +91-22-3042 2263.
List of children in the current program: Subrato N Debnath (1996), Pranav Bhoir (1997), Raneal C Rodricks (1996), Nigel Faria (1997), Glenn Fernandes (1997), Andrew D'Souza (1997), Ms Jovita D'Souza (1997), Ms Ruleta Pinto (1997), Ms Louiz Mendis (1997), Darel Fonseca (1996), Alroy D'Souza (1997), Granvil D'Silva (1997), Albert Fernandes (1997), Rakshit Shetty (1996), Rohan Robert (1997), Robin Robert (1996), Agnel Fernandes (1995), Ralph Faria (1997).
Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-0 Peerless SC - Goals: 1-0 Mike Okoro (40').
Mohammedan Sporting: 21-Imran Khan; 30-Bijoy Das, 4-Vinu Jose, 6-Sheikh Azim, 3-Subhas Mondal, 8-Satyajit Bose, 12-Prasanta Chakraborty, 10-Mike Okoro, 5-Mir Farooq Hyder, 34-Lalchhuan Awma (84' 33-Bapi Chowdhury), 11-Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (73' 7-Roque Barreto).
Peerless: Arunava Das; Zoheb Hassan, Satish Kumar Bharti, Madhab Kumar Das, Dipak Singh, Uttam Debnath (45' Subrata Das), Tanay Shankar Halder, James Ugwu Agbo, Arup Singha, Babin Biswas, Tilak Saha.
Yellow Cards: Tanay Shankar Halder, Madhab Kumar Das (both Peerless).
Man of the Match: Mike Okoro (Mohammedan Sporting).
Referee: Barun Saha.
Calcutta Premier League: Calcutta Port Trust 0-0 Railway FC - Goals: none.
Punjab State 2nd Division League - Final Round: Sikh National FC 1-0 Mahilpur FC - Goals: 1-0 Hari Singh (17').
Punjab State 2nd Division League - Final Round: Border Security Force 6-0 Harbhajan SC - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Kamal Kishore (13',23'), 3-0 Gurjit Singh Atwal (25'), 4-0 Harjit Singh (53'), 5-0 Avinash Thapa (60'), 6-0 Santosh Sethi (72').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Coastal Club 0-3 St.Mary's FC - Goals: 0-1 Renjith (18'), 0-2 Prasanth (29'), 0-3 Johnson (80').
Thiruvananthapuram District Super Division: Black Arrows 0-1 State Bank of Travancore - Goals: 0-1 T Asif Saheer (25').
Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC 3-1 Chirag United SC - Goals: 1-0,2-0,3-0 Jose Ramirez Barreto (26',52',59'), 3-1 Achinta Saha (70').
Mohun Bagan: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 29-Joseph Anandavasan, 17-Rahul Kumar; 35-Sanjoy Boro (66' 23-Lalramluaha), 7-Lal Kamal Bhowmick, 16-James Lukram Singh (57' 25-Sagolsem James Singh), 11-Ishfaq Ahmed; 9-Pachau Lalam Puia (81' 12-Branco Vincent Cardozo), 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto [C].
Chirag United: 1-Arindam Ghosh; 6-Dhanranjan R, 2-Louis Nigi Ebami [C], 4-Kinshuk Debnath, 5-Debabrata Roy; 30-Gouranga Datta, 14-Basudeb Mondal (42' 27-Lalmalswama Hmar), 29-Achinta Saha, 35-Soumik Chakraborty; 25-Shankar Oraon, 9-Maximilian Fabian Alvares (68' 10-Ayan Chowdhury).
Yellow Cards: Ishfaq Ahmed, Lal Kamal Bhowmick (both Mohun Bagan); Gouranga Datta (Chirag United).
Man of the Match: Jose Ramirez Barreto (Mohun Bagan).
Referee: Minangshu Bhattacharya.
4th NN Bhattacharjee Trophy - Final: SAI, Guwahati 1-0 Sunrise Club - Goals: 1-0 Rabiluchan Basumatary (25').
::: AIFF released 4th Transfer list on Saturday :::
The AIFF released the fourth list of Inter-State Transfers on Saturday in which 199 transfers were cleared by the national body.
I-League runners-up Churchill Brothers SC have signed Manipuris Konsam Ajitkumar Singh and Yumnam Raju Mangang from Manipur State League champions NISA, while they released RC Prakash for HAL and Hardip Singh Sangha, who had gone to Canada a few years ago, asked for a transfer to the Punjab FA.
Mohun Bagan released Subhas Chakraborty and Peter Siddique who switched to Mumbai FC, who also signed Anees Kutty from Areacode SC, Kerala. Meanwhile Shanmugam Venkatesh and Muttath Sudheesh also left Mohun Bagan to go to Pune FC, who also signed Praveen Rawat (Viva Kerala, who had played for New Delhi Heroes lately), Amarwant Singh (Harbhajan SC, Punjab) and Nidhin Lal AC (ACME SC, Kerala).
