Sunil Chhetri makes official Sporting B league debut

Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri finally made his league debut for his side Sporting Clube de Portugal 'B' in the Portuguese Second Division (Liga de Honra) against SC Freamunde as he came on as a second half substitute.

SCP 'B' won 2-0 away to SC Freamunde through a brace from Ricardo Esgaio (49th & 65th minute) with Sporting B moving-up a place into second place in the league table behind Belenenses Lisboa.

Sunil Chhetri had gotten some playing time for Sporting B in pre-season, but then he was away for a few weeks on India assignment at the 2012 Nehru Cup and then returned as the tournaments champion and 'Most Valuable Player'.

But at Sporting B he had to start from scratch, get accustomed again and integrate into a working team as the young Sporting B side have been impressive since the start of the Liga de Honra season.

Finally yesterday Sporting B coach Oceano Andrade da Cruz gave Sunil Chhetri his league debut in the 84th minute and one can only hope it was the first of many more to come from the India captain. As the match had been decided by then it was an uneventful first game for Sunil Chhetri.


Please LIKE www.facebook.com/arunfoot & follow @Arunfoot on Twitter to get further updates on Sunil Chhetri's season at Sporting Clube de Portugal 'B' Team along with further news on what Players of Indian origin are doing across Europe!

VIDEOs: East Bengal are Federation Cup champions!

Kolkata giants East Bengal Club are the new champions of the Federation Cup! Here a series of feature stories from XtraTime on East Bengal's title triumph, be it in Siliguri at the ground, at the clubs Maidan tent, the general celebrations and more.

34th Federation Cup: East Bengal are champions!

Kolkata giants East Bengal Club are the new champions of the Federation Cup! In the final tonight East Bengal beat I-League champions Dempo SC 3-2 in extra-time to lift the 34th Federation Cup title at the floodlit Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri.

On the 56th birthday of their coach Trevor James Morgan the red-and-gold won their overall eighth Federation Cup title, their fourth title in only the last six edition of India's version of the FA Cup.

Infront of 35,000 spectators in a well filled Kanchenjunga Stadium, East Bengal had a home match and they dominated from the start but failed to convert the advantage into goals, while Dempo SC were more concerned of no conceding then scoring early on.

But it was the Goans who took a 50th minute lead through former India captain Climax Lawrence's half volley before East Bengal equalised through an Arnab Mondal header off a Mehtab Hossain free-kick on the hour mark. It stayed one-all until the end and this forced the match into extra-time where East Bengal produced their best attacking game to end Dempo's stiff resistance.

East Bengal pressed on the accelerator in extra-time introducing its super-sub Lalrindika Ralte, the hero against Churchill Brothers in the 91st minute. The young wing-half added pace to the team's attack and set off a through-pass for Penn Ikechukwu Orji, but the latter's hesitation inside the Dempo box spoiled the chance. Then Lalrindika fired a powerful grounder in the 99th minute that came off the Dempo goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury and striker Manandeep Singh was there to tap-in the rebound to give East Bengal the lead.

Thereafter East Bengal tried to keep the pressure on Dempo and in the 109th minute Nigerian Chidi Edeh made it 3-1 from a solo effort after getting a long ball from Manandeep, but Dempo kept the match alive and reduced the margin off a header from Mahesh Gawli in the 113th minute but its search for the equaliser remained unrealised.

It ended 3-2 for East Bengal and the Federation Cup title was theirs.


MATCH STATS

East Bengal 3-2 (1-1,0-0) Dempo SC [extra-time] - Goals: 0-1 Climax Lawrence (50'), 1-1 Arnab Mondal (60'), 2-1 Manandeep Singh (99'), 3-1 Chidi Edeh (109'), 3-2 Mahesh Gawli (113')

East Bengal Club
1-Abhijit Mondal - 8-Thokchom Naoba Singh, 3-Arnab Mondal, 2-Raju Eknath Gaikwad, 29-Soumik Dey - 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra (91' 21-Lalrindika Ralte), 14-Mehtab Hussain [C], 18-Penn Ikechukwu Orji, 35-Ishfaq Ahmed (80' 15-Sanju Pradhan) - 10-Chidi Edeh (117' 25-Robert Lalthlamuana), 26-Manandeep Singh

