Heart break for Kerala in the finals (Tier II) of Junior National Football Championship

Image Courtesy : Kerala Coach Purushothaman Thekkathara T G’s facebook profile.

Image Courtesy : Kerala Coach Purushothaman Thekkathara T G’s facebook profile.

Kerala lost to Sports Authority of India team 5-2 in the finals ( Tier 11) Junior National Football Championship for B.C Roy Trophy that was held at Bokaro in Jharkhand.

Kerala was in fine form throughout the championship, scripting huge margin wins against Jammu Kashmir, Rajasthan and then edged out Arunchal Pradesh on a solitary goal in the group stages. In the semifinal Kerala pipped a strong Chandigarh team 3-0.

By the time the kerala team reached the finals, they had scored over 26 goals and conceded none. However, when it came to the final Kerala fell short and lost to the SAI team. The last time Kerala won the Junior National Football Championship was in 1973. This defeat quashed Kerala’s effort to clinch the title again after 30 years. Even though not an excuse, the ground was almost unplayable due to the torrential rain that lashed in Bokaro the day before the finals.

The silver lining however is that by qualifying for the finals of Tier II, Kerala has secured a place in the Tier I of the next edition of  tournament. Kerala’s dismal performance during the recent years had them demoted to the Tier II of the tournament.

Video : Interview with Zohib Islam Amiri, Afghanistan captain and Mumbai FC defender

Watch this excellent interview with Zohib Islam Amiri,  Afghanistan captain and Mumbai FC defender, where he talks about winning SAFF Championship, his opinion on Indian football, how was it to live in Afghanistan as a child and so on.

Due to credits to Firstpost.com on this excellent interview.


Also make sure you read this excellent transcript of the whole interview : Running from bombs: The stunning story of Afghan footballer Zohib Amiri 

India’s bid for for 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup on track

fifa_logoAccording to AIFF president Praful Patel, India will submit the bid for U-17 FIFA world cup shortly. Recently there were reports that FIFA had extended the dates for bid submission to November 15th.

Praful Patel said that the guarantees required by FIFA for hosting the world cup has been supported by Union Cabinet and the states where the matches will take places are asked to give the guarantee.

Eyeing the world cup, recently India had endowed the FIFA emblem legal protection as well.

Read More : AIFF to submit bid shortly for U-17 FIFA World Cup

U-19 National Squad for the AFC U-19 Championship (Qualifiers) announced

738X503_11781732425246c9f6cf239NEW DELHI: The 23-member Indian U-19 National Squad for the AFC U-19 Championship (Qualifiers) to be held in Doha, Qatar from October 4, 2013 has been announced.

The Squad, which drew 1-1 with Goa Pro League outfit SESA Goa in the latest Friendly match, will be reaching Doha on Sunday (September 29, 2013).

India have been clubbed with hosts Qatar, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Nepal in Group A. The U-19 Boys, formed out of Goa’s Elite Academy, will be playing the hosts in their opener on October 4, 2013 followed by dates with Nepal (October 6), Uzbekistan (October 10), and Turkmenistan (October 12) respectively.

The 23-member Squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Chinmaya Shekhar Behera, Supratim Bhattacharjee, Vishal Kaith

Defenders: Gurba Gagrai, Nim Dorjee Tamang, Pawan Kumar, Sarthak Golui, Sajid Mohd. Dhot, Soraisam Pritam Kumar Singh, Rupert Lamlang Nongrum

Midfielders: Souvik Das, Joseph Lalfakzuala, Germanpreet Singh, Alen Deory, Lalramzauva Khiangte, Isaac Vanmalsawma Chhakchhuak, Lalrempuia Fanai

Forwards: Kumam Udanta Singh, SK Faiaz, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Naro Hari Shreshtha, Shaiborlang Kharpan, Uttam Rai.

Head Coach: Colm Joseph Toal

Content and Image Courtesy : AIFF Media

Sandjar Ahmadi, Afghanistan international joins Mumbai FC

Image Courtesy : http://www.ndr.de/

Image Courtesy : http://www.ndr.de/

There were reports about Mumbai FC being in talks with Sandjar Ahmadi, the Afghan international who was playing for the German side  – SC Vier-und Marschlande. Yesterday it became obvious when Zohib Islam Amiri, Afghanistan captain and Mumbai FC defender put a picture of him and Sandjar on his Facebook page, taken from Mumbai.

I cross checked with  Zohib  and he confirmed that Sandjar Ahmadi has in fact joined the Mumbai outfit. Sandjar plays as a winger and impressed with his good performances at the recently concluded 2013 SAFF championship. He also scored two crucial goals in the championship, the solitary goal against Nepal in the semifinal that took Afghanistan to the finals and the second goal that sealed the final against India.