Talented young goalkeeper Monotosh Ghosh has joined Mahindra United from Sonali Shibir in Calcutta.
East Bengal Club have signed former international striker Parveen Kumar from JCT.
Air-India gained their third player from Mohun Bagan AC in Jamir Ali Mondal in this transfer period while also signing Chingamba Potshangbam (DM Rao, Manipur) and Tongbram Naresh Meetei (AIM, Manipur).
Sporting Clube de Goa have brought in Rovan Pereira from ONGC, Mumbai, who themselves signed R Sreekanth and Pradeep Kumar from HAL, Bangalore, Raghavendra N (Viva Kerala), PT Somy (Mohammedan Sporting Club), Amit Biswas (Tollygunge Agragami), Kenistan C (St Mary's Club, Kerala) and Charanjit Singh (Mahilpur Football Academy, Punjab).
Viva Kerala released Sunil Kumar Thakur (Vasco SC) and Chanambam Jatin Singh (BEML (EM), Bangalore).
I-league relegated Salgaocar SC gained Ghanian Rauf Sher Khan (Mohun Bagan AC), Yakubu Yusif (Mahindra United) and Bijen Singh (Mohammedan Sporting Club).
I-League promoted Chirag United SC have signed Hardip Singh Gill from JCT and Sheikh Shanawaz (City Club, Delhi), while they released Monotosh Roy (Tarun Sangha, Delhi).
Chennai's Indian Bank signed Rocky Philem (George Telegraph, Calcutta), Benedict Simon (Kerala State Electricity Board), Avik Dey (Aryans Club, Calcutta) and Subir Chakraborty (Kalighat MS, Calcutta).
Former junior internatinal Marlanki Suting has joined the New Delhi Heroes from East Bengal Club though he had played lately for Oil India Limited.
Aspiring Bengal Mumbai FC have signed C Shameel, Mohammed Muneer KP, Shyju K, Mohammed Yasin Ansari (all Mohammedan Sporting Club), Sanjay Paul (Shastri Club, Delhi), Niyas Rehman P (Chandini FC, Kerala), Wasim Raza Inayathula (NS FC, Chattisgarh), Thingnganing Pheinao (YAC, Manipur), Ashique Rehman PV (Kerala Postal) and the duo of Sagar T Mahendra Singh and Yuraj Ram Singh Pun from Reserve Bank of India, Gujarat.
Delhi's Indian National FC signed Abdullatif Seriki (JCT), Parminder Singh (Mohun Bagan AC), Pronoy Roy (Mohammedan Sporting Club), Tajinder Singh (Chirag United SC), and Dipesh Pun (Reserve Bank of India, Gujarat).
::: Kuwait Indian Football League Finals on Friday :::
by Gasper Crasto: The Kuwait Indian Football Federation League, the only competition of its kind among expatriate Indians abroad promises a spectacular finale when the top two teams in the League, AVC Sports Association and Navelim Youth Centre clash Friday morning, July 18 at the Salmiya Grounds for the coveted JP D'Mello Memorial Rolling Trophy.
The summer heat and humidity in Kuwait may not be a perfect climate for the amateur players to display their full potential skills but anyway it all seems like a lovely antidote to enjoy watching two best teams vying for top honours.
Football among expatriates in Kuwait fulfills its function to divert one's mind from reality and all football lovers fall for the con. The mythology of football here is that it is an independent game, where the working man in particular can be heard. The myth holds that spectators are the clubs and it's their collective memory which remains constant as players, officials and clubs come and go.
The diehard supporters always throng the Grounds and cheer the lads. Everyone is aware the games here are played for love and not fortune. One may not certainly see huge crowds and players changing shirts with opposition teams after each match as seen on TV but the euphoria created during some games is nothing less than a 'World Cup' match.
Navelim versus Kuwait Goans
Semifinal matches of any game in the world are the toughest ones - not something strange among Indians either. In the League semifinals for played last Friday, defending champions Kuwait Goan Association lost out to Navelim Youth Centre in the tie-breaker after the teams were locked 1-1 during normal time.
Navelim stand-in goalkeeper Alfred Pires saved 2 crunch penalties to put Navelim in a record 7th League Final in the last 10 editions.
Earlier, striker Cruz Rodrigues put Navelim into the lead in the 20th minute of the game. Captain Vico D'Souza of Kuwait Goans equalized in the second half ten minutes remaining for the end of match. Navelim midfielders Duarte, Simao, Ivo D'costa and Savio Furtado, and goalkeeper Britto were excellent in the game.
