Soccer Pill Hangout on Indian football

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Thanks to Vikram Venkateswaran and Kunal Mehta, I was offered a chance to appear on the 10th episode of Soccer Pill Google hangout on the opening day of I-league. I appeared on their great show and talked about Indian Football in general and the I-league season that just started off.

It was a great experience to be part of the show and voice my opinions on Indian football.  Watch all other episodes of Soccer Pill hangout here.  Watch the episode on Indian Football and let us know what you think of it.

India hold Tajikistan to a draw in AFC U-16 qualifiers

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afc_2012_sqIndia held Tajikistan to a draw (1-1) in their first match in AFC U-16 qualifiers at Kuwait. At half time, India were trailing 1-0 with Tajikistans’ Saidov Karomatullo scoring a goal from a corner in the 36th minute of the match.

India managed to equalize when we got a penalty after an Indian player was brought down in the Tajikistan box. Prosenjit Chakraborty managed to convert from the spot making it 1-1.

From what we managed to watch over a jittery stream, Tajikistan did look like a very formidable opposition and Indians did put a good show. While on paper the result looks good, in terms of qualification for the final rounds happening in Thailand next year, this is not a good result. To qualify we have to either win the group or be in the top five runner-up teams from a total of 10 groups in fray. You can check India’s upcoming fixtures and the rules and regulations that guide the qualification here.

Match summary and Stats here : India Vs Tajikistan

Quality foreigners dot I-league this season

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Image Courtesy : http://i-league.org

Image Courtesy : http://i-league.org

Many say I-league has lost its sheen, it is not a viable package and so on. While all the criticism lingers on and some of them being true,  it has to be said that this season’s I-league has attracted a formidable array of foreign imports.

Some years ago, foreign players mostly came from Africa and then on, some from Brazil. But were they good enough for the salary they were being paid here?  I am unsure about that aspect. However, clubs have moved on from their traditional hunting grounds in Africa and Brazil and is recruiting decent players from Australia, Europe, Middle East and Asia now.

This season’s I-league has a former world cup player,  some players who plied their trade in EPL and lower division English leagues and some from Spain and Portugal.  Quality attracts eye-balls too.  For instance, Bengaluru FC has recruited Ashley Westwood as their coach. He started his career as a Manchester United academy player and went on to don coaching roles at Portsmouth, Blackpool and Blackburn. His pedigree certainly helped in getting  sky-sports interested about his Indian assignment at Bengaluru FC.  Skysports reporting about an I-league coach would  have been unthinkable a few years ago.

While there has been passing remarks in the media about the foreigners in I-league this season, there has been no comprehensive report about them anywhere.  Withstanding the question on how they will help Indian Football develop, as a package I-league does need good foreign imports to raise the quality of football.

Today TOI has taken some time out and has written a decent article about the foreign imports in I-league this season – Influx of quality foreign players on the upswing

Airtel I-league kicks off today

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I-League_logo.svgA  brand new season of I-league is here. 13 teams across India will fight it out the premier league of the country. Check the squads of all the participating teams here.

The matches from the opening weekend are as follows :

21-Sep-13 Mohammedan Sporting Club Pune FC 3:00 PM
21-Sep-13 Mumbai FC Sporting Clube de Goa 4:00 PM
21-Sep-13 Churchill Brothers SC Salgaocar FC 4:00 PM
22-Sep-13 United Sports Club Rangdajied United FC 2:45 PM
22-Sep-13 Bengaluru FC McDowell Mohun Bagan A.C 4:00 PM
22-Sep-13 Dempo Sports Club Shillong Lajong FC 4:00 PM

Results from 49th Junior National Football Championship

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500px-India_FA.svgI-league has been garnering all the attention of Indian football fans so far and rightly so. However, young footballers from across India is fighting out in Jharkhand in the 49th Junior National Football Championship for BC Roy Trophy.

The tournament has been on for the last two days and there has been no coverage at all the media. It is rather very unfortunate that any coverage eludes this tournament where the upcoming football stars of this country fight it out.  The following are the results so far from the championship.

The competition has entered the semifinal phase for the two tiers – I & II.  In the first semifinal of Tier I that happened today (25th – Sep), Sports Authority of India (SAI) defeated Maharashtra by a solitary goal.

In the second semi-final taking place tomorrow, Kerala will take on Chandigarh.

Keep a watch here, we will bring you the semi final and final results.

