FOOTBALL HEADLINES

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Weekly Indian Football News Update

Three news Teams included in Federation Cup fixtures

All India Football Federation (AIFF) has announced the three remaining Teams who will play in the 35th edition of the Federation Cup along with the other 13 Airtel I-League clubs scheduled to take part in the country’s premier Cup Competition starting New Year’s Day.

While Mumbai Tigers will be replaced by United Sikkim in Group D, the third and fourth placed Teams from last year’s Second Division League – Bhowanipore FC and Langnsing FC -- will be the other two outfits in Group D and Group A respectively.

The new logo for the tourney has also been released. 


















Football Federation of Australia signs agreement with AIFF


All India Football Federation (AIFF) is delighted to announce the signing of an agreement under Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP) with Football Federation of Australia (FFA) to support All India Football Federation’s Grassroots Programme.

The Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP) India is an Australian Government initiative implemented by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) with a commitment of AUD 5 million over five years (2009-14). The ASOP program is implemented through strategic partnerships created with selected organisations for their notable impact on Indian sport and connection with grassroots. ASOP partners receive ASC funds to deliver budgeted, annual work plans, based on mutually agreed goals and objectives.

The agreement includes financial, administrative and technical support (from FFA) in the form of capacity building within the State Associations currently involved in the Grassroots Programme, Grassroots Courses and Grassroots Festivals, among many such activities.

News Source:
AIFF Media team

Sunday 27 October 2013

Sahara Calcutta League Fixture 7/11/2013-30/11/2013

The IFA released the fixture for Sahara Calcutta League Fixture 7/11/2013-30/11/2013:

I-League:2013-14:United SC VS Salgaocar FC

Match Review:

United SC after their drawn match against city rivals Mohammedan SC looked to get back to their winning ways as they played their home match match against a strong Salgaocar SC at Kalyani stadium.Coach Elcho Schattori's had odds stacked against him as Belo Rassaq was out with a Red Card,Lalkamal still nursing an ankle injury.Coach Elcho Schattorie who is known for his tactical game reading did not have enough resources st his disposal to tackle a strong Salgaocar team.Gasping for resources Elcho did his best to put a starting XI that could atleast challenge Salgaocar. Veteran defender  Dipak Mondal returned to play as central defender after long time along side Anupam Sarkar and Dhanachandra and Sukhen Dey played as side backs. Asif K. and Shouvik were in charge of the mdfield while Snehasish and Rafiq started in charge of both flanks,Ranty played as final striker with Eric Brown playing behind hi to link midfielders to Ranty.
Rafiq still not fit to play 90' featured as U-23 player was soon replaced by Vinneeth CK.
United SC got to the worst possible start as they conceded the first goal as early as 3' as Augustine Fernandes turned in a loose ball from corner to make it 1-0.Salgaocar SC threatened to score more as they played good positive football using both the wings especiallly Karma Tsewang was impressive down the right wing.The midfield trio of Frances Fernandes-Rocus Lamare-Gilbert Olivera dominated possession in midfield and played impressive football.
As United missed someone influential in the midfield like Lalkamal,winger half CK Vineeth tried some darting runs to get into opponent box but could not create any chances to score as Ranty Martins was stiffled with some close double covering from Chika Wali and Augusten.Eric Brown tried to create a few openings but he tried a way too much fancy footwork and often dispossessed in the final third as Ranty Martins was starved of any ball suply either from wings or midfield. Dhanachandra had some good balls to deliver from the left wing into the box but he had a forgettable day as his crosses lacked any quality whatsoever .

