Re: Nehru Cup 2009 Okolie shines in Churchill Brothers’ Durand Cup win NEW DELHI: A hat-trick from Odafe Okolie helped Churchill Brothers down Mohun Bagan 3-1 in extra-time to win the 122nd edition of the Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium on Tuesday. The 25-year-old Nigerian, who had netted 26 goals in 21 matches in this season’s Indian League, has been the highest scorer in the past three editions of the league. He has scored 20 goals in 15 Durand Cup matches in all. Edeh Chidi put Bagan ahead in the fifth minute of extra-time after stipulated time ended goalless. Okolie (pictured) scored his three goals in the 100, 105 and 110th minutes to give Carlos Alberto Pereira’s charges their third title of the season after the Indian League and IFA Shield. Churchill could have taken the lead six minutes before the breather but Ogba Kalu’s header was cleared from the goal-line by midfielder Snehasish Chakraborty. Both the sides missed gilt-edged chances but failed to break the deadlock in the regulation time. http://www.the-afc.com/en/member-as...e-shines-in-churchill-brothers-durand-cup-win Comment - 2nd trophy of the season for Churchill Brothers, can they maintain this form to win the next I. League championship?
Re: Nehru Cup 2009 Salahuddin is new SAFF President DHAKA: Bangladesh Football Federation President Kazi Salahuddin was unanimously elected as the president of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) on Saturday. Salahuddin (pictured) replaced All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) President Ganesh Thapa during the SAFF Congress, which was held after the SAFF Championship draw ceremony. Saeed Shah (Pakistan) and AFC Vice-President Manilal Fernando (Sri Lanka) were elected as the vice-presidents with Ugyen Wangchuk of Bhutan was elected as the treasurer. India’s Alberto Colaco replaced Sirajul Islam Bachchu of Bangladesh as the new general secretary. “With 1.8 billion people in this part of the world, we want to be a force to be reckoned with in the football world,” an ecstatic Salahuddin said. http://www.the-afc.com/en/member-as...a-news/25495-salahuddin-is-new-saff-president
Re: Nehru Cup 2009 SAFF chief aims to start more tournaments DHAKA: Newly-elected South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) President Kazi Salahuddin is aiming to introduce a Champions League for South Asian clubs. The regional body only organises a biennial competition for national teams and Salahuddin, who is also the president of the Bangladesh Football Federation, wants to build a competitive atmosphere in all the age group teams as well. “I would like to start an under-19 competition for national teams apart from women’s competitions and an exchange of training programmes among the eight member countries,” he said. Salahuddin also believes if the SAFF functioned in a proper way, the member countries would benefit financially. He said the new committee would meet before the start of the SAFF Championship, scheduled to be held in Dhaka from December 4 to 14. http://www.the-afc.com/en/member-as...639-saff-chief-aims-to-start-more-tournaments
Quick look at Pakistan Premier League 1 KRL FC 11 9 2 0 15 2 +13 29 2 Pakistan Navy FC 12 8 3 1 14 7 +7 27 3 WAPDA FC 11 8 2 1 30 11 +19 26 4 Pakistan Army FC 10 8 1 1 12 3 +9 25 5 PIA FC 12 5 2 5 20 13 +7 17 6 PEL FC 12 4 3 5 19 12 +7 15 7 PAF FC 12 4 3 5 11 15 −4 15 8 PMC 13 4 3 6 10 16 −6 15 9 KPT FC 12 4 2 6 10 12 −2 14 10 HBL FC 12 3 5 4 12 19 −7 14 11 KESC FC 13 4 1 8 12 18 −6 13 12 Afghan FC 12 3 3 6 9 16 −7 12 13 NBP FC 13 3 2 8 12 20 −8 11 14 Baloch Nushki 13 0 2 11 6 28 −22 2 Just about at the half way stage of the season. Winner qualifies for the AFC Presidents Cup. Bottom two relegated. Generally, games are played everyday making all clubs have hectic schedules. The season os played in two halves with a brea for Eid, and then rush back to play games again.
Bangladesh Federation Cup Mohammedan Sporting Club retained the Federation Cup title after defeating bitter rivals Abahani 4-1 in tiebreaker in a pulsating final at the near-packed Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=110660
india to send u23 aquad and maybe 1 or 2 seniors to saff cup. india also to send u19 squad to the saf games. this is a good move by the aiff.