DHL versus AVC
The other semifinal played between DHL and AVC was a high drama game, both teams fighting to be in the finals. AVC, who are already crowned Season Champions for winning major tournaments this season scored through Savio Fernandes. DHL fought valiantly for the equalizer but AVC stood strong. Vincy Pereira, Francis Fernandes, Ronnie, Lucian, Kevin, etc, excelled for the winners.
AVC, one the consistent teams for the past few years are coached by former Churchill Brothers footballer Alvaro Dias while Navelim are coached by ex-Salgaocar Gasper Crasto, both active players in the League.
Meanwhile, KIFF President BM Viegas has extended invitation to all member clubs, affiliates and football lovers to come and witness a grand finale to the season. A Third Place play-off will be played prior to the finals between DHL and Kuwait Goan Association according to KIFF Sports Secretary Derrick Gomendes.
JP Memorial Rolling Trophy
The JP Memorial Rolling Trophy - KIFF League is named after late Jerome Pascoal D'Mello (popularly known in India and Kuwait as JP). Ex-FIFA referee and Member of Asian Football Confederation Referees Committee and Ex-Hon. Secretary and Member of Bombay Referees' Association, D'Mello who lived in Andheri East, Bombay, left for his heavenly abode in 1994. He was the prime architect in conceiving the idea of forming KIFF.
The KIFF League of 2007-08 which commenced in October last included 18 teams registered with the Federation. The teams were divided into two groups for a round robin League.
Navelim Youth Centre have won the League a maximum four times followed by GOA Maroons (3 times) since the inception of the Trophy in 1994.
Calcutta Premier League: East Bengal Club 2-0 Calcutta Port Trust - Goals: 1-0 Mehtab Hussain (9'), 2-0 Chhangte Malswamkima (73').
East Bengal: Arnab Das Sharma; Saikat Saha Roy, Muttath Suresh, Khelemba Singh, Saumik Dey, Sanju Pradhan, Jayanta Sen, Alvito D'Cunha (81' Mumtaz Akhtar), Mehtab Hussain (63' Chhangte Malswamkima), Goutam Khujur, Ashim Biswas (61' Parveen Kumar).
Calcutta Port Trust: Gopal Das; Rajib Ahmed, Simanta Das, Ayeni Bedemi Daniel, Mriganka Sharma, Sanjit Saha (59' Sheikh Hasanur Jaman), Kaushik Prasad, Avinash Thapa (78' Manik Biswas, 87' Subhamoy Das), Avijit Dey, Emmanuel Nnamani, Raman Vijayan.
Man of the Match: Jayanta Sen (East Bengal).
Referee: Rathin Mukherjee.
Punjab State 2nd Division League - Final Round: Mahilpur FC - Harbhajan SC = match was abandoned due to heavy rain
Punjab State 2nd Division League - Final Round: Sikh National FC 0-3 Border Security Force - Goals: 0-1,0-2 Gurjit Singh Atwal, 0-3 Raghbir Singh.
::: Spice Energy to sponsor Delhi's Simla Youngs FC :::
Spice Energy begins a new alliance with Delhi side Simla Youngs FC by introducing itself as the official sponsor.
Spice Energy, aspiring to become a world class oil and gas company specializing in the integrated energy business has announced its association with Simla Youngs FC as the official sponsor to support them in all activities and to encourage and promote football among the younger generation in India.
Apart from the launch of the new relationship between Spice Energy and Simla Youngs FC: the event also introduced the players of the three teams under-10,U13,and U17 that will be participating in the Welsh Super Cup. The tournament will be held in Aberystwyth, Wales from July 21 to 25 in Wales. The tournament is a renowned one and is special because players like Andriy Shevchenko, Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen have participated in it.
Simla Youngs FC is now the second team from the capital to get a corporate Sponsorship in the capital after the New Delhi Heroes last year got the backing of Osian's. This is a tremendous step as far as Delhi football is concerned and it would not be correct to say that in the coming years there will be many more.
Speaking on this alliance well known football commentator Novy Kapadia said, "this is really great as far as football is concerned. Simla Youngs FC is working very hard and in a systematic way to bring young talents from the capital and its great and wonderful to see that a club like Simla Youngs FC is working at the grassroots level." Novy further added, "corporate investors need to be patient as no one can get the positive result in just a fortnight. I am sure that will come but slowly. There is healthy competition in football and more than 210 countries play this game out of which for 190 countries football is the main game for them." It were wise words from the commentator who really showed some way to the corporate investors not to ask more in just a short span of time but rather be very patience.