As Darrel Duffey looked dangerous on the break and supply coming from both wings United was caught off guard many a times on quick counter attack with Sangram Mukherjee made some good saves on one-on-one situation to deny Salgaocar further lead.
United tried to pick a few attacks far and few in between mostly from combination play from Eric-Vineeth and Ranty.Eric Brown scored a goal with a powerful 35 yard low drive just outside box only to be flagged off offside by linesman.It seemed a clear goal but some poor referring proved to be the Nemesis of United SC once again.
Elcho played all his cards in second half bringing in Tapan Maity and Surajit Bose but failed to open the goalmouth as Chika Wali led defence was rock solid to deny United attacking duo of Ranty and Eric any space to take a shot to goal.United had a few setpiece and seven corners in the match but failed to make them count as well.
In the second half,Salgaocar Coach brought on his third foreigner Claude Gnakpa to support Duffey and it created more spaces in United SC As they pushed forward for an equalizer.Finally Salgaocar sealed off the game in 86' as substitute Milagres(8) scored a good goal on counter attack move to prove the encounter beyond contention.Derek Perereira achieved 3 points with a compact defensive game and a counter attack based game with lone striker Duffey upfront.
Coach Elcho would be mightily dissapointed with all the things that combing to United SC loss be it players out due to injury,cards or poor referring.But as a shrewd tactician he will be looking forward for the return of Belo and Lalkamal to get their campaign back to winning ways in their upcoming games.

Final Score:

United SC 0-2 Salgaocar SC                         (Augustine,Milagres)


I-League 2013-14:26/10/2013:East Bengal vs JSW Bengaluru FC

Match Review:

East Bengal hosted unbeaten Bengaluru FC on a day where elements played its whimps on a day when Bengal was battered with heavy rains and clouds loomed dark over beautiful Kalyani stadium.East Bengal needed a win as they looked to bounce back from their AFC Cup and I league loss to Dempo.EB Coach Falopa made some changes as Uga Opara was out with a red card,Arnab and Saumik sidelined due to injury.There was a new backline as Gurwinder paired with Raju Gaiakwad at the centre back while Abhisekh Das was in charge of right back and Robert Lalthamluana played as left back. Harmanjot Khabra made it back to starting XI after a long layoff to play as a blocking midfielder with captain Mehtab Hussain.Dika and Lobo played as attacking medios with James Moga playing as lone striker with Chidi playing behind Moga as a withdrawal forward in a 4-4-1-1 formation.
After a heavy downpour the pitch was sloppy as free flowing passing football was very difficult and Bengaluru FC who plays most of their home games on artificial turf struggled to get in terms with the wet and sloggy natural pitch.
EB looked better adapted to the conditions and Lobo and Dika were particularly impressive pushing the ball forward through some neat passing and feeding supply to Moga and Chidi.Moga seemed to have lost his golden touch for most of the match as he looked a tad slow and poaching instincts missing as he tried to finish couple of chances but shot them well wide.Chidi looked a bit out of place in his new position as a withdrawal forward as he had to collect most of his balls from centre half and link up play was missing.EB played well from box to box but lost steam in final third due to poor finishing of Moga and Chidi.
First half ended goalless as post break EB looked to take control of the game and got a few corner.The deadlock was broken on 49th minute when East Bengal got a corner and Lalrindika's in curler was directed in his own net by former EB boy Robin Singh to give EB 1-0 lead.
JSW Bengaluru tried to look for an equalizer with Menyongar making some darting runs to create some openings and tried to get some attack going from both flanks with Hangal and Beikokhoi.Keegan Perreira was impressive with his attacking as well as his defensive duties in midfield.But Bengaluru forward Sunil and Sean Rooney were marked well in their attacking third as Raju and Gurwinder looked solid at back and Mehtab-Khabra defensive screen denied any free space to create openings.Robin Singh got a chance to make amends as he got a loose ball in the box but his volley rebounded of the bar.Abhijit Mondal made some good saves to deny Sean Rooney chances to score.
As Bengaluru FC looked for any oportunity to sneak away with one point James Moga and Kevin Lobo combined well from a quick counter attack and Moga controlled the ball outside the right corner of the box,rounded off the defender and unleashed a powerful shot as goalkeeper Pawan Kumar had no chance as the ball crashed at the back of the net,the goal provided much respite to the South Sudanese striker who couple of days back was at the centre of all wrath of EB fans for his poor show in AFC cup game.
2 goals and 03 points against table toppers puts EB nicely into the contention of the I league as they look to host Salgaocar FC in their next game

Final Score:

East Bengal 2 - 0 JSW Bengaluru FC

Robin Singh(OG)James Moga

Thursday 24 October 2013

I-League:23/10/2013 Mohun Bagan vs Salgaocar FC

Match Review:

