Tag: India

Subroto Cup to have teams from Ukraine, Oman, Bangladesh and Afghanistan

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Image : Subroto Cup facebook page

Image : Subroto Cup facebook page

2013 edition of Subroto Cup will have teams from Ukraine, Oman, Bangladesh and Afghanistan apart from school teams from India. The 54th edition of Subroto Cup has grown bigger with 81 teams battling out for Under-14, Under-17 boys and U-17 girls accolades.

Age fraud which had marred the previous editions of the cup will be tackled harshly this time around says the organizers.

Apart from that organizers have written to all I-league clubs to help them for scouting talent during the country’s biggest inter-school tournament.

Read more : Subroto Cup organisers seek I-league club support

Kerala in fine form at the 49th Junior National Football Championship

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Image : Asianet

Image : Asianet

The 49th Junior National Football Championship is currently underway in Jharkhand. Except score update on the AIFF website, there is hardly any news coming through from the championship.

Kerala being led by Anantha Murali from Thrissur who was earlier selected to train in Germany through the Bajaj – Allianz  football camp is in fine form so far. I don’t expect to jinx Kerala’s journey  in the tournament but their form deserves to be mentioned.

In their first group match, they mauled Jammu & Kashmir 12-0, with Anantha Murali scoring five times. The second match against Rajasthan also saw a huge score line. Kerala walloped Rajasthan 10-0.

The last time i wrote about Kerala’s appearance in Junior National Football Championship was in 2010. Unlike today, Kerala was in tatters at that time.  They lost to Mizoram (4-0) and Chandigarh (6-0) in the group stages. I did not even bother to check the score line for other matches then on.

However, this time around the Kerala team looks to be in good nick. There is long way to go in the championship. Hope the winning streak continues and they win the championship.

Kerala will take on a formidable opposition in Arunachal Pradesh tomorrow and that result should give us a idea about our chances in the championship.

Results so far :

Kerala 12 -0 Jammu & Kashmir

Kerala 10 – 0 Rajasthan

Upcoming  Group D fixture : Kerala Vs Arunachal Pradesh, 24th September

Top Scorer : Anantha Murali with 7 goals so far.

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

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

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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