Announcing this new bond with Simla Youngs FC, Andaleeb Sehgal from Spice Energy said, "Spice Energy is proud to be associated with Simla Youngs FC because I believe that football as a sport has gained a lot of popularity in India and young talent needs to be taped and nurtured so that it achieves world class standards." Asked why Simla Youngs FC and not another club he said, "Tushar is a very good friend of mine and when he came with the plan and showed it ,I found that it is not only wonderful but he is serious too."
Simla Youngs FC deserve every bit of success and why not, it is the only club in Delhi that has undertaken the task to spot talented players and training them on a regular basis and transforming them into proficient footballers. The Club has a glorious past and had dominated Delhi football in the 70's and 80's.
Speaking on this alliance and seeing his and his team hard work being paying off, Tushar Dev, CEO of Simla Youngs FC said, "We thank Spice Energy for their encouragement and support, and strongly believe that this relationship will weave a bright future for our foundation, and also help achieve our goals that we have set for 2008."
This is one more excellent step for Simla Youngs FC who has been working patiently for the last three years and changing the face of Delhi football .Not only this alliance will help them to achieve their "Goal" set for the coming years but is also a great example for others clubs to show them some way to spot young talent and nurture them in order to add a helping hand in the development of this game in the country.
::: Kerala FA has decided on annual awards for the 2007/08 season :::
The Kerala FA has decided on annual awards for the best players in the state for the 2007/08 season. Defender CK Jithesh has been named best player of the state:
A list of all winners:
Best Senior Player: CK Jithesh (Ernakulam)
Best Senior Women: T Gheetha (Trivandrum)
Under 21 Men's: KV Shameel (Malappuram)
Under-19 Boys: Shajeer PM (Wayanad)
Under-16 Boys: K harshid (Malappuram)
Under-13 Boys: Akhil Joseph (Ernakulam)
Under-19 Girls: E Sawithri(Pathanamthitta)
Under-17 Girls: Preetha Gerald (Trivandrum)
Under-13 Girls: Pr Aswathi (Trivandrum)
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Friendly Match | US Tour | Schoenbaum Stadium, Charleston, West Virginia
Tri-State All-Stars 0-6 INDIA U16
Goals: 0-1,0-5 Malasawfela (18',72'), 0-2 Tirthankar Sarkar (28'), 0-3 A Raegan (46'), 0-4 Manan Deeps (47'), 0-6 Taranjit Kumar (84')
TRI-STATE ALL-STARS: ...
Unused Substitutes: ...
INDIA U16: ...
Unused Substitutes: ...
YELLOW CARDs: ...
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A day following the teams third win by defeating the Marshall University Elite Campers 5-1 at Sam Hood Field in Huntington, West Virginia the India Under-16 Boys took on the Tri-State All-Stars back in Charleston, West Virginia at Schoenbaum Stadium. After a beginning portion of the match going back and forth, India In the 18th minute would open the score line by Malasawfela, then Tirthankar Sarkar would get the only other goal in the first half just 28 minutes in. A Raegan quickly put the match out of any possible reach when he stole a pass and attacked the opposing goal picking up his second goal of the tour just after half time in the 46th minute and a minute later Manan Deeps goal proved to be an early back breaker. Malasawfela received a pass from A Raegan in the 72nd minute and in the 84th minute Taranjit Kumar smashed home a pass from Lalrindika wrapping up the score line at 6-0.
For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>Indian National Team section.
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Calcutta Premier League: Mohammedan Sporting Club 3-1 Railway FC - Goals: 1-0 Avijit Dutta (8' own Goal), 2-0 Theodore Sunday Wrobeh (19'), 3-0 Lalchhuan Awma (31'), 3-1 Suraj Mondal (46').
Mohammedan Sporting: Imran Khan; Mohan Chakraborty (45' 30-Bijoy Das), Pradeep Tiwary, 6-Sheikh Azim, Subhas Mondal, 8-Satyajit Bose (82' Ashim Das), Prasanta Chakraborty (86' Sovan Chakraborty), 10-Mike Okoro, Mir Farooq Hyder, Lalchhuan Awma, 11-Theodore Sunday Wrobeh.
Railway FC: Rakesh Prasad; Sangram Mandi, Avijit Dutta, Nilangshu Mitra, Muzaffar Rehman, Gourav Datta (69' Sanjib Mishra), Palash Karmakar, Santosh Oraon, Munna Mallick (63' Tamal Mukherjee), Kaltu Hembrem, Suraj Mondal (77' Mithun Dey).
Man of the Match: Satyajit Bose (Mohammedan Sporting).
Referee: Debasish Mishra.
4th NN Bhattacharjee Trophy - Semifinal: Green Valley SC 1-1,4-5 Sunrise Club [penalties] - Goals: 1-0 Apurba Phukan (39'), 1-1 Asish Halder (89').
