Minerva Punjab FC wins the Hero I-League beating Churchiil Brothers 1-0, NEROCA finishes second.

The wait, anticipation and excitement of the penultimate matchday of Hero I-League finally drawn to a conclusion as the complex calculations of other three teams winning the League was nullified by an outright win for Minerva FC. A 16th-minute strike by William Opoku was enough to see the Punjab side winning the Hero I league with 35 points.

Minerva FC started the League brilliantly but lost momentum in the latter part as they started to the surrender advantage losing to East Bengal and Chennai City FC.

But Minerva managed to get their acts right in their final game as they managed to beat Churchill Brothers to secure the Hero I League title with a fairly dominant display finishing three points clear of NEROCA FC.

In the other game, East Bengal against NEROCA FC ended in a 1-1 draw as Odilli Felix Chidi's 42nd-minute goal was cancelled out by Dudu Omagbemi's 73 rd minute header as East Bengal failed to break the deadlock ensuring a second-place finish for NEROCA with 32 points.

Having a slender lead by one goal, NEROCA FC closed the game early in the second half to settle for a draw due to the fact that Minerva was 1-0 ahead and the Manipur side did not want to risk their second place standing by going for an open attacking game with the risk of conceding.

As Mohun Bagan failed to beat Gokulam Kerala FC despite having a lead from Dipanda Dicka's headed goal on the 25th-minute which was cancelled out by Henry’s goal just on the stroke of halftime from a defensive error. Mohun Bagan finished the league with 31 points, level on points as East Bengal but sneaked past their Kolkata rival East Bengal on the league table due to a better Head to Head record to finish third, as East Bengal finished fourth.

Now the focus shifts on the Super Cup's inaugural edition where 16 teams from Indian Super League and I-League will battle it out in the final round which is expected to start on 31st March 2018 at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 Qualifiers Draw Results,India in Group C with Qatar,Syria and Turkmenistan

The 40 nations participating the AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 Qualifiers discovered today who they will be matching up against as the draw for the qualifiers took place in the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday.

The 10 group winners and five best second-placed teams among all the groups will advance to the finals. The qualifiers will take place on July 19 to 23, 2017 in the respective host countries which are Kyrgyz Republic, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Myanmar, DPR Korea, Thailand and China PR.

Although directly qualified as the host, China PR have expressed interest to participate in the qualifying stage. Therefore, if China PR finish top of their group or finish among the five best second-placed teams, the next (6th) second-placed team will qualify to the final stage of the competition on January, 2018.

WEST Zone (West + South + Central)

Group A
A1. ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
A2. OMAN
A3. KYRGYZ REPUBLIC (host)
A4. SRI LANKA

Group B
B1. IRAQ
B2. SAUDI ARABIA (host)
B3. BAHRAIN
B4. AFGHANISTAN

Group C
C1. QATAR (host)
C2. SYRIA
C3. INDIA
C4. TURKMENISTAN

Group D
D1. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (host)
D2. UZBEKISTAN
D3. LEBANON
D4. NEPAL

Group E
E1. JORDAN
E2. TAJIKISTAN
E3. PALESTINE (host)
E4. BANGLADESH

EAST Zone (East + ASEAN)

Group F
F1. AUSTRALIA
F2. MYANMAR (host)
F3. SINGAPORE
F4. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

Group G
G1. DPR KOREA (host)
G2. LAOS
G3. CHINESE TAIPEI
G4. HONG KONG

Group H
H1. THAILAND (host)
H2. INDONESIA
H3. MALAYSIA
H4. MONGOLIA

Group I
I1. KOREA REPUBLIC
I2. VIETNAM (host)
I3. TIMOR-LESTE
I4. MACAU

Group J
J1. JAPAN
J2. CHINA PR (host)
J3. CAMBODIA
J4. PHILIPPINES
Fixture:AFC U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 Qualifiers

International Friendly: India beats Bhutan 3-0 with three first half goals from Passi(3'), Jeje(18') and Narzary (21')

The Indian Super League has been virtually recognised as the country's top league by the All India Football Federation as the I-League will be rechristened as League 1.

New Delhi: Ending speculation around the merger of Indian Super League with I-League, the AIFF on Tuesday virtually recognised ISL as the country's premier league as per a new roadmap, which will have three more seven-month leagues in a hierarchical system from 2017 onwards.
In place of Nehru Cup, the AIFF also plans to start a multi-country tournament from 2017 in which teams ranked between 120 to 150 in the FIFA chart will be invited to participate.
As per its latest roadmap, the Super Cup, which was earlier played between the winner of I-League and Federation Cup, will be a two-month affair played by the best teams from ISL, League 1 and League 2 from March 2018. Teams vying to play in the continental AFC Cup will have to go through Super Cup.
Aiming to restructure Indian football, the AIFF and its marketing partners IMG-Reliance on Tuesday presented a new roadmap under which the ISL will be the country's top league followed by League 1, 2 and 3 that will start from November 2017.
A meeting attended by officials from AIFF, ISL, I-League, I-League 2, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and official broadcaster Star Sports was held today. Well-known Indian players such as former captain Bhaichung Bhutia and current star Sunil Chhetri were also present.
While the majority sounded positive about the new roadmap created to restructure Indian football, a few traditional clubs raised concerns.
According to All India Football Federation president Praful Patel, this is aimed at reducing the "friction" between the ISL and the existing I-League, which will be rechristened League 1.
Speculation was rife that the ISL would merge with I-League and become a single entity but when asked about the sudden change in their stance, Patel said they were only trying to have different tiers, and not separate leagues, to have a wider pool of talent.
The AIFF's objective is to create a "sustainable ecosystem" for clubs.
Promotion and relegation will not be applicable to the ISL but Patel said there could be 10 to 12 teams participating in the event from next year onwards.
The AIFF said it is striving to see the national team improve its FIFA rankings to 120 by December 2017. It also wants to help the women's team qualify for the 2019 World Cup.
Under the AIFF Lakshya programme for club football, the federation said it aims to improve the marketability of clubs, attract investment, incentives competition and bring professionalism in Indian clubs.
While 28 teams from 15 states are playing currently in Indian leagues, the AIFF hopes to see the involvement of all states by 2020.
Patel said ISL has been a "disruption in Indian football and it because of this disruption that we are now looking for solutions".
For the sustenance of the lower division clubs, the AIFF said it will guarantee minimum central revenues to them.
The revamp in grassroots development programmes will continue.

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.