Dempo SC
1-Subhasish Roy Chowdhury - 18-Valeriano Rebello, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 4-Creson Antao, 2-Debabrata Roy - 14-Anthony Pereira (96' 25-Romeo Fernandes), 8-Climax Lawrence (7-Godwin Diogo Franco), 6-Peter Carvalho, 15-Clifford Miranda (80' 11-Ryuji Sueoka) - 11-Koko Sakibo, 17-Joaquim Abranches

Referee
Vishnu Chauhan (Gujarat)

34th Federation Cup - Final: Trevor Morgan vs Armando Colaco

The final of the 34th Federation Cup will be a match-up between two of India's most successful clubs in recent years, East Bengal Club and Dempo SC; but not only that it is also a game between to highly successful coaches in Trevor James Morgan and Armando Colaco.

Both coaches are tactically and technically able coaches, who try and bring the best out of their wards. They are known to be player friendly and able communicators, who praised each others work ahead of tonight's final.

For Trevor James Morgan it will be a special final today, then it is his 56th birthday and the Englishman will hope that his team give him a fitting birthday gift in-form of the Federation Cup title, which would be his second after 2010 in Cuttack.

Trevor is known as a no non-sense coach, who had been able to form his team at East Bengal over the last couple of years even against protest from the East Bengal officials. He even resigned towards the end of last season, but the officials realised what they had in their coach and brought Trevor back. By staying on Trevor has achieved something which is sadly rare in Kolkata football and that is a coach having control about players recruitment and his coaching staff.

Further Trevor has worked on his side and players individually to improve his overall squad then his aim is to win as many titles as possible and after the Federation Cup is over, it will be the I-League which has eluded him over the last couple of seasons with his team finishing second on both occasions.

59 year old Armando Colaco is the real father of success at Dempo Sports Club over the last 12 years since he took over the club, initially saving it from being closed down and then making it one of India's top football team.

Armando has build the team from scratch and has over the years strengthened the squad across all positions, now even being able to bring in young talent from the Dempo youth development system.

What makes the Dempo success so special is that Dempo has besides having some of the best foreign talent available in India playing for them like Ranty Martins Soleye, Roberto Mendes Silva, etc; they have focused on their home grown Indian players who have not only played for the club but also the country.

A lot can be expected from these two coaches and their teams tonight, but it is a final and surely it will be tense, if it will be as intense and competitive as we the fans of the beautiful game hope, will have to be seen...

VIDEOs: East Bengal vs Dempo Fed Cup final previews

Tonight East Bengal Club and Dempo SC meet each other in the final of the 34th Federation Cup at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri. Here the previews on both teams by Bengali sports program XtraTime.

34th Federation Cup - Final Preview: East Bengal vs Dempo tonight!

The final of the 34th edition of the Federation Cup will be played tonight between Kolkata's East Bengal Club and Dempo SC of Goa at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri. The match will be between two of India's best club sides in recent years and a lot is expected from such a title clash.

Dempo SC having won the NFL/I-League title five times in the last eight years, while East Bengal often have finished runners-up in the I-League in recent times and two Federation Cup titles are to their name with this being their fourth straight final.

As these two clubs renew the Bengal vs Goa rivalry, East Bengal will have a distinct advantage in the crowd support at the Kanchenjunga Stadium which will root for the red-and-gold as a capacity crowd is expected for the final.

Both the coaches - Trevor James Morgan and Armando Colaco - heaped praise on each other for the "stability" of their respective sides and were almost unanimous in acknowledging that there were no clear favourites in the upcoming duel.

Dempo played with only one foreigner – Nigerian Koko Sakibo – in the semifinal against Salgaocar and is expected to bank on its indigenous talent in the final too though Japanese midfielder Ryuji Sueoka, who is recovering from fever, may make a return to the starting eleven if declared fit. "I don't think football depends on one player. We play as a team and will continue to do so in the final tomorrow," Armando said when asked about the absence of Sueoka.

