VIDEO: No Indian Super Cup in 2012

This season there will be no Indian Super Cup due to lack of sponsorship as per the AIFF and I-League sources to Bengali sports program XtraTime. Normally I-League winners Dempo SC and Salgaocar FC as Federation Cup champions would have faced each other in the one-off match.

Super Cup: East Bengal win on penalties

Kolkata giants East Bengal Club won the 2011 Super Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium tonight with a 9-8 sudden death victory against rivals Salgaocar SC, who over the last half year have taken top spot in the I-League and Federation Cup ahead of them.

It was not the best of Super Cup's as East Bengal tried their luck in attack, while Salgaocar took a more wait-and-watch approach allowing their Kolkata rivals space in midfield to combine; but chances on both sides were few with Scotsman Alan Gow having the best of them for the red-and-gold while Japanese Ryuji Sueoka for the Goans. Unlike in the Federation Cup final the East Bengal defence held a tight leash on Chidi Edeh, which hampered the chances of Salgaocar who couldn't play their game.

After 90 minutes there was no extra-time with the match going straight into a penalty shootout and there the stalemate continued with East Bengal's Gurpreet Singh Sandhu first denying Jasmal Singh Parmar, while Karanjit Singh blocked Reisangmi Vashum's shot. The 10th penalty for Salgaocar was hit by Irungbam Khelemba Singh onto the post, while youngster Saikat Saha Roy scored for East Bengal.

Tolgay Ozbey, Allan Gow, Robin Singh, Sanju Pradhan, Sushant Mathew, Khantang Paite, Nirmal Chetri, Uga Opara and Saikat Saha Roy converted for East Bengal, while Chidi Edeh, Ryuji Sueoka, Rocus Lamare, Rahul Kumar, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Francis Fernandes, Luciano Sabrosa and Tomba Singh scored for Salgaocar.

Thereafter it was celebration time for East Bengal and their legion of fans at the not so well attended match. The Kolkata giants won their third Super Cup as the first Indian club and received the prize money of Rs 1 Million (10 lakhs).


MATCH STATS

Salgaocar SC 0-0 East Bengal Club [penalties] - Goals: -.

Salgaocar SC
1- Karanjit Singh; 2-Jaspal Singh Parmar, 4-Irungbam Khelemba Singh, 20-Luciano Sobrosa [C], 14-Biswajit Saha (23-Rahul Kumar); 30-Francis Fernandes, 25-Rocus Lamare, 7-W Tomba Singh (5-Mehrajuddin Wadoo), 15-Ishfaq Ahmed; 11-Ryuji Sueoka, 10-Chidi Edeh

East Bengal Club
30-Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, 33-Saikat Saha Roy, 4-Uga Okpara [C], 25-Robert Lalthlamuana (19-Ravinder Singh); 12-Reisangmi Vashum (15-Sanju Pradhan), 17-Sushant Matthew, 18-Penn Ikechukwu Orji (20-Tolgay Ozbey), 11-Khanthang Paite; 10-Alan Gow, 23-Robin Singh

Referee
Pratap Singh (Uttarakhand)

Super Cup: Salgaocar look to add to their trophies

Salgaocar SC are on a role, though they did lose to Prayag United SC last week in the Durand Cup group stage, then the I-League champions added the Federation Cup title to their kitty last month. Now they face the former Fed Cup champions and I-League runners-up East Bengal Club in the Super Cup tomorrow.

For the Goans it will be the aim to retain their supremacy against their Kolkata rivals, whom they had beaten 3-1 in the 2011 Fed Cup final and earn the Rs 1 Million (10 lakhs) in prize money; while for both sides the Super Cup is the perfect dress rehearsal for the I-League which is set to kick-off over the upcoming weekend.

Salgaocar are on a high at the moment, but Coach Karim Bencharifa prefers to play it safe. "It's true we defeated them in the I-League and the Fed Cup, and the level of competition is very high between us. But there's no place for complacency and we are not taking anything for granted as they are a very strong team," Karim added.

East Bengal's strike force which comprises of Tolgay Ozbey and Alan Gow will stay a menace for most teams. But Bencharifa feels it best to concentrate on his team's strength. "It's our principle that we focus on our strength rather than focusing on the strength of our rival team. We need to find out our weak links and plug the holes," he maintained.

