Tag: Junior national Football Championship

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

Leave a comment
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.

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

Leave a comment

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

Kerala in semis (Tier II) of Junior National Football Championship

Leave a comment

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

Kerala has been in fine form at the ongoing Junior National Football Championship at Jharkhand. In their last match in Group D, Kerala edged Arunachal Pradesh by a solitary goal. Captain Anatha Murali scored the lone goal against Arunachal Pradesh in the 71st minute of the match. Earlier Kerala had defeated  Jammu & Kashmir and Rajsathan in Group D.

According to reports Kerala will take on Chandigarh in the semifinal of Tier I that will take place on 26th September. Chandigarh from Group B has also been in good form.  Chandigarh defeated Gujarat, Sikkim and Tripura to secure their place in semifinal.

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

Leave a comment
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.

Manipur announce team for 49th Junior National Football Championship

Leave a comment

Source : E-Pao.net

All_Manipur_football_AssociationImphal, September 14 2013 : All Manipur Football Association has selected 20 players to represent the State in the 49th Junior national Football Championship for Dr BC Roy Trophy (Tier-I) to held at Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The selected players are informed to report to team officials for further training daily at Khuman Lampak Artificial Turf at 8 am tomorrow.

The selected players are as follows: Goalkeepers: Sumthian-thang (DSA/CCpur), Md Habib (IEDFA), Y Dushanta (IWDFA); Defenders: N Tondonba (IW), Chugmei Mariangmei (IW), Y Arnold (IW), L Jacob (IW), Ch Gobin Singh (Bpr), Md Farish (IE); Midfielders: Md Yashir (IE), Akbar Khan (IE), Md Sadam (IE), Ak Loyangamba (Tbl), O Rahul (Kak), Md Shahruck (IW), Bonthanglun (Ccpur); Forwards: Th tiken (Bpr), Th Abinas (Kak), Y sushil (Tbl), SR Kagary (IE) .