"We get there and give our best. None of the sides can confidently say it is going to win. If we win we will dedicate the crown to the memory of (Cristiano) Junior," Armando said referring to the on-field death of the Brazilian striker when Dempo won their only Fed Cup title in 2004. "East Bengal cannot be underdog on its home soil. They have a good midfield and so do we. So one can expect creative approach from both the sides," Armando added.

"Right across the midfield Dempo is very creative. We have to raise our game to the level to that level to win," Morgan said after his team's practice. When asked about how he will tackle the suspension of his two regular central defenders – Uga Okpara and Gurwinder Singh – the East Bengal coach said he will find the right replacements with Raju Gaikwad and Arnab Mondal set to take their places though they had their problems in the match against Kalighat Milan Sangha.

The East Bengal coach admitted that his team may have been scrappy in the group league stage but quickly added that the side played really well in the semifinals to beat Churchill Brothers. "Football does not work that way, it is the win that matters. Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a new game and we will approach it accordingly," Morgan said.

The match will kick-off at 6:30 pm and it will be shown live on DD Sports.

Photos - Orissa 1st Division Football League - Semifinals

The Football Association of Odisha organised 1st Division Football League played its semifinals yesterday with Odisha Police taking on Rising Student Club while Jobra Durga Club played Sunrise Club. Here are the photos from these two matches.

Here earlier Photos - Orissa 1st Division Football League: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14

Früh Kölsch SportTalk: The Bezirksliga club in & around Remscheid

On Monday, October 1 I will be moderating my SportTalk show here in Germany - the Früh Kölsch SportTalk from the Bergische Sportarena in Wermelskirchen will be once more coming from a pub within an indoor sports complex.

The topic on Monday night will be football in and around Remscheid with a focus on the clubs playing in the Bezirksliga (7th German division). Participating in the SportsTalk will be Jóse Ramón Flórez (Coach, Hastener TV), Acar Sar (Coach, TürkGücü Remscheid), Michael Röttgen (Assistant Coach, SC Ayyildiz Remscheid), Frank Marquardt (SV 09/35 Wermelskirchen) and Peter Kuhlendahl from the newspaper Remscheider General Anzeiger.

It will be available live on the Internet (in German) as a livestream from 19.30 CET (18.30 GMT / 23.00 IST) onwards at www.livestream.com/rs1tv


Here the details in German about the talkshow:

Am Montag, den 1.Oktober gibt es wieder den Früh Kölsch SportTalk auf rs1.tv!

An diesem Abend ab 19.30 Uhr wird der 'Früh Kölsch SportTalk' aus der Bergischen Sportarena in Wermelskirchen als Livestream auf rs1.tv übertragen. Es wird 90 Minuten lang vor Live Publikum ( Eintrittskarten auf Anfrage bei der Bergischen Sportarena ) um den Sport aus und um Remscheid herum mit Gästen aus dem lokalen Sport, Journalisten und Sportstars. Aber es wird nicht nur über lokales gesprochen sondern auch um nationalen und internationalen Sport.

Das Thema unserer nächsten Sendung sind die Bezirksligisten im Kreis 14 in und um Remscheid.

Die Gäste der Sendung sind: Jóse Ramón Flórez (Trainer, Hastener TV), Acar Sar (Trainer, TürkGücü Remscheid), Michael Röttgen (Co-Trainer, SC Ayyildiz Remscheid), Frank Marquardt (SV 09/35 Wermelskirchen) und Peter Kuhlendahl (Remscheider General Anzeiger)


Hier nochmals die wichtigsten Informationen zusammengefasst:

LIVE aus der Bergischen Sportarena in Wermelskirchen
Der Früh Kölsch SportTalk
präsentiert von rs1.tv
Sendungsbeginn: 19.30 Uhr jeweils Montags alle vier Wochen

Tischreservierung oder zu anderen Fragen, Bitte bei der Bergischen Sportarena melden!

Die nächste Sendung findet im November statt!

Orissa 1st Division: Odisha Police & Jobra Durga Club reach final

The Football Association of Orissa organised 1st Division of the Orissa Football League officially named 'Sidhartha' FAO 1st Division League 2012 held its semifinals yesterday at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack with Odisha Police and Jobra Durga Club winning their respective matches and these two club will face each other in tomorrows final.