After a excruciating loss to Sporting Goa Mohun Bagan played their next home game as they hosted the table toppers Salgaocar.Without Odafa Okolie not many would have thought Mohun Bagan could have got something out of this game against a strong Salgaocar team coached by experienced Derek Perriera.
Coach Karim on the other had to manage a winless team down on morale and without their no.1 striker.Mohun Baagan fielded a young team as they paired Eche-Kingshuk in the central defence and Ravinder and Aibor played as side backs.Denson was the blocking midfielder while Zakir was given the attacking medio role.Sabeeth and Ram Malik played as wing halfs down the flanks while Eric was lone striker supported by Katsumi behind Eric Muranda as a roaming withdrawal forward.
In the first half both teams had decent easy scoring opportunities as Eric Muranda wasted a golden chance to put Bagan ahead while on the other end Duffey volleyed high and wide from an easy scoring chance.
Mohun Bagan did well in the midfield as Zakir and Ram Malik got some attack going down the right half. Katsumi kept frustrating his team mates and the 8000 odd fans present at the stadium by not releasing the ball early.Muranda had a game to forget as his first touch betrayed him for most of the match,he looked slow,his turning,shielding,covering showed he was not up to the level to match the alert Salgaocar backline.Salgaocar had a sold defence line led by Chika Wali,Nicolau Colaco,Caitan Costa and Rahul Kumar.But Salgaocar lacked their builkd up play as their foreigner Claude Gnakpa and Darrel Duffy could not string together any buildup play mainly due the industrious effort from Bagan midfielders as they effectively defended in number at times with 09 men behind the ball and Salgaocar forward Darrel Duffy was pretty much marooned all by himself in the forward line.Mohun Bagan wing halfs Sabeeth and Ram Malik successfully tracked back while defending and cutting off the wingplay from Francis and Gilbert .
As the first half ended goaless,both team turned up in second half to turn fortunes.Mohun Bagan looked more active post half time break and they picked up the lead in 55th minute in a quick counter attack as Sabeeh picked up pass from Denson and lobbed the ball beating advancing goalkeeper for a neat finish.
As Salgaocar tried to press forward Mohun Bagan defence looked in a bit of pressure as the visting team pushed men forward in search of an equalizer.Goalkeeper Shilton Paul was forced to make a few saves.
Karim made an important chance bringing in Shouvik Ghosh in place of Ravinder Singh and Shankar in place of an off colour Muranda,Both teams got few opportunities in between but failed to convert,But Bagan was finally rewarded with a two goal cushion in77th as Katsumi scored a scorcher from outside the box with a powerful swerving shot which beat Karanjit Singh.
Salgaocar left no stone unturned to get back into the match and was finally rewarded with a penalty as Duffey was brought down inside the box by Eche.Duffey made no mistake to make it 2-1 at 90'.As Bagan looked to close the game,Bagan suffered another blow as Denson picked up his second yellow in injury time and was given marching orders.But a resolute 10 man-Bagan held off Salgaocar from getting an equalizer to get their first win of I league by beating the table toppers.This win would definitely given Mohun Bgaan fans and supporters to be optimistic and the celebrations after scoring Katsumi's goal with Coach Karim just showed how much under pressure the coach and players were after their loss to Sporting club de Goa.
Bagan will have to find solutions and find it quickly as Aibor and Eric picked up injury knocks during the match,Denson red carded and Odafa under post-surgery rehab.
But a shrewd coach Karim who knows to take out surprise bunny out of hats needs to put together all his acts to field a tactically strong team to challenege impressive Mumbai FC in an away game,all eyes will be on the new young recruits in the likes of Shouvik Ghosh,Pritam Kotal,Rajib Ghorui and others.

Final Score:Mohun Bagan 2-1 Salgaocar FC(S.Sabeeth,Katsumi )    Darrell Duffy(pen.)