I dont beleive it is a good move to send an olympic side to the SAFF cup, and a u19s team to the SAF games (which is u23s) the more games the senior team plays, and you dwell in a few potentially good youngsters into the team, the better the national team will be. not many nations enter a competition and send a young squad. India is going to the Asian cup, whether there playing against Lebanon or Pakistan, its about team building and playing styles. As a example,m India last SAF cup did send there best team yet lost in the final to Maldives, and there wins werent as convincing, (all close low scoring games). I think India winning the AFC Challenge cup and qualifying for the Asian Cup has made them think they are too good. the more games a national team plays and bloods in youngsters with the senior team, the better the team will become
Agree with you edrees, I can't wait for the time when the national coach of India, Bobn Houghton complains that he doesn't get enough time with the squad or with his full strength team, because this will happen. He can look back to this tournament. Maybe it's not a priorty for India to win it, but it is time to try out new styles of play and tactics and any player that wants to stake a claim at Qatar 2011 should be doing it at Bangladesh 2009. If they can't put up with the level of SAFF Cup, then India know to cross him off the list in the future. But they won't find anything useful now, just a bunch of young lads with potiental, but not yet good enough for the Asian Cup squad.
Exactly Druryfire, India should use any game, any friendly, tournement, cup game as vital experience and exposure for the Asian cup. India arent that better then the better teams in South asia like Maldives, Bangladesh (they even had a very lucky win against Afghanistan in the previous edition of the SAFF Cup. The more games, the more camps, is only better for the national team. They should count themselves lucky that they have so many games the national team can play in (Nehru Cup, Challenge cup, Asian Cup Qual, Saff Cup, Saff Games). I do beleive instead of having camps in Portugal like they have in the past, coming to the Saff Cup with a full strenth team, is better than playing 6th division Portugal sides..
Agree again, anything competitive is better than a friendly. I don't like the decision they have made at all, they are devaluing the tournament. Just when SAFF have annoucned a new president, the last thing he needs is India to send a weak team. India are going about as if they are too good for it. But they msut remember, Maldives are the holders, they should be looking to take their title back.
rightly said Druryfire, if only India realise there true level of playing, and trust me, from what i have seen, they are no better than some of the South Asian Teams... winning 1-0 against Afghanistan or 1-0 against Sri Lanka doesnt make me feel that they are way too good in the south asian region. Poor move by AIFF!
Guys don't take our India U-23 very litely........infact they are better than our senior team.......our U-23 player Baljit singh is currently top scorer of I-league ahead of all the foreigners and players like Sunil and Bhutia Bob never underestimated SAFF teams.......he wants to send U-23 for international exposure and in meantime he wants India to improve their ranking by playing against higher ranked teams further more Bob,Indian clubs and AIFF dont want key players to be injured due to tight fixtures of SAFF cup Don't be disappointed..........cause India U-23 will give tough love to all teams in the competition.......our U-23 team only lacks the International experience
Of course the U-23 lack International expereince, but then they should, they should be playing in age-restricted competitions, it's like they are running before they can walk. As for the full national team moving up the rankings by playing higher ranked teams, i just don't see this. AIFF have no plan to play better teams, all they want to do is go to Europe on these little tours and play 4th level club sides at the best. Also, I remember the Nehru Cup, India were not happy when Thailand would only send a U-19 team and Palestine were sending a club team, they complained and talked about the lack of respect, but are happy to do this to members of their own region
@ Duryfire Who told that India is gonna tour and play against 4 division in this December.........Foreign tours are only before competitions.....this time India will play against top ten of Asia And about U-23..........Bob doesn't select squad on player performance......he wants to keep same set of players till Asia cup so he hasn't given opportunities to any new players since 2 years........this time he wants to send them.......
is giving international exposure to u23s better or picking a full strength squad for the national team and giving them more experience? I agree with druryfire that India would rather go to Portugal and play 4th division sides, how does that higher a national teams ranking? besides the Nehru Cup, has India ever organised a friendly? i dont think so, rather go on tour to Europe and play amatuer sides.. obviously India sending an u23s side is a poor decision. If Bob wants to look at the u23 players, he has had plenty of time during the Indian Premier league to do it. as an example, no other nation takes any friendly, tournement as a joke, even when Brazil play UAE or Oman or China in a friendly, we know that Brazil's u18s can beat these nations, yet they still try to bring a strong side and pick a few players they want to look at more closely, thats what friendly's are for...
I didn't say they were going to play, the evidence is there to say that is hat they have done in the past. I see no evidence of India playing anyone in the top 10. All top ten teams have full schedules, no room to play India. Why would Japan and Korea want to play India when they are preparing for the World Cup for example?