"Luckily, we don't have any injury woes confronting us," Karim finished.

East Bengal Club, who saw their Federation Cup dreams smashed by Salgaocar that too on their home turf will look to regain the momentum ahead of the I-League, something which Salgaocar will surely be wary of.

None can deny the presence of match-winners in the East Bengal side -- Robin Singh, Sanju Pradhan, Reisangmi Vashum and the foreign recruits - Australian Tolgay Ozbey and Scotsman Alan Gow -- are capable of settling the issue on their own. Despite Bencherifa dismissing them, Gow and Tolgay are East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan's best bet.

The red-and-gold stay a bit jittery for the tie – after all they have travelled a lot in the last few days after their return from a tournament in Vietnam. Trevor Morgan hopes the boys recover in time for the Super Cup.

The kick-off is slated for 19.00 IST and there will be live telecast from the game.

Super Cup: Ranty hattrick wins it for Dempo!

The Indian football season proper kicked-off yesterday with the Super Cup which I-League title holders Dempo Sports Club won 3-1 against the Federation Cup champions East Bengal Club. Nigerian striker Ranty Martins Soleye was the hero of the day for the Goans scoring all of Dempo's three goals in a 15 minute hattrick, but which did happen over the two halves.

There were high expectations from the game, but it never rose to any great heights though four goals were scored. For Dempo it was their second Super Cup triumph for which the Goans received Rs 1 Million (10 lakhs) as prize money. Interestingly Dempo had won their first Super Cup title over two years ago at the same venue against the same opponent in East Bengal, the score then 1-0.

East Bengal initially continued their good run of form, dictating terms and try to go ahead early in the contest. They succeeded in the 23rd minute when a Penn Ikechukwu Orji left-footer from outside the box went into the goal past young Laxmikant Kattimani. But thereafter the Kolkata giants committed some easy mistakes to not only bring Dempo's back into the game, but actually gift them the match. And the culprit for the red-and-gold was teenage goalkeeper Jayanta Pal, who in recent Calcutta Premier Division matches had shown his immense talent, but today he looked shaky throughout, maybe overawed by the occasion of a big match.

Dempo got the equaliser in the 34th minute when Jayanta and Sunil Kumar collided with the keeper unable to collect the ball and Ranty Martins Soleye was there to slot home. Only five minutes later Jayanta couldn't collect or properly clear an Ogba Kalu Nanna shot with Ranty lurking around to give Dempo's the lead. It stayed 2-1 at the break, but only four minutes into the second session Ranty would score his third to seal the match in favour of Dempo SC. This time the East Bengal defence was slow to react and an alert Ranty would score off a pass from Peter Carvalho.

It was 3-1 after only 49 minutes and East Bengal didn't really look as threathening as in the past few months as only a shot from substitute striker Tolgey Ozbey would worry Dempo keeper Laxmikant Kattimani. It stayed 3-1 for Dempo, who will take this win into the I-League starting in a couple of days. On the other side it will be interesting to see how Trevor Morgan's boys react to the second loss of the season ahead of the main aim, the I-League.


MATCH STATS

Dempo SC: 33-Laxmikant Kattimani; 5-Marcus Peixito, 3-John Charles Dias, 23-Dominic Noronha, 2-Debabrata Roy; 6-Peter Carvalho, 12-Ogba Kalu Nanna (20-Micky Fernandes), 22-Nicolau Borges, 30-Joe Rodrigues, 9-Ranty Martins Soleye, 29-Clifton Gonsalves (7-Godwin Diego Franco)
Substitutes: 21-Luis Xavier Barreto, 19-Johnny D'Cruz, 26-Covan Lawrence, 27-Cavin Lobo, 43-Jessel Carneiro

East Bengal Club: 31-Jayanta Pal; 33-Saikat Saha Roy (8-Thokchom Naoba Singh), 16-Gurwinder Singh, 5-Sunil Kumar Thakur, 2-Ravinder Singh; 11-Sanju Pradhan, 14-Mehtab Hussain, 17-Sushanth Mathew, 18-Penn Ikechukwu Orji (46' 9-Alvito D'Cunha); 23-Robin Singh, 35-Budhiram Tudu (46' 20-Tolgey Ozbey)
Substitutes: 24-Sandip Nandy, 27-Beingaichho Beokhokhai, 29-Soumik Dey, 37-Rajib Ghosh

Referee: Bikramjit Puryakastha (Delhi)
Assistant Referees: Deepak Singh (Delhi), Mohammed Kamil (Delhi)
Fourth Official: A. Rowan (Services)
Match Commissioner: J. Ravishankar (Delhi)

Super Cup: An interesting game on the cards

The Indian football season proper is finally set to kick-off with the Indian Super Cup to be played later today at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon. The match will see I-League champions Dempo Sports Club from Goa taking on Kolkata's East Bengal Club, who about a couple of months back had been crowned Federation Cup champions.

