70th Santosh Trophy Final Round Fixture 2016(Nagpur)

India blanks Bangladesh 3-0 to storm into the final of South Asian Games 2016

 
India stormed into the final of 12th South Asian Games 2016 beating Bangladesh by 3-0 margin.Indian coach Lee Johnson keen to keep the momentum going after the initial loss to Sri Lanka banked on in-form player  Udanta Singh with support play from Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Jayesh Rane to lead the attack. The gaffer also brought back Sandesh Jhingan in the starting XI for the crunch game to partner Bikramjit Singh to add some steel to the back line. Local lad Holicharan Narzary started as the lone striker in place of suspended Sumit Passi and flanked by Jayesh and Udanta on both sides while Jerry Mawihmingthanga played the role of a withdrawal forward linking the holding midfield play of Germanpreet and Rowlin Borges to feed the attacking line.
India did not take much to open the scoring as Udanta broke the shackles early into the game latching into a loose ball in the box  and slotting it into the net at 21' to give India a 1-0 lead to cool the nerves.
India maintained good possession and kept winning ball in the midfield as Germanpreet and Rowlin Borges won most of the tackles to keep the midfield domination of the game.
Bangladesh playmaker Sohel Rana was kept contained with prompt closing down of the Indian holding midfielders as the free flowing passing game of Gonzalo Moreno hardly materialized in the opening quarters.
Just before the half time India doubled their lead from a brilliant end to end play from India as Jerry Mawihmingthanga bursted into the Bangladesh box and finished beautifully as India cruized to a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time.
Post break Bangladesh looked to get back into the contest made some good run and put pressure on the Indian backline but the Indian defence managed to held on the lead and TP Rehnesh had a good outing and made some good saves in between.
Bangladesh had a few good chances to reduce the lead and some close penalty calls but India seemed to be in firm control of the game as they used both flanks to give Bangladesh defence a torrid time and  finally Jayesh Rane sealed India's 3rd goal to give India a comfortable 3-0 lead at 64'.
Indian Coach Lee Johnson made some changes as Chhangte was called in to finish off the game with his pace inplace of Holicharan and VinitRai replaced Germanpreet and finally Samad got a look in in place of Narayan Das. Chhangte showed promise with some darting run down the left flank and could have had a goal in the closing stages.
India closed the game with a convincing 3-0 margin and geared to face winner of Nepal vs Maldives contest on 15th in the quest for gold.

Article: Tactical Notes Exclusive edition
Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Sarusajai
 

South Asian Games 2016: India to face Bangladesh in the semis while Nepal faces Maldives

                                         
As the group stage encounter concluded today at SAI centre in Guwahati four teams Maldives and India from Group A and Bangladesh and Nepal from Group B proceeded for the semis. In the final encounter Bangladesh beat Nepal by 2-1 margin to emerge as group toppers of Pool B and set to face India(Runners of Group A) and on the other sems Maldives the winner of Group A will face Nepal, the runners of Group B on 13th February at IG Stadium, Sarusajai.

AIFF Elite Academy beat TFA clinch U-18 i-League title

AIFF Elite Academy 2-0 Tata Football Academy

AIFF Elite Academy defeated Tata Football Academy 2-0 in the U-18 i-League finals to clinch the title for the second consecutive time.

Meanwhile, Salgaocar FC secured the 3rd spot defeating Aizawl FC in the 3rd place play-off.

South Asian Games 2016: India scrapes past Maldives by 3-2 margin to seal berth in semis

In a must win match Indian team in their final group match against Maldives managed to scrape past the Maldivian team by a narrow 3-2 margin to seal a place in the semi final of the 12th SAG Games held at Guwahati.
Indian team under pressure to win this match as gaffer Lee Johnson made some changes from last as Sunit Passi lead the attack Mawihmingthanga started in the midfield.
As the team started with 4-3-2-1 formation with Udanta and Mawihmingthanga playing on both flanks and Sumit Passi played as the sole striker. Rowlin Borges found himself in the usual defensive midfielder role and Germanpreet Singh was the holding midfielder against a attack minded Maldivian outfit.
Both team started brightly as it seemed to be an end to end encounter but it was the Indian team who broke the deadlock on 4' as Udanta Singh found himself on a one-on-one situation following a defensive  error from the Maldivian backline.The pacy forward made no mistake slotting it past the keeper to make it 1-0 for India. Udanta could have doubled his tally on 8' minutes but this time he triggered the ball wide to waste a golden opportunity.
Maldivian team in the meanwhile attacked relentlessly as they used their height advantage over Indians to win most balls in the midfield and penetrated Indian half with ease as Indian defense was stretched on multiple occasions with goalkeeper Rehenesh TP making some fine saves to keep India in the contest.
Maldives finally broke the deadlock on 10' as Muruthala Adnan hammered a loose ball from the corner as Indian defence was caught napping to level the score for Maldives.
As booth team looked to break the deadlock it was Indians who again took the lead as Pritam Kotal on 12' headed in from corner to give Indians a much needed lead..
As India looked to hold on to their lead from an ever threatening Maldivian team Indian defense never looked comfortable as the defensive pair of  Bikramjit Singh and Salam Ranjan Singh showed lack of understanding as Maldivian forwards Ismail Essa and Hasan Niyaz used the space between the two defenders to test Rehenesh time and again, as Maldives pressed continuously they were rewarded on 42nd minute as India conceded an own goal to level the score at 2-2 at half time break.
In the second half India need to push forward to get the all important goal but Indians in the midfield could not string any passes or build up play as Maldivians collected the lose balls and threatened to break the deadlock.
However against the run of play in a swift counter attack Udanta Singh found himself in another opportunity and made no mistake to slot a volley past Maldivian Goalkeeper to give India the all important 3-2 lead.
Coach Lee Johnson made some changes as he brought in local boy Holicharan Narzary from BTC region much to the delight of local crowd in place of an off colour Sumit Passi and teen sensation Lallianzuala Chhangte in place of Jayesh Rane..
Both teams could have had more goals but Maldives missed some easy chances to level the score as Indian team held on to a tight fought encounter to scrape past Maldives.
As India gears to face Nepal or Bangladesh in the semi final, Lee Johnsons boys need to get their act together and cover their lapses in midfield and defence to proceed further into the competition.