Saturday 19 October 2013

I-League:19/10/2013 : Mohun Bagan AC VS Sporting Club de Goa

Match Review and Analysis:

After two draws and one loss Mohun Bagan played their first I league home game at Salt Lake stadium against Sporting Club de Goa looking for their first win of the I league season.It was always going to be a difficult task with Odafa Okolie still missing because of hamstring injury.Karim Bencherifa fielded a side that seemed to play more the counter attacking game rather than  forcing the issue to go for goals.With Sandip Nandy under the post Kingshuk-Aibor paired as central defenders in the absence of red carded Eche while Wahid Sali and Ravinder Singh(U-23) were the side backs. 
Adil Khan was deployed as a defensive screen infront of the back four primarly to cut the link up play between Ogba Kalu and Boimah Kharpeh.Denson in the middle,Zakir on the right and Katsumi down the left were the midfield men,Denson more of a holding midfielder while Zakir and Katsumi were assigned to keep the ball pushing forward to striking duo of Sabeeth and Eric Muranda.
On the other hand Spanish Coach Oscar Bruzon fielded a strong side with the Spanish duo of Gonzalo Neila and Arturo Garcia in the heart of defence and Mathew Gonsalves and Joyner Lourenco played as both wing halfs.
Ogba Kalu played as the influential holding midfielder giving Sporting a box to box option both while defending as well as going forward.Ogba Kalu was supported in the midfield by lanky Rowlin Borges(U-23),Pratesh Shirodkar down the left and  Cajetan Fernandes down the right while Boimah Khareph was supported by Cajetan Fernandes up front.
Referee Santosh Kumar whistled off the match under the pristine floodlights of the YBK stadium Sporting Club took the control of game from very onset as their wing halfs Pratesh Shirodkar  and Jovel Martins provided width to Sporting attack,Ogba Kalu motored the midfield dynamics to feed Boimah Kharpeh with great through balls as Bagan defence line struggled to cope with the presence of strong Boimag Kharpeh who used his strong physical presence to effectively body shield Kingshuk and Aibor.The Bagan midfield looked in a dismal shape as Denson continued his poor form of play and was struggling throughout the match getting balls forward as well as found wanting while falling back to cut off Sporting bild up play.Zakir too had an ordinary day as Bagan midfielders were happy to play series of square passes and back passes in the mdfield and showed little impetus to move forward .Highly rated Japanese medio Katsumi was guilty of keeping the ball too long and attracted challenges from opponent players and ended up losing possession a number of times.Despide all odds,Sabeeth and Muranda got two back to back chances on 10th minute but failed to capitalize on the opportunity.Sabeeth's finishing ability is already questionble among mohun bagan ardents and Eric Muranda failed to show glimpses of his Calcutta League form against high quality I league opponents.
With no midfield play and poor passing Mohun Bagan was caught off guard in a quick counter attack as Kalu needled through a ball to Boimah who easily thwarted Aibor with his physical presence and dribbled passed an advancing Sandip on the edge of the box with acres of space at his disposal coolly slotted home a neat finish to give Sporting a goal advantage. Bagan failed to equalize in the first half .
Bagan made some changes in the second half getting in Manish Bhargav(in place of Adil),Rowlinson(in place of Aibor) and Ram Malik (in place of Sabeeth) as the Mariners looked to claw back into the game on 77th minute their hopes were dashed as Boimah Kharpeh again shielded off two defenders,squared off Sandip Nandy and netted the ball to make it 2-0 for Sporting.
These two goals put's a few uneasy questions on Mohun Bagan's defence and goalkeeper's outing ability.The quality difference in the midfield was evident as Mohun Bagan midfield presented a sorry picture with no snatching,passing or possession. Mohun Bagan however pulled one goal back through penalty scored by Eric.

Tactical Note:

As Sporting Club fielded all four foreigners(Neila,Aruro,Kalu,Boimah) Mohun Bagan had two foreigners on pitch(Katsumi and Eric) and the difference in quality was clearly visible as Sporting 4-4-2 formation outplayed Bagan in all three departments.Midfield trio of Kalu-Jovel-Pratesh dominated midfield play as Denson-Katsumi-Zakir had a day to forget,passing was poor,holding the ball for unnecessary longer duration and inability to hold possession cost Bagan the game.Eric and Sabeeth were below par,it's high time Coach Karim starts looking for alternate options as Sabeeth had too many opportunity to start for Mohun Bagan and had wasted many goals in almost all matches.