::: Saurav Ganguly could play for Chirag United :::
IANS report: Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly would now be seen in another role - on the football field. He is slated to turn out for Chirag United SC in a match in the ongoing Calcutta Premier League. The team is owned by the RP group - makers of Chirag brand of computers, for which Ganguly is the brand ambassador.
"He will play in one match, may be for two minutes. His presence will motivate our players and help promote Indian football in the country and outside. Finally, he will ensure a strong fan following for us," said RP group chairman Koustav Roy.
However, Chirag's efforts Saturday to register Ganguly as their player proved unsuccessful. Officials of the Indian Football Association - the game's governing body for West Bengal - did not accept Ganguly's signed registration form as he did not make a personal appearance.
"He will sign for us on his return from Sri Lanka after playing the Test series," Roy added.
Ganguly, who has had a glittering cricketing career, is also known for his passion for football. In fact, Ganguly was a promising striker during his college days. He was torn between his allegiances to football and cricket in college, but finally decided to make a career out of the willow.
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Friendly Match | Portugal Tour | Estadio Caldas, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal
Gouveia XI 0-4 INDIA
Goals: 0-1 Abhishek Yadav, 0-2,0-3 Sushil Kumar Singh, 0-4 Tarif Ahmed
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Today's game versus Gouveia XI was Team India's best performance in this tour. No questions on a dominant 4-0 win.
The first half ended with 1-0 but that wasn't showing Team India's dominance. Abhishek Yadav scored one but had two more great opportunities. Sunil Chetri was again determined to impress. And so he did with an excellent performance, including the assistance for Abhishek's goal as well as a nice volley that hit the crossbar.
Gouveia's coach quickly understood that the chances to clinch the 1st Gouveia Cup were little.
In the second half the Portuguese side started with a stronger pace, but soon they were neutralized by two Sushil Kumar Singh goals that ended any doubts about the outcome of this match. To end the tour on a high note Tarif scored again, making him the best scorer of this tour with a total of three goals.
For the 2nd year in a row Team India visited Portugal and the improvements are obvious.
Coach Houghton's teachings are producing results and some players are upgrading by the game.
Sunil Chetri confirmed the good impression left here last year and justified the interest of Portuguese League 2 club Estoril Praia that watched him on these last two games.
For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>Indian National Team section.
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Friendly Match | US Tour | Huntington, West Virginia
Marshall University Elite Camp All-Stars 1-5 INDIA U16
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For detailed information and pictures go to the >>>Indian National Team section.
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Friendly Match | Allianz Arena, Munich; Germany
Clarence Seedorf XI 6-9 Michael Ballack XI
Goals: 1-0 Ziswe Mandela (1'), 1-1,1-2 Paolo Rink (8',19'), 2-2 Eric Djemba-Djemba (26'), 2-3 Shaun Bartlett (27'), 3-3,6-6 Baichung Bhutia (28',66'), 3-4 Khalid Boularouz (36'), 3-5 Kaizer Motuang Jr (42'), 4-5 Clarence Seedorf (47'), 4-6,6-7 Michael Ballack (61',74'), 5-6 Michael Schumacher (63'), 6-8 Ahmed Madouni (8?'), 6-9 Stefano Seedorf (85')
EDU (SEEDORF XI): 22-Hans-Joerg Butt (46' 1-Tony Sylva); 2-Karim Saidi (46' 20-Chidric Seedorf), 21-Ferrari, 5-Emanelson; 27-Clifford Ngobedi (46' 12-Papa Bouba Diop), 17-Mark van Bommel (46' 15-Ze Roberto), 8-Nigel de Jong (3-Lucio Jr), 4-Eric Djemba-Djemba; 10-Clarence Seedorf (2-Karim Saidi); 90-Ziswe Mandela (7-Michael Schumacher), 11-Robin van Persie (1' 30-Baichung Bhutia)
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CATION (BALLACK XI): 1-Dida (46' 29-Casey Keller), 9-Khalid Boularouz, 5-Daniel van Buyten (46' 4-Ahmed Madouni), 6-Edmilson, 14-George Boateng; 8-Gennaro Gattuso (68' 28-Stefano Seedorf), 28-Stefano Seedorf (30-Fabio Simplicio); 7-Kaizer Motuang Jr, 13-Michael Ballack (0-Clifford Ngobedi), 17-Shaun Bartlett; 21-Paolo Rink
Unused Substitutes: 2-Willy Sagnol
YELLOW CARDs: none.
REFEREE: Felix Brych (Muenchen).
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The Goal4Africa campaign got off to a successful start with a 9-6 victory of the Michael Ballack XI against the Clarence Seedorf XI at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. On a cool summer Munich evening about 30,000 spectators watched an entertaining game of football which had the aim to promote the cause of education and social welfare on the African continent. Our Indian national team captain Baichung Bhutia was part of it and besides playing a good game he was able to score two goals for his team, the Seedorf XI.
