India coach Stephen Constantine names his 28-man provisional squad for 2018 World Cup Joint Qualification match against Iran!

ndia head coach Stephen Constantine on Thursday unveiled his 28-man provisional squad for 2018 World Cup Joint Qualification match against Iran, will be held at Shree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on September 8, 2015.

Prior to the match, squad would gather at Pune for preparatory camp on August 23, where the Team India will face Nepal in a International Friendly match on August 31.

28-man provisional squad follows:

GOALKEEPERS:
Subrata Paul, Karanjit Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Sanjiban Ghosh

DEFENDERS:
Arnab Mondal, Sandesh Jhingan, Aiborlang Khongjee, Dhanachandra Singh, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Narayan Das, Rino Anto, Pritam Kotal

MIDFIELDERS:
Dhanpal Ganesh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Cavin Lobo, Romeo Fernandes, Sehnaj Singh, Jackichand Singh, Pranoy Halder, Brandon Fernandes, Francisco Fernandes, C.K. Vineeth, Rowllin Borges

FORWARDS:
Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Holicharan Narzary

AIFF Invite Applications For Second Division League 2015-16

All India Football Federation today notified all the state associations to send in the nominations of clubs for Second Division League 2015-16 by 20th July 2015. The interested clubs need to submit the following documents to respective state association who will eventually liaison with AIFF:

1. Last completed top most division local league result of the club
2. Certificate of Incorporation under Companies Act

Recent performance of the club in the premier local league would be the primary yardstick which will eventually make them eligible to play in the Second Division League 2015-16, which is tentatively slated to be held between November, 2015 and would run till May, 2016. The winner of the Second Division League 2015-16 will be promoted to Hero I-League 2016-17 subsequently. The Clubs have to adhere to the Licensing Criteria for 2nd Division League, which will be shared with the interested clubs by the end of July, 2015. Youth development program will be stressed mostly and the clubs, who are vying for the spot in Second Division League, must field a full-fledged team in the upcoming U19 I-League as well as U15 I-League.

Aizawl FC triumphed over local rival Chanmari FC, Kolkata giants Mohammedan SC, veteran Hindustan FC and four eminent teams to seal their place in the upcoming Hero I-league 2015-16. They have shown tremendous enthusiasm and tenacity to cement their place in the league where they would rub their shoulders with big brothers like McDowell Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC and others. Nevertheless, Royal Wahingdoh, the promoted team from Second Division, was the surprise package last season and received every bit of accolades from the football pundits across the nation. Now it’s about a few months more, while we would be introduced to another bunch of Jackichand and Seityasen, countdown begins now.

Clubs spend INR 7.22Cr in first-ever Hero ISL Player Auction

Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri bagged the highest offer of Rs. 1.20 crore. He will be playing for Mumbai City FC. Eugeneson Lyngdoh the 28 year old midfielder came a close second by breaking through the 1 crore ceiling, winning a bid price of Rs 1.05 crore successfully bought over by FC Pune City.

The Indian Super League Players Auction, the first ever auction of football players in India, saw the eight franchises battle it out for 10 of India’s finest players in Mumbai earlier today.

Ten players who have featured for the Indian national team and had missed the Indian Super League’s (ISL) inaugural season went under the hammer for the eight teams in the first-of-a-kind auction. UK based Charlie Ross began the auctioneer proceedings by making clear the rules of the process. What followed next was a test of business skills and a fight between the franchises to pick the players of their choice.

Charlie Ross was at his best as the auctioneer that witnessed Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri bagging the highest bid, a whopping Rs. 1.20 Crore from Team Mumbai City FC.  Eugeneson Lyngdoh the 28 year old midfielder came a close second by breaking through the 1 crore ceiling, winning a bid price of Rs 1.05 crore successfully bought over by FC Pune City  following a round of bids from Mumbai City FC, Atletico de Kolkata and NorthEast United FC.