This year the Super Cup isn't the season ending match as it has been in the last few years, but it is the curtain raiser for the I-League which opens on Friday. The match will kick-off at 17.30 IST in Gurgaon and will be shown live by Bengali news channel 24 Ghanta.

An interesting match is on the cards. Armando Colaco's Dempo will want to show East Bengal that they are still the best team in India, while the red-and-gold will want to continue their great run from the Calcutta Premier Division and the Federation Cup to win their third title of the season.

Dempo will once more hope that Roberto Mendes Silva and Ranty Martins Soleye deliver for the Goans as numerous of their regular players like Anthony Pereira, Climax Lawrence, Mahesh Gawli and others are away on India duty. But it also gives younger players and new signings a chance to shine on the national stage.

Federation Cup champions East Bengal have named a 16 member squad for the Indian Super Cup match, but the Kolkata giants will miss the services of Australian Tolgay Ozbey due to injury. And that could hamper the red-and-gold in their quest for a third Super Cup title.


East Bengal Club - Squad

Goalkeepers: Jayanta Pal, Sandip Nandy; Defenders: Saikat Saha Roy, Naoba Singh, Uga Okpara, Gurwinder Singh, Sunil Kumar Thakur, Ravinder Singh, Soumik Dey; Midfielders: Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Mehtab Hossain, Penn Ikechukwu Orji, Beingaichho Beokhokhai, Alvito D'Cunha; Forwards: Robin Singh, Budhiram Tudu. Coach: Trevor Morgan.

Indian Super Cup: Now in Gurgaon

The Indian football season proper is finally set to kick-off with the Indian Super Cup to be played on Wednesday, December 1. But the AIFF has been forced to change the venue. As the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi won't be available the match has been shifted to the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in the Ch. Devi Lal Sports Complex in Sector 38, Gurgaon. The match will see I-League champions Dempo Sports Club from Goa taking on Kolkata's East Bengal Club, who only recently had been crowned Federation Cup champions.

And the reason why the Ambedkar Stadium isn't available? It is due to the fact that the stadium is booked and blocked for the Subroto Mukherjee Cup, India's national school football championship in the under-17 and under-14 age groups.

And it once more shows the lack of grading of importance to matches and tournaments. I feel somehow the AIFF and the Subroto Mukherjee Cup organisers should have been able to work out a formula to allow the Super Cup match to take place in Delhi on December 1. I also feel for the young boys playing in the Subroto Mukherjee Cup it would have been a nice experience to see such a top level match.

With the Subroto Mukherjee Cup set to continue for some time, the AIFF XI (India Under-20) team will have to play their I-League home matches in December 2010 in Gurgaon too. I am sure Desmond Bulpin wouldn't be happy about it.

Indian Super Cup on December 1

The Indian football season proper is finally set to kick-off with the Indian Super Cup to be played on Wednesday, December 1 at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi. The I-League champions Dempo Sports Club from Goa will take on Kolkata's East Bengal Club, who only recently had been crowned Federation Cup champions.

The Super Cup match day will also see individual and club awards being handed out for performances in last seasons I-League.

Dempo SC won their second I-League, fourth national championship title; while their Goan archrivals Churchill Brothers SC finished second ahead of surprise third place finishers, promoted Pune FC. And once more JCT have received the fair play award.


Here a list of individual awards

• Best Player: M. Mohammed Rafi (Mahindra United)


• Top Scorer: Odafe Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Brothers SC)


• Best Goalkeeper: Subrata Pal (Pune FC)


• Best Defender: Luciano Sabrosa (Salgaocar SC)


• Best Midfielder: Anthony Pereira (Dempo SC)


• Best Striker: Odafe Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Brothers SC)


• Best Coach: Armando Colaco (Dempo SC)