The 2015-2016 season of ‪#‎HeroILeague‬ officially comes to an end and here's how the final Points table looks. Bengaluru FC grabbed the Champions crown the second time in three years while Aizawl FC found themselves being relegated.

UAE 2019 QUALIFIERS PLAY-OFF DRAW CONCLUDED

Malaysia will renew acquaintances with Timor-Leste while Tajikistan are again set to clash with Bangladesh following Thursday's official draw for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Play-off at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysians and Timor-Leste, who finished bottom two positions in Group A of the recently concluded 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers, were drawn into one of the five pairings in Qualifiers Play-off 1.

Malaysia drew 1-1 with Timor Leste in their joint-qualifying game in Kuala Lumpur in June last year, before beating their fellow ASEAN side 1-0 in October’s return fixture in Dili.

Tajikistan and Bangladesh were placed in another pairing, having finished fourth and fifth respectively in Group B of the joint qualifiers. The Bangladeshis drew 1-1 with Tajikistan in Dhaka, before losing 5-0 in Dushanbe.

The other three pairings are Chinese Taipei v Cambodia, Maldives v Yemen and Laos v India.

The winner of each pairing (total five teams) will advance to the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Final Round while the remaining five losing teams will join Bhutan in Qualifiers Play-off 2 (total six teams).

In Qualifiers Play-off 2, the six teams will form three pairings and play home and away matches against each other and the winner of each pairing (total three teams) will advance to Qualifiers Final Round.

Bhutan, meanwhile, were drawn against the loser of the Qualifiers Play-off I match between Tajikistan and Bangladesh.

Qualifiers Play-off 1 will be held over two legs on June 2 and 7 while Play-off 2 will be played also over two legs on September 6 and October 11.

DRAW RESULTS

Qualifiers Play-Off I
PO 1.1 - Chinese Taipei v Cambodia
PO 1.2 - Maldives v Yemen
PO 1.3 - Tajikistan v Bangladesh
PO 1.4 - Malaysia v Timor-Leste
PO 1.5 - Laos v India

Qualifiers Play-Off II
PO 2.1 - Losing Team PO 1.2 v Losing Team 1.5
PO 2.2 - Losing Team PO 1.3 v Bhutan
PO 2.3 - Losing Team v PO 1.4 v Losing Team PO 1.1

India lost 0-4 to Iran in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. India only have three points from five matches

Tehran: Indian football team's dismal run continued as they suffered a humiliating 0-4 loss to Iran in a Group D match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Azadi Stadium here on Thursday.

Haji Safi (33rd, 66th) scored twice, while Azmoun (61st) and Alireza (78th) also got on the score sheet as the highest-ranked team in Asia blanked India.

With this win, Iran finished as Group D leaders with 17 points, while a winless India remained fifth with just three points to their name ahead of their final game against Turkmenistan in Kochi on March 29.

Iran made eight changes and fielded a young team, while for India, the injured duo of Sunil Chhetri and Eugeneson Lyngdoh were replaced by Udanta Singh, who made his senior debut, and Pronay Halder. Arnab Mondal and Pritam Kotal made way for Sandesh Jhingan and Aibor Khongjee.

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.