In the first semifinal Odisha Police won the match 5-4 against Rising Student Club in a penalty shootout after the match had ended one-all in regulation time. Earlier in the match Abhimanyu Pandey had given Odisha Police a 21st minute, but in the first half injury time D.S. Bodhara equalised for Rising Student Club.

The second semifinal was played between Jobra Durga Club and Sunrise Club and the closely contested match was won 1-0 by Jobra Durga Club. The winner was scored by Baichand Hansda in the 52nd minute of the match.


To keep uptodate with fixtures and result follow it under the official FAO website: www.footballodisha.org

VIDEO: East Bengal's Hero of the Moment - Lalrindika Ralte

Indian international winger Lalrindika Ralte who hails from a small town in Mizoram is the hero of the moment at East Bengal Club after scoring the extra-time winner against Churchill Brothers SC. Here a good insightful report by XtraTime about Dika!

34th Federation Cup: Dempo beat rivals Salgaocar to reach finals!

I-League champions Dempo SC won 2-0 against their Goan rivals and defending Fed Cup champions Salgaocar FC in the second semifinal of the 34th Federation Cup at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri to set-up a final showdown with East Bengal Club on Sunday. With Dempo's entry into the final, East Bengal are assured of an AFC Cup place next season.

It was an uneventful first session in which both sides were cautious, they didn't want to risk a mistake and it stayed goalless. Dempo had their best chance through Joaquim Abranches, while Salgaocar through Fulganco Cardozo but on both occasions the ball did not cross the line.

After the break the match opened-up and it was Joaquim Abranches who gave Dempo a 70th minute lead off a pass from substitute Romeo Fernandes. Nigerian striker Koko Sakibo doubled the lead six minutes from time to somewhat seal Dempo's victory and only a couple of minutes later Salgaocar defender Fulganco Cardozo was send-off for a second bookable offence on the night.

It ended 2-0 for Dempo SC and they will meet East Bengal Club in the final of the 34th Federation Cup on Sunday evening at 6.30 pm with the match to be telecast live on DD Sports.


MATCH STATS

Dempo SC 2-0 (0-0) Salgaocar FC - Goals: 1-0 Joaquim Abranches (70'), 2-0 Koko Sakibo (84')

Dempo SC
1-Subhasish Roy Chowdhury - 18-Valeriano Rebello, 28-Mahesh Gawli, 4-Creson Antao, 2-Debabrata Roy - 14-Anthony Pereira, 8-Climax Lawrence, 6-Peter Carvalho, 15-Clifford Miranda (25-Romeo Fernandes) - 11-Koko Sakibo (16-Samir Naik), 17-Joaquim Abranches

Salgaocar FC
Karanjit Singh - 2-Fulganco Cardozo, 20-Luciano Sabrosa, 19-Nicolau Colaco, 23-Rahul Kumar - 30-Francis Fernandes, 26-Randeep Singh (37-Gilbert Oliveira), 17-Quinton Norman Jacobs (9-Ángel Guirado Aldeguer), ??-Anthony D'Souza - 8-Milagres Gonsalves, 29-Sean Daniel Rooney

Referee
Ajit Meitei (Manipur)

Mumbai's Nadkarni Cup to be played next month

The 106th edition of the 'RCF' Nadkarni Cup Football Tournament 2012/13 will be held from October 3 onwards at the RCF Ground in Chembur, Mumbai. 12 of Mumbai's top clubs including I-League side ONGC, newly founded Dodsal FC and I-League Division 2 sides Kenkre FC and PIFA-Colaba FC will be seen in action.

The tournament is a season opener for the top tier clubs of the Mumbai Football League organised by the Mumbai District Football Association. Defending champions are Mumbai FC who last year had beaten PIFA-Colaba FC 4-0 in the final.

So far the pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal matches have been finalised with the dates of the semifinals and final to be fixed later.