Goal4Africa, a new charity fundraising scheme where soccer fans donate money for every goal scored by their team through SMS and online, will run for two years until the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and hopes to raise money for the children of Africa. The ceremonial kickoff was done by the new Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann and legendary Brazilian footballer Zico.
Baichung Bhutia was a substitute, but came on in the first minute itself as Dutch international winger Robin van Persie wasn't match fit but he wanted to be part of the game. Bhutia made an impact on the game, he got tackled by Italian Gennaro Gattuso twice and was actively involved in his teams build-up as he seemed part of a team of international stars. Bhutia got a new partner in German Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher, a decent footballer, who came on for Nelson Mandela's grandson Ziswe Mandela and they both started to combine well upfront.
Bhutia even got on the goal scorers chart in the 28th minute, his teams three-all equaliser, from a cross from Nigel de Jong he was free infront of Dida and slammed the ball in. The expectation was that Bhutia would play 45 minutes, maybe an hour but he would go on to play for the whole game. He even got onto the goalscorer charts for the second time in the 63rd minute off a square pass from Clarence Seedorf. A moment to cherish for us Indian football fans in the stands. People were getting to know Indian football at the Allianz Arena here in Germany.
After the match Baichung was a very happy man and said, "I really enjoyed the occasion and to be part of a wonderful cause like this makes it even more special. It was great to share the field with players like Ballack and Gattuso."
For the game Baichung had brought his wife Madhuri and uncle Karma Bhutia over and they also enjoyed the match and their stay in Munich.
Baichung Bhutia had got the invitation to be part of the game through sports management company IMG who got Goal4Africa brand ambassador Clarence Seedorf in touch with Indian football and our captain Baichung Bhutia, and Baichung readily agreed to come to Munich. And there he was our captain playing alongside World Cup winners like Italian Gattuso and Brazilian Ze Roberto, international stars like German midfielder Ballack and Dutchman Seedorf. An unforgettable experience not only for him but also for us Indians at the ground and those able to watch the match on television across the globe as the game was telecast live to 67 countries.
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Calcutta Premier League: Chirag United SC 0-0 George Telegraph SC - Goals: none.
Chirag United: 1-Arindam Ghosh; 6-Dhanranjan R, 2-Louis Nigi Ebami, 4-Kinshuk Debnath, 5-Debabrata Roy, 8-Sasthi Duley (Ratan Das), Hardip Singh Saini (27-Achinta Saha), 29-Lalmalswama Hmar, Snehashis Chakroborty (10-Ayan Chowdhury), 25-Shankar Oraon, 35-Soumik Chakraborty.
George Telegraph: Swarup Das; Suman Dey, Safar Sardar, Debkumar Sashmal, Mithun Saha (Pintu Das), Beokhokhei, Subho Kumar, Gopal Debnath (Sayantan Das Roy), Prodip Roy, Francis Chibueze Maduako, Dipendu Biswas (Swapan Mandi).
Referee: Supriya Bhattacharjee.
Punjab State 2nd Division League - Final Round: Harbhajan SC 1-0 Sikh National FC - Goals: 1-0 Baljit Singh (36').
Punjab State 2nd Division League - Final Round: Border Security Force - Mahilpur FC = match was abandoned due to heavy rain
"Bengal Peerless" Trades Challenge Cup 2008 - Final Phase - Final: West Bengal Police 3-0 SAIL - Goals: 1-0 Debasish Giri (3'), 2-0 Sumit Sur (54'), 3-0 Shankar Sil (75').
4th NN Bhattacharjee Trophy - Semifinal: Assam Dynamo Club 0-0,3-5 SAI, Guwahati [penalties] - Goals: none.
::: Goal4Africa match in Munich tonight :::
Tonight the Goal4Africa charity will hold it's launch event, an international football friendly match at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on the upcoming occasion of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. And our Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia will be one of the participating international football stars. Baichung arrived in Munich yesterday and he has been joined by his wife Madhuri and his uncle Karma Bhutia in the Bavarian capital.
Goal4Africa, a new charity fundraising scheme where football fans donate money for every goal scored by their clubs, will run for two years until the 2010 FIFA World Cup to promote education amongst children on the African continent. The match will be kicked-off by the new Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann and Brazilian football legend Zico.
The final list of participating players isn't out yet as there might be some additions while others stay away for different reasons. The match originally planned as a Seedorf XI vs Ronaldo XI is now going to be a match between Seedorf XI vs Ballack XI. As special guest German legendary Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher will be taking part in the match.