Finals Tier I  : 

29-Sep

Mizoram Vs Assam

  6-1

Finals Tier I I :

28-Sep

SAI Vs Kerala

  5-2

 Semifinals Results Tier I I :

27-Sep

Punjab Vs Mizoram

  1-3

27-Sep

Madhya Pradesh vs Assam

  6-7(Pen)

Semifinals Results Tier I :

26-Sep

Chandigarh Vs Kerala

  0-3

25-Sep

Maharshtra vs SAI

  0-1

Group Stages results :

Date
 Matches
Results
25-Sep Mizoram  Vs Orissa
 1-0
25-Sep Uttar Pradesh Vs Haryana
 2-0
25-Sep Goa Vs Meghalaya
 1-0
25-Sep Karnataka Vs Punjab
 0-5
25-Sep Madhya Pradesh Vs UttaraKhand
 1-0
25-Sep West Bengal Vs Manipur
 1-1
24-Sep Tamilnadu Vs Delhi
 1-1
24-Sep Jharkhand Vs Assam
 1-5
24-Sep Arunachal Pradesh  Vs Kerala
0-1
24-Sep Jammu & Kashmir Vs Rajsthan
 0-3
24-Sep Sikkim Vs Tripura
6-4
24-Sep Chandigarh Vs Gujarat
3-1
23-Sep Madhya Pradesh  Vs West Bengal
 1-1
23-Sep Haryana Vs Mizoram
0-9
23-Sep Uttar Pradesh Vs Orissa
0-0
23-Sep Bihar Vs Nagaland
1-2
23-Sep Himachal Pradesh Vs SAI
1-4
22-Sep Kerala Vs Rajasthan
 10-0
22-Sep Tamil Nadu Vs Assam
0-0
22-Sep Orissa Vs Haryana 
 2-1
22-Sep Delhi Vs Jharkhand 
 1-4
22-Sep Tripura Vs Gujarat 
 0-3
22-Sep Sikkim Vs Chandigarh 
 `1-3
22-Sep Arunachal Pradesh  Vs Jammu & Kashmir
 6-1
21-Sep West bengal Vs Uttarakhand
 0-4
21-Sep Punjab Vs Meghalaya
 2-1
21-Sep Madhya Pradesh Vs Manipur
 2-0
21-Sep Karnataka Vs Goa
 2-2
21-Sep   Mizoram Vs Uttar Pradesh
 5-2
21-Sep   Nagaland Vs Maharashtra
 0-2
21-Sep   Chhattisgarh Vs Himachal Pradesh
 0-0
20-Sep Assam Vs Delhi
  4-0
20-Sep Jharkhand Vs Tamil Nadu  7-1
20-Sep Chandigarh Vs Tripura  6-0
20-Sep Gujarat Vs Sikkim
  3-1
20-Sep Jammu & Kashmir Vs Kerala  0-12
20-Sep Rajasthan Vs Arunachal Pradesh  0-8
19-Sep Maharashtra Vs Bihar  3-2
19-Sep Sports Authority of India (SAI) Vs Chattisgarh  6-0

Fixtures : India’s matches in AFC U-16 Qualifiers

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afc_2012_sqIndia is in Group A comprising Kuwait, Tajikistan, Lebanon and Bhutan.  India will start of the qualifiers campaign by taking on formidable Tajikistan on 21-sep.  There are a total of ten groups and the winners from all the groups and the best five runners-up will qualify for the finals happening next year in Thailand.

India’s fixtures for the qualifiers are as follows.

21-Sep Tajikistan Vs INDIA 19.20 IST
25-Sep INDIA Vs Lebanon 23.20 IST
27-Sep INDIA Vs Bhutan 23.20 IST
29-Sep Kuwait Vs India 23.20 IST

 

Bengaluru FC coach Ashley Westwood featured in skysports.com

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Image Courtesy : http://i-league.org

Image Courtesy : http://i-league.org

Indian football aficionados are in a delirium after news broke out that Airtel is sponsoring I-League. Before the euphoria settles, we at Football News India wants to share yet another incredible piece of news – Bengaluru FC coach Asley Westwood is featured in skysports.com

There has been quite a buzz about Bengaluru FC, the new entrant to I-league. We have heard our national team captain Sunil Chhetri saying that European standards are set at the club but we never got to know the finer details. Well, this interview brings out the kind of initiatives that Bengaluru FC is bringing to the table.

Sample this :  “We had to get over to them really that this isn’t Indian football as it was in the past where they are used to bringing in their bag, dropping it by the side of the field, doing your two hours, then picking your bag up to go home and that’s it – you’re a footballer for two hours a day. We’ve had to get them to understand they are a footballer 24 hours a day. We supply the top heart-rate monitors, we’ve got recovery monitors and sleep monitors. We give them protein shakes and electrolyte drinks. We have breakfast together an hour before training. We have lunch together and supply four chefs at the lads’ apartment where they all live together.

Read the excellent piece put together by skysports scribe Adam Bate :  Indian adventure

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