AFC Cup: East Bengal held by Selangor, but go through to knockout stage

Kolkata giants East Bengal Club were held to a late two-all draw by Selangor FA in their fifth AFC Cup Group H match at the Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor. The red-and-gold dropped two points, but the one point gained was enough to seal their passage to the AFC Cup pre-quarterfinals as they stay top of their group on 11 points.

The hosts made a lively start amid wet conditions and they could have taken the lead when Michal Kubala fired in a low shot from 25 metres that forced goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu into a diving save. But it was the visitors who took the lead in the 23rd minute after Chidi Edeh attempted to burst through the middle of the Selangor defence but his progress was halted and the ball ricocheted off a Selangor defender to Orji, who took the ball into space on the left of the box before firing it between the legs of keeper Sharbinee Allawee Ramli. Selangor went close to levelling the score in the 35th minute when Raimi Mohammed Nor fired a shot across the face of the East Bengal goal that was just too far in front of a lurking Ramzul Adenan and the home side suffered a blow when Kubala had to be taken off injured just before half-time.

Things got worse early in the second half when Lalrindika Ralte fired home at the third attempt in the 54th minute after Chidi's shot had been saved by Sharbinee and Orji had his effort cleared by a defender. East Bengal looked to head for an easy victory before substitute striker Manandeep Singh saw red for a late sliding tackle on Kunanlan just minutes after he had come on.

Selangor had offered little in attack until then but they came out of their shell as in the 79th minute Shukor Jusoh fired a fierce rising shot from 25 metres that found the top corner of the net despite Gurpreet getting a touch to the ball. Now the home team moved forward in search of an equaliser in the closing stages and Kunanlan forced a good save out of Gurpreet before the Red Giants got the equaliser deep into injury-time. With almost all of the East Bengal players dropping back into their box to defend an Amri Yahyah free-kick, the ball was played instead to an unmarked Aizuddin, whose low drive from 30 metres went through a crowd of players and flashed past Gurpreet to secure a point for the home side.

With the win East Bengal moved into a continental knockout stage for the first time since 2004 and if they avoid a defeat against Vietnam's Sai Gon Xuan Thanh next week at home, then they will finish top of Group H.


East Bengal Club
30-Gurpreet Singh Sandhu - 7-Harmanjot Singh Khabra (79' 8-Thokchom Naoba Singh), 4-Uga Okpara, 16-Gurwinder Singh, 25-Robert Lalthalmuana - 35-Ishfaq Ahmed, 14-Mehtab Hossain [C], 18-Penn Ikechukwu Orji, 21-Lalrindika Ralte - 27-Andrew Barisic (74' 26-Manandeep Singh), 10-Chidi Edeh (89' 6-Baljit Singh Sahni)

AFC Cup: Churchill Brothers held to 2-2 draw by Semen Padang

I-League side Churchill Brothers SC were held to a two-all draw by Indonesian club Semen Padang FC in their Group E Round 2 match of the AFC Cup at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune yesterday afternoon.

After their opening round loss against Kitchee SC, the Red Machines were not really happy to pick-up a point as coach Mariano Dias said, "I am not happy with the game and we should have won this match. Their second goal was a gift. Our Goalkeeper is not to be blamed fore the second goal as there were two defensive mistakes and Beto was at his best."

India captain Sunil Chhetri had given Churchill Brothers the lead in the 27th minute, but just nine minutes later Hendra Adi Bayauw levelled the scores for Semen Padang FC and then on the stroke of half-time Muhammad Rizal put the visitors in front. After the break in the 57th minute young Bikramjit Singh struck the equaliser to ensure that the Red Machines keep a point.

"The next match we have to play well and win. the second half was bettter. (Lamine) Tamba has to combine well with the other defenders. Today's game was good and we should have won today's game," Mariano Dias added.

After the match Semen Padang coach Jafri Sastrak said, "I am happy with one point. About the injured goalkeeper - he is awake now, but cannot remember the match and one point is a good result."

"Number 10 (Beto) and 47 (Sunil Chhetri) of Churchill Brothers were really good," Jafri Sastrak added.

AFC Cup: Churchill Brothers face Semen Padang tomorrow!

I-League side Churchill Brothers SC will face Indonesian side Semen Padang in their Group E Round 2 match of the AFC Cup at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune tomorrow. After their opening round loss against Kitchee SC, the Red Machines will hope for a better result this time around.

The Goan side could miss the services of Indian international Lenny Rodrigues and T. Bineesh Balan due to light niggles, but will certainly miss Afghanistan striker Belal Arezou who has still not arrived in India due to visa issues while Gabon striker Henri Antchouet had to fly back to Portugal for personal reasons.

Meanwhile Semen Padang are missing all four of their foreigners. One is injured, while three players faced issues with their Indian visas.

At the pre-match press conference coach Mariano Dias said about the opponent, "haven't seen them (Semen Padang) play however we have read newspaper reports and know that they are a strong side and are top of the Indonesian league."

"And yes the travelling is very hectic, it does take its toll on our players, however that is part of football and we must deal with it in a positive way and go out there and try to win the match tomorrow."

"The AFC Cup provides our players with the opportunity to improve their game by playing against good foreign sides," Mariano further added.

Churchill Brothers captain Beto said, "It is my dream and a huge challenge to win the AFC Cup for an Indian side. Although we lost the first match, I am confident that our team will play a better game tomorrow and hopeful of three points."

When asked about the partnership with Sunil Chhetri, Beto said, "this is not the first time we have played together, we played at Mohun Bagan, we also played together at Dempo, I am sure we will combine well and help our team get all three points."

Meanwhile the Semen Padang coach Jafri Sastrak said, "we have travelled a long way and are hopeful that we will take home all three points. We will be missing all four foreigners tomorrow, one injury and three visa problems, however we are confident that our local players will give their all and help us win."

"We have watched some match footage on YouTube and look at Sunil Chhetri and Beto has the main threats."

About the stay in India he added, "it has been brilliant so far, we would like to thank Churchill Brothers for their hospitality!"

The AFC statement on Lebanon match-fixing case

The Asian Football Confederation has received the summary report from the Lebanese Football Association on their investigations and subsequent action against involvement of Lebanese players in match-fixing. AFC has also requested the Lebanese Football Association to provide the full investigation report.

The Lebanese Football Association has informed the Member Associations of India, Malaysia and Indonesia of sanctions on Lebanese players plying their trade in these countries. As per Article 140 of the AFC Disciplinary Code "a sanction imposed by a Member Association has the same effect in each Member Association of AFC as if the sanction had been imposed by any one of them".

The three players who are playing outside Lebanon are: Mahmoud El Ali (Persiba Balipapan, Indonesia), Ramez Dayoub (Selangor FA, Malaysia) and Akram Moghrabi (Churchill Brothers SC, India).

It is interesting to note that Akram Moghrabi just a few days ago left Churchill Brothers SC


The AFC has no knowledge on any suspicion surrounding Lebanon's any of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.

The AFC would like to congratulate the Lebanese Football Association for carrying out the investigation and imposing sanctions on its players and would continue to support such initiatives by our Member Associations.

The AFC has also set up an internal task force to educate the Member Associations on ways and measures to combat this menace and monitor and coordinate with everyone involved to fight match-fixing in AFC competitions.

MUPC Under-15 India-leg: Chandigarh Football Academy champions!

The Chandigarh Football Academy are the champions of the seventh edition of the Indian-leg of the Manchester United Premier Cup Under-15 tournament. In the final they beat PIFA from Mumbai 2-0 in extra-time through two goals from Samuel Lalmuanpuia