FIXTURES

Pre-Quarterfinals
03-Oct-2012: RCF - Maharashtra State Police
04-Oct-2012: Indian Navy - Western Railway
05-Oct-2012: Companeros - Mumbai Customs
06-Oct-2012: Union Bank of India - Central Railway

Quarterfinals
07-Oct-2012: Dodsal FC - RCF/MSP
08-Oct-2012: Kenkre FC - Indian Navy/Western Railway
09-Oct-2012: ONGC - UBI/Central Railway
10-Oct-2012: PIFA-Colaba FC - Companeros - Mumbai Customs

Semifinals
??-Oct-2012: Winner Match Oct 7 - Winner Match Oct 8
??-Oct-2012: Winner Match Oct 9 - Winner Match Oct 10

Final
??-Oct-2012: Winner SF1 - Winner SF2

Photos - Orissa 1st Division Football League

The Football Association of Odisha organised 1st Division Football League at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack is running since July 22. Here are photos from some of the recent matches.

Here earlier Photos - Orissa 1st Division Football League: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13

VIDEO: Fair Play Miroslav Klose, scores hand goal & reports to referee

Germany international striker Miroslav Klose showed real Fair Play on Wednesday evening in a Serie A match between SSC Napoli and Lazio Roma. Following a Lazio corner Klose touches the ball with his hand before the ball goes into the net with the referee allowing the goal, but after Napoli players protest the referee goes to Klose who honestly says he touched the ball with his hand and the goal is disallowed.

The goal would have been Lazio's 1-0 at Napoli and in the end Lazio lost 0-3, but Klose showed what real Fair Play means and was applauded by the Napoli players on the field and thereafter by fans and the media alike.

The first video shows the goals, the second also the reactions thereafter

34th Federation Cup: East Bengal beat Churchill Bros in extra-time

Kolkata giants East Bengal Club reached their fourth Federation Cup final in a row through an extra-time 1-0 victory against Churchill Brothers SC in the first 34th Federation Cup semifinal at the Kanchenjunga Stadium. Substitute Lalrindika Ralte's superb strike was the only goal of the night infront of a healthy crowd in Siliguri.

East Bengal now await the winner of tomorrow nights second semifinal between Dempo SC and Salgaocar FC in the Federation Cup final on Sunday night.

In the first session the action was mainly confined to the midfield with Sandip Nandy and Abhijit Mondal rarely tested by the opposing teams. Things got a little better after the break but the defenders and midfielders worked in tandem to deny the opponents. A rather uneventful match ended on expected lines goalless after 90 minutes.

In extra-time things didn't get much better until the 110th minute when substitute and former Churchill Brothers winger Lalrindika Ralte volleyed the ball into the nets to seal the victory for the red-and-gold. Only minutes later Churchill Brothers were reduced to 10 men when substitute Israil Gurung brought down another substitute in Sanju Pradhan and received his marching orders. Until the end the Goans didn't get a chance worth an equaliser and in the end East Bengal won the match 1-0.


MATCH STATS

Churchill Brothers SC 0-1 (0-0) East Bengal Club [extra-time] - Goals: 0-1 Lalrindika Ralte (110')

Churchill Brothers SC
21-Sandip Nandy - 12-Denzil Franco, 13-Dharmaraj Ravanan, 4-Bilal Sheikh El Najjarin, 18-Thangjam Saran Singh - 28-Bikramjit Singh, 20-W. Tomba Singh (11?' 16-Amandeep Singh), 24-Lenny Rodrigues, 10-Roberto Mendes Silva [C] - 35-T. Bineesh Balan (68' ??-Israil Gurung), 9-Henry Arnaud Antchouet Rebienot (51' 25-Akram Moghrabi)

East Bengal Club
1-Abhijit Mondal - 8-Thokchom Naoba Singh, 16-Gurwinder Singh, 4-Uga Okpara, 29-Soumik Dey - 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra (94' 21-Lalrindika Ralte), 14-Mehtab Hussain [C], 18-Penn Ikechukwu Orji, 35-Ishfaq Ahmed (75' 15-Sanju Pradhan) - 10-Chidi Edeh, 26-Manandeep Singh (86' 6-Baljit Singh Sahni)

Referee
M.B. Santosh Kumar (Kerala)

Photos - Orissa 1st Division Football League

The Football Association of Odisha organised 1st Division Football League at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack is running since July 22. Here are photos from some of the recent matches.

Here earlier Photos - Orissa 1st Division Football League: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12