Final Score:

Mohun Bagan 1-3 Sporting Club de Goa

Eric Muranda(pen.)            Boimah Khareph(15',77')

Thursday 17 October 2013

I-league:17/10/2013 :East Bengal vs Dempo SC

Match Review and Tactical Analysis:

In their first home game in I-League a seemingly confident East Bengal took on a a win less Dempo SC after East Bengal's thumping away win at Shillong and their confident show at AFC Cup campaign.The anticipation was at it's highest as supporters and fans thronged the Kalyani stadium in numbers with a sold out crowd.But the carnival soon turned to disappointment as the team looked still to be in hangover of the festivity that captured entire Bengal for past week or so.
The midfield and defence was caught napping as early as 2 minutes as a quick attack down the right flank by Billy Mehmet as the East Bengal back line was found wanting powered in a low cross and Clifford Miranda made no mistake in the six yard box with a simple tap-in to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
Following this East Bengal team was found chasing the leather rest of the match as they had minimal possession and failed to gather any possession in the midfield.
Dempo midfield manned by mercurial Beto and brilliantly aided by Peter Carvalho,Jewel Raja and Clifford Miranda dominated the midfield throughout the game as they shared majority of possession and kept the ball with effortless ease.Former bagan medio Jewel Raja was particularly impressive in the midfield providing endless run in the midfield snatching and feeding the forward duo of Mehmet and Jeje with series of passes as Beto was a free medio playing in the majority of space from midfield to opponent box.
East Bengal on the other hand looked vulnerable whenever there was an attack from the flanksand the defence looked shaky even the ever reliable Uga Opara had to concede a tactical yellow card when he body checked Beto from a quick counter attack.Clifford Miranda and Jeje created series of problems for East Bengal wing backs especially Naoba Singh had a torrid time keeping the Dempo attack line at bay,amidst all this East Bengal got a penalty against the run of play when Samir Naik handed the ball inside the box.East Bengal's top marksmen Eddeh Chidi stepped up to the spot as the stadium gasped for an equalizer but to everyone's surprise his powerful grounder to the right of the goalkeeper missed the target.So it was 1-0 to Dempo at half time.
Second half saw few tactical changes as Falopa injected Baljit in place of Mama,as East Bengal looked for a streak of fortune to get back into the game all their hopes were dashed as Beto capitalized on to a loose second ball from corner as East Bengal backline stood haplessly to slot-in in a deflected header from first post to the rear post and unmarked Beto made no mistake to make it 2-0 for the visitors.
Dempo continued to press forward and they were soon rewarded with a third goal as Uga Opara brought down Jovy from behind inside the box,Uga was shown his second yellow and was given marching orders.
Beto made no mistake to convert the penalty to make a comfortable 3-0 cushion for Dempo.
East Bengal however managed to pull one back as Baljit gave a consolation goal to East Bengal with a neat finish at the dying stages of the match as Dempo closed the game with no further hiccups.
Tactical Note:
Arthur Papas went one up in the tactical fight against the Brazilian gaffer Falopa as Dempo controlled the box to box pay through out 90 minutes. Peter Carvalho played brilliantly as a defensive medio and cut the combination play between Moga and Chidi as the higly rated duo failed to create any chances throughout the match.Jewel Raja toiled hard and did everything expected of him with his endles run,snatching,holding as well as pushing the team forward.Beto was excellent holding the ball in the midfield and needling his passes with rmearkable accuracy to find Jeje and Billy Mehmet upfront.And the backline lead by Simon Colosimo and Seisuke Honda shwed brilliant understanding and dominated the defense line with their aerial presence and neat covering.Chidi-Moga duo was listless throughout the match as Dempo defenders combined well to keep them quiet throghout.
On the other hand East Bengal had a unforgetable match with their Talisman skipper Mehtab failing to push the team forward and they were forced to defend deep for most part of the match,Opara-Arnab duo looked shaky,Naoba looked out of depth and Tulunga and Dika failed to generate any passes to feed the forward line.
But from tactical point of view it was a intriguing match as Dempo SC's tactical superiority was showcased brilliantly as they outplayed East Bengal in all departments in a brilliant match which had a bit of everything from early goals,penalty missed,penalty,scored,Red Cards,field goals,Goals from Corners.

Final Score:
East Bengal 1-3 Dempo SC
(Baljit Sahni)      (C.Miranda,Beto+2)