At 21 years, Sandjar Ahamadi is a good addition to the Mumbai FC squad and Zohib’s presence in the Mumabi FC squad would have definitely influenced his decision to join the Mumbai outfit.

I-league Round-2 Fixtures and Telecast details

I-League_logo.svgThis weekend I-league will move to its 2nd round. Here are the fixtures and telecast details.

Round-2 Fixtures

Date

Home

Away

Kick-off

Telecast

28-Sep-13

Churchill Brothers

 Mohun Bagan A.C

3:30 PM

Ten Action

29-Sep-13

United Sports Club

Sporting Clube de Goa

3:00 PM

29-Sep-13

Shillong Lajong FC

Pune FC

3:30 PM

29-Sep-13

Bengaluru FC

Rangdajied United FC

4:00 PM

Ten Action

29-Sep-13

Mumbai FC

Dempo Sports Club

4:00 PM

India U-16 maul Bhutan 8-1

Image Courtesy : AIFF Media

Image Courtesy : AIFF Media

U-16 boys playing the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers in Kuwait showed their class yet again. They mauled Bhutan 8-1 in their third match of the qualifiers played at the at the Ali Sabah Al-Salem Stadium in Kuwait.

India opened scoring in the 4th minute through Jayananda Singh and did not have to look back from then on except for a blip in the 41st minute when Bhutan through Yoesel Dorji scored their only goal for the day.

U-16 boys played some excellent football, at times totally dominating the Bhutan side. However a bigger score line would have helped our qualification and done justice to the football the boys showcased in the match.

India will take on the hosts Kuwait in their final group stages match on 29-sep, which will now be a crucial tie considering the rules that AFC has set for qualification.

India team :

Dheeraj Singh (Goalkeeper), Amey Ranawade, Jayananda Singh (Kishan Singh – 46th), Amit Tudu, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Kharlukhi (Captain) (Aaron Rodrigues – 79th), Prosenjit Chakraborty, Anirudh Thapa, Nuruddin, Nijwm Muchahary (Edmund Lalrindika – 65th), Bedashwor Singh.

Goal Scorers (India) :

Jayananda Singh – 4th minute

Prosenjit Chakraborty – 13th and 31st minute

Jerry Lalrinzuala – 20th Minute

Bedashwor Singh – 33rd and 47th minute

Edmund Lalrindika – 74th minute

Nuruddin – 75th minute

IMG – Reliance league auctions to be held by October end

Image Courtesy : http://www.sportzpower.com/

Image Courtesy : http://www.sportzpower.com/

Reports suggest that the auctions for the IMG – Reliance IPL style league would be held by October end. The tournament modeled on Indian Premier League, will have eight franchises across the country.

Two auctions, one for the franchisees and the other for players will be held at the end of October. The tournament will be held between January 18 and March 30 of the next year. Supposedly 20 corporates have expressed their interest in franchises.

Every franchise will have 10 foreign players including a marquee player, 7 Indians and 4 U-21 players in their roster. IMG – Reliance have shortlisted nine cities across India – Guwahati, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi, out of which one will be dropped later.

Reports also suggest that after numerous rounds of discussion with the I-league clubs, both parties have agreed upon a middle ground.

Read more : Indian football auctions to be held soon

Kerala reaches the final of Junior National Championship

Image Courtesy : Kerala Coach Purushothaman Thekkathara T G’s facebook profile.

Image Courtesy : Kerala Coach Purushothaman Thekkathara T G’s facebook profile.

Continuing their great form in the tournament, Kerala team has sailed to the finals of Tier II by defeating Chandigarh 3-0 in the semifinal that took place in Ranchi.

65 minutes of the match was played yesterday before it had to be stopped due to thunderstorms in Ranchi. Kerala was already leading 2-0 in the match and they knocked in one more goal to take the tally to 3-0 in the rest of the 25 minutes that was played today morning.

Kerala will take on the Sports Authority of India (SAI) team in the finals of Tier II.

The malaise of age-fraud makes a return at the Junior National Football Championship

For the last few days rumors were abound on the internet where sources close to various state football associations hurling accusations that certain teams participating in the 49th Junior National Football Championship has over aged players in their team. It was interesting to note that a state run sports body who is fielding their team was also accused of age-fraud.

Putting the rumors to bed is an article from The Telegraph which quotes an AIFF official.

“Bengal are one of the few states, who stuck by the rule book and fielded a side that had footballers within the stipulated age,” said an AIFF official. “Teams like Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya also adhered to the age restriction.

“For the rest of the states, it has become a free for all,” claimed the official.

Age-fraud is a serious malaise that needs to curbed else all these national level age-group tournaments turn worthless and associations that comply to the rules are made a laughing stock.

We at Football News India believe, AIFF,  for the greater good of the game should ban State/District associations for a certain period of time if they are found fielding an over-age team in an age-group tournament.

 Quotes in the article is sourced from  – Age-fudging at AIFF meet

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