Rino Anto, India’s best rightback turned out to be the dark horse of the ISL bagging a surprise bid price of Rs 90 lakhs when he was picked up by Atletico de Kolkata. Charles Ross was in total rhythm for Rino’s bid bringing up the amount to Rs. 90 lakhs from the base price of Rs. 17.50 lakhs. Chennaiyin FC grabbed a sweet deal with Karanjit Singh, the only available goal keeper at the auction for his base price of Rs. 60 lakhs. Chennaiyin FC also bid successfully for Thoi Singh, the 24 year old talented midfielder for Rs 86 lakhs.

Details of the players and auction bid price is as below:

Sr No	Player	Buying Team	Base Price	Auction Fee
01	Sunil Chhetri	Mumbai City FC	Rs. 80 Lakhs	Rs. 1.20 Crore
02	Eugeneson Lyngdoh	FC Pune City	Rs. 27.50 Lakhs	Rs. 1.05 Crore
03	Rino Anto	Atletico de Kolkata	Rs. 17.50 Lakhs	Rs. 90 Lakh
04	Thoi Singh	Chenaiyin FC	Rs. 39 Lakhs	Rs. 86 Lakhs
05	Arata Izumi	Atletico de Kolkata	Rs. 40 Lakhs	Rs. 68 lakhs
06	Karanjit Singh	Chennaiyin FC	Rs. 60 Lakhs	Rs 60 Lakhs
07	Seityasen Singh	NorthEast United FC	Rs. 20 lakhs	Rs 56 Lakhs
08	Robin Singh	Delhi Dynamos FC	Rs. 40 Lakhs	Rs. 51 lakhs
09	Jackichand Singh	FC Pune City	Rs. 20 Lakhs	Rs. 45 Lakhs
10	Anas Edathodika	Delhi Dynamos FC	Rs. 40 Lakhs	Rs. 41 lakhs

The much anticipated second season of the Indian Super League (ISL) will kick off on the 3^rd of October with its opening match to be played between Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de Kolkata, winners of the first season of the ISL at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai.

FT: Guam 2-1 India Two goals for Guam condemned India to their second consecutive defeat in their World Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 encounter. A late goal by Sunil Chhetri turned out to be the only consolation for the Blue Tigers.

Sunil Chhetris world class goal not enough as defiant India loses 2-1 to Oman in World Cup 2018 qualifiers

Bello’s Header Seals The Hero I-League Trophy After 13 Years

BENGALURU: Incessant rains in the Garden City failed to dampen the spirit of thousands of supporters who turned up to the stadium hours before kick-off. The BFC chants were evenly replied by the Mariners who travelled across the country to witness history.
 Crowd attendance reached the all-time high of 22,000.  Host Bengaluru FC started the game attacking from right to left.  Bagan forced a corner right at the first minute of the game. For Bengaluru, A Bengaluru player was tripped in front of the box by defender Kingshuk, a freekick was awarded, which went vain.  Match pressure on a high occasion like this slept into the nerves of both teams, many playing in such a big occasion. After fast-paced first 15 minutes which was quite difficult to play on heavy ground conditions, Bagan started to play a holding game.  
Boya, playing exceptionally well with the Bagan attacking front kept Bengaluru defense alert. However, Bagan failed to capitalize the set pieces in the first half.  In 39th minute, Boya’s pass to Sony, and a long run and powerful header almost got the goal for Bagan. The ball hit the post where goalkeeper Ralte was out of position.  Joy of the goal was reverted for the host team when Bengaluru got a corner in the next minute. A powerful header by John Johnson from Lyngdoh’s corner gave the hosts the much needed lead. 
What an occasion Johnson chose to score the first goal of this season!  Bagan got an opportunity to equalize in the added time of the first half when they went all out. 
A feeble shot from Balwant enabled Johnson to comeup with a brilliant goal-line save.  Heavy rain in the first 15 minutes of second half, made extremely difficult for Bagan come back to the game, though they had more share of attacks.  Constant attack yielded the much needed equalizer – Sony’s corner gave the Bello equalizer goal through a header, eventually McDowell Mohun Bagan lifted the coveted Hero I-League trophy after 13 long years.  Hero of The Match: Bello Rasaq (MMB)

ISL 2015 Full Fixture Released