Indian Women's Football icon Bembem Devi set to hang boots after SAG 2016

Set to hang her boots after South Asian Games, Bembem Devi, an icon in Indian women football, on Sunday pledged to work for the sport at the grass-roots level in her home state of Manipur.
"It's been a one fulfilling experience for me. I really enjoyed a lot and will miss my team after retirement. But I'm happy that I will now be able to devote my time to the kids back in Manipur who are demanding and asking everyday when will I come and train them. It's payback time for me," the football captain said.
The All India Football Federation is also likely to hand her some assignment with the U-14 and U-16 teams in the coming future, she said.
Singling out her most memorable moment, the 35-year-old said, "I had won the AIFF Women's Player of the Year when it was constituted in 2001. But at the same time missing out on Olympic qualification (in 2015) is something I will regret."
An integral part of the India women's national team for the last two decades, Bembem has also had the distinction of playing in a foreign league.
The veteran was signed by Maldives side New Radiant in 2014 and she emerged as the highest scorer of the championship with six goals in only three matches.
The Manipuri has left a lasting impression on the younger generation of women footballers. However, since there has been no league for women in India, it was a shame that a talented player like Bembem couldn't showcase her skills regularly.
On her marriage plans, the central midfielder said, "I have decided not to get married but decided to sacrifice my life for football. I eat, sleep and drink football, and my goal now is to train youngsters and promote football."

SAG organzing commitee releases updates schedule and venue for Men's football event

The SAG organizing committee released updated schedule for 12th SAG games which is being held in Guwahati.In an official press release the OC announced the venue for Men's football had to be shifted as Nehru stadium could not be made ready on time to host the matches. The new venue was decided to be Paltan Bazar SAI Ground a smaller venue which the organizers had to deck up in short span to make the events underway.

Sri Lanka shocks India with a 1-0 defeat at opening match of SAG 2016

The U-23 Indian Football Team went down to Sri Lanka by a solitary goal to Sri Lanka in their opening match of the South Asian Games in Guwahati on Saturday (February 6).

India enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and dominated most of the proceedings but inability to convert the chances cost them dear.

Sri Lanka surged into the lead in the 14th minute when Captain MCM Rinas curled in a free-kick from around 30 yards.

Apart from conceding the goal, India dominated most of the first half creating a fair number of chances, three of which should have been converted in the first half itself.

First, midway into the half, Udanta Singh outwitted his marker on the right flank and found Sumit Passi all in the clear. But with the rival Goalkeeper at his mercy, Passi failed to control it, thus muffing it up.

Thereafter, Lallainzuala followed up a cross from the right but his weak push wasn’t able to make its way into the net through the jungle of legs.

Late in the first time, Udanta once again found Halicharan Narzary but Narzary failed to lob it over an onrushing Goalkeeper.

Changing over, Head Coach Lee Johnson brought in three changes. Immediately after resumption, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, an U-19 Player in place of Passi and then Bikramjit Singh replaced Skipper Sandesh Jhingan who got injured; and later Jayesh Rane was introduced for Lallianzuala.

The story did stay the same but the equaliser never came. Having more of the possession even in the second half,  did't help as they were not able to break the shackles. The last golden chance came to Rowlin Borges in injured time but he blasted it over from top of the box.

India next play Maldives in their last Group League match on February 10. The top two from each Group advance to the semis.

INDIA U-23: Rehenesh; Pritam Kotal, Salam Ranjan, Sandesh Jhingan © (Bikramjit Singh), Narayan Das; Udanta Singh, Vinit Rai, Rowlin Borges, Lallianzuala Changte (Jayesh Rane), Halicharan Narzary, Sumit Passi (Jerry).