In Munich close to 20,000 tickets have been sold for the match and more are likely to be sold for the game tonight tough the weather isn't the best with rains in an overcast Munich.
Latest list of participating players: Clarence Seedorf, Dida, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Kaka, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo (all AC Milan), Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Andrea Shevchenko (all FC Chelsea), Ze Roberto, Mark van Bommel, Daniel van Buyten, Hans-Joerg Butt (all FC Bayern Munich), Sergio Ramos, Ruud van Nistelrooy (both Real Madrid), Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor (both Arsenal London), Naldo, Diego (both Werder Bremen), Benni McCarthy, Christopher Veijeany Samba (both Blackburn Rovers), Shaun Bartlett, Kaizer Motuang jr. (both Kaizer Chiefs), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus Turino), Steven Gerrard (FC Liverpool), Samuel Etoó (FC Barcelona), Tony Sylva (Lille), Ronald Zubar (Olympique Marseille), Edgar Davids (Ajax Amsterdam), Baichung Bhutia (Mohun Bagan AC), Michael Schumacher (ex-Formula 1 champion).
::: Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy clinches the 1st Yakult Danone Nations Cup :::
Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy won the 1st Yakult Danone Nations Cup by beating Sikkim Football Academy in a penalty shootout (3-2) in the final. Both the team played with high spirits and presented a wonderful game of football as expected. Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy will now represent India in the Nations cup (Kids Soccer World Cup) which will be held in Paris, France in September.
Both the team were locked on 1-1 at the end of 20 minutes. Mohun Bagan took the lead in the 8th minute through Anubrata Maity. Mohun Bagan would have scored the second goal when Anubrata cross was headed by Suman Santra which went wide of the goal. Till half time Mohun Bagan led by 1-0. But after the half time it was Sikkim who dominated the game and was able to pull off an equaliser in the 16th minute by Bibek Bhutia's splendid goal. Both the teams were unable to add any goal for their side and the match went into the tie breaker.
Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Saikat Das was the hero as he saved 3 penalty shots. For Mohun Bagan Anubrata Maity ,Suvendu Narayan Das and Tarun Sarkar and for Sikkim Football Academy Karma Dorje Lepcha and Sonam Gasto Lepcha scored the penalties.
Even the Sikkim coach Suren Chetri was not happy with his side and commented that, "we need to improve in penalties, it's always hard to loose in the tie-breaker."
No doubt Sikkim Football Academy played a wonderful game and gave a tough competition to the favorites Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy.
Mohun Bagan coach Amiya Kumar Ghosh was happy with his side though he was bit tensed in the second half and said that, "I am very happy as we are the champion now and going to Paris to represent India in the Nations Cup. The boys have played a wonderful game throughout the tournament and they deserve every bit of it."
Mohun Bagan thrashed Hindustan Football Academy in the semifinal 4-0 and Sikkim Football Academy defeated Simla Youngs FC by a single goal to qualify for the final. One thing is sure if these kids can be groomed well and given the desired attention, the future of Indian football will be great. The tournament ended with the hope that these kids will carry on their good game in the future not only for themselves but also for the country too.
::: Nagaland Women football team to Manipur :::
by Xavier Rutsa: It might be for the first time, a women football team from Nagaland will be playing an exhibition football match in another state. The Nagaland women's team led by Naga Boys Club president and chief coach Roko Angami, and Coach William Koso, along with women players will leave for Imphal on Monday, on a four day visit to Manipur state.
Speaking to this correspondent Roko Angami said that the women team will play exhibition matches with Manipur women teams.
It may be mentioned here that the Manipur women's team are currently national champions at national senior level for 11 consecutive years. In the junior level their under-19 girls are currently runners-up and are champions in sub-junior under-17 girls.
Calcutta Premier League: Mohun Bagan AC 3-0 Peerless SC - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Pachau Lalam Puia (1',14'), 3-0 Branco Vincent Cardozo (81').
Mohun Bagan: 1-Sangram Mukherjee; 5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 29-Joseph Anandavasan, 17-Rahul Kumar (72' Shylo Malswam Tulunga), 35-Sanjoy Boro (69' Suman Bose), 7-Lal Kamal Bhowmick, 16-James Lukram Singh, 11-Ishfaq Ahmed; 9-Pachau Lalam Puia (80' 12-Branco Vincent Cardozo), 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto.
Peerless: Arunava Das; Zoheb Hassan, Madhab Kumar Das, Srikanta Koley (87' Rahul Bhattacharjee), Bapi Saha, Rohit Roy, Uttam Debnath (59' Krishna Tudu), James Ugwo, Tanay Shankar Halder, Babin Biswas, Suraj Singh (41' Debjit Bhowmick).
Man of the Match: Pachau Lalam Puia (Mohun Bagan).
Referee: Dhanapati Roy.