I-League 2009-2010 Standings after Round 4 1) Chirag united 2) Dempo SC 3) Jct FC 4) Mahindra united 5) Lajong FC 6) Churchill Brothers FC 7) Salgaocar SC 8) Air India 9) Mohun Bagan AC 10) Pune FC 11) East Bengal FC 12) Mumbai FC 13) Sporting club de Goa 14) Viva Kerala
Following 24 Players have been called for the National Football Camp in Goa starting on 15th Nov preparation for SAFF Cup and AFC Challenge Cup 2010 and Asian Games. Goalkeepers: Arindam Bhattacharya(Churchill Brothers) ,Laxmikant Kattimani(DempoSC),Gurpreet Singh(Chandigarh FA). Defenders: Denzil Franco(Mahindra United),Govin Singh(East Bengal),Nirmal Chetri(East Bengal), N Mohan Raj(Mohun Bagan),Noaba Singh(ChurchillBrothers),Rowlison Rodrigues(Churchill Brothers), Raju Eknath Gaikwad(TFA),Robert Lalthlamuana(Churchill Brothers),Survinder Singh(Air India). Midfielders: Jagpreet Singh(JCT),Baldip Singh(JCT),Baljit(JCT),Balwant Singh(JCT), Jibbon Singh(TFA),Jewel Raja(Dempo),Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC). Forwards: C. S. Sabeeth(Viva Kerala),Sushil Kumar Singh(Mahindra United),Jagtar Singh(TFA),Subhash Singh(East Bengal),Jeje Lalpeklua(Pune F.C.) This team is Physically very strong........the average height of the team is around 179
Current AFC Ranking 23. India 26. Maldives 29. Sri Lanka 32. Pakistan 35. Bangladesh 40. Nepal 44. Afghanistan 45. Bhutan Points are up for grabs in the upcoming SAFF Championship. India are expected to play an U-23 side, will this cost them?
India to Bid for FIFA World Cup Suresh Kalmadi, the head of the organising committee for the Commonwealth Games and President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), claimed that the country will soon have enough world-class stadia to think about bidding and that it would be popular in the country. Kalmadi's comments will catch most people by surprise as earlier this week India's Sports Minister M.S Gill ruled out hosting the Olympic Games - which Delhi had been expected to bid for in 2020 - because he said the country was too poor. Also the build-up to the Commonwealth Games, the biggest event to be held in India since the 1982 Asian Games, has been marked by doubts over whether the facilities will be built in time and security fears. The earliest World Cup India could bid for would be 2026 as the bid process is already underway for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. They may have to wait even longer than that if one of the Asian bidders - Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar or South Korea - is awarded the 2022 World Cup as under FIFA's unofficial rotation policy a continent cannot host consecutive tournaments. Football is the country's second most popular sport in India behind cricket and is played in most schools across the country. It was Britain who introduced the sport to India and the first recorded game there took place between "Calcutta Club of Civilians" and "The Gentlemen of Barrackpore" in 1854 The Indian Football Association (IFA) was established in Calcutta in 1893, but did not have a single Indian on its board until the 1930s. The team qualified for the 1950 World Cup finals in Brazil, but could not appear as they still played bare feet at the time. The team, which is coached by former Bristol City manager Bobby Houghton, is currently ranked 135th in the world.
Pakistan Premier League The local league season got brought into turmoil recently when some clubs would not travel due to security concerns. This basically left all clubs not willing to play the bottom two clubs Afghan FC and Baloch Nushki, both clubs are on the border with Afghanistan. The league therefore decided that both Afghan and Balcoh had to play there home games outside of their respective cities. They refused and most all matches were awarded to their opponents. Now they have two games left, the PFF have decided that they cna play at home again. Baloch are already relegated, but Afghan need to win both remaining games to stand a chance of avoiding relegation. Meanwhile, at the top of the league, the Navy leader by four points with 1 game reamining, but still played four more games than rivals KRL and Wapda. The winners of the league will enter the 2010 AFC Presidents Cup
Pakistan Premier League KRL have won the championship on goal difference from the Army. They will enter the 2010 AFC Presidents Cup. It's their first championship and 2nd ever trophy after winning the National Football Challenge Cup earlier this year. Baloch Nushki and PMC Athletico get relegated.
SAFF to introduce more tournaments DHAKA: The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) has planned to introduce five more tournaments from next year. Currently, the federation organises just one biennial SAFF Championship for national teams and has planned to include SAFF Club Championship, U-16, U-18, women’s U-17 and SAFF Women’s Championship. SAFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco, who is also the All India Football Federation general secretary, proposed the introduction of these tournaments to give more exposure to club, youth and women’s teams of the region during the federation’s executive committee meeting on the sidelines of the SAFF Championship recently. AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam, who was also present at the meeting, assured his full support to the development of the game in the region. A decision on this proposal will be taken in SAFF’s next executive committee meeting during the AFC Challenge Cup in Colombo in February 2010. http://www.the-afc.com/en/member-as...news/26373-saff-to-introduce-more-tournaments
thats great if it does work... having more games and more exposure will only benefit teams in this region..