4th NN Bhattacharjee Trophy - Quarterfinal: Sunrise Club 1-1,4-3 FCI, Guwahati [penalties] - Goals: 1-0 Edoho Gilbert (60'), 1-1 David March Gayary (88' pen).
::: Day One of the 1st Yakult Danone Nations Cup :::
1st Yakult Danone Nations Cup was kicked off by the French Ambassador to India HE Jerome Bonnafont and AIFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco for the age group between 10-12 Years at the Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi.
The tournament has 12 teams from across India participating, the teams are: Simla Youngs FC, Hindustan Football Academy (both from Delhi); Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy from Calcutta; JCT Football Academy from Punjab; PSNA Football Academy from Tamil Nadu; Tata Football Academy from Jamshedpur; Salgaocar SC from Goa; Olympian Rehman Football Academy from Kerala; Chandigarh Football Academy; Sikkim Football Academy; Thangmeiband Football Academy from Manipur and Rohit Football Academy from Orissa.
The tournament is being held over two days (July 11/12) and the winning team will be the first ever team to participate in Danone Nations Cup (Kids Football World Cup) in Paris, France in September. The cup also gives an opportunity to interact with the legendary French footballer Zinedine Zidane who is also ambassador of the Danone Nations Cup.
Twelve matches were played on the first day of the Yakult Danone Nations Cup and the four teams who made it to the semifinals are Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy, Sikkim Football Academy, Simla Youngs FC and Hindustan Football Academy.
The kids were all excited and displayed a wonderful game of football and not only won many hearts and their praise too. But still Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy is the favourite to win the 1st Yakult Danone Nations Cup.
The tournament is a great platform for the youngster to learn and compete with other nations across the globe. The future of Indian football lies in these youngsters hands and it seems that they are leaving no stone unturned to do that.
Speaking on this occasion HE Jerome Bonnafont, French Ambassador to India remarked, "it gives me immense pleasure to be a part of the 1st Yakult Danone Nations Cup. I wish all the participating teams all the very best for this tournament. This tournament is not just about football, it is about giving children an opportunity to 'believe in their dreams', by enabling them to be a part of a unique experience in Paris. We hope to have more soccer enthusiasts in India as a result to be a part of this tournament and AIFF's commitment to promoting soccer at the grassroots level."
Not only the players but the coaches were excited too, the first team who made it to the semifinal was the Sikkim Football Academy who eliminated another favourite the Chandigarh Football Academy. Coach Suren Chetri was full praise for his side and said that, "we practice whole year and the result will not only give the exposure to the boys buy also a great future. I am hopeful to reach the final." Sikkim Football Academy now faces Simla Youngs FC in the semifinals. Backing his side Tushar Dev, secretary of Simla Young FC said that, "I am happy with the result, our boys were not so organized but I am hopeful and kids will put all their efforts in the semifinal."
Even Hindustan Football Academy coach Abhijoy Bose has full of confidence in his boys who faces Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy in the second semifinal, the team has just returned after participating in the Continental Cup in USA, he said that, "I know we will be playing against a better side but we are not scared, we will play our natural game." But the favourites have showed a wonderful game and already had become a treath for every team, speaking on this MBSFA Coach Amya Kumar Ghosh said that, "we have full confidence in our boys. I am hopeful to win the tournament but we are taking every game seriously."
::: Aryans Club ties up with Techno India :::
IANS report: Aryans Club, one of the oldest in the country, Friday announced a tie-up with leading knowledge management group Techno India for the upcoming soccer season. The 126-year-old club, now languishing in the first division A group of the Calcutta Football League, also appointed Bengali film hero Chiranjeet as its brand ambassador at a function here.
Chiranjeet said, "We will all work together to revive Aryans' lost glory. We will ensure that it is promoted to the glamorous premier division."
"Aryan is a temple and its players are like priests. I'm sure the club will return to the big league," he said.
PK Banerjee, Goutam Sarkar, Prasun Banerjee, Sudhir Karmakar, Shivaji Banerjee, Biswajit Bhattacharya, and Sisir Ghosh - who started their football career at Aryans - were present on the occasion.
::: Green Valley awarded match :::
The Guwahati Sports Association in the evening decided to award Green Valley SC their quarterfinal match in the 4th NN Bhattacharjee Trophy against Maharana AC in which they were leading 4-0 yesterday with just five minutes to play. Green Valley will now face Sunrise Club in the second semifinal on Sunday.
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Friendly Match | Portugal Tour | Estadio da Gafanha, Portugal
GD Gafanha 2-3 INDIA
Goals: 0-1 Singh, 0-2 Sunil Chetri (penalty), 1-2 Cotrim, 1-3 Tarif Ahmed, 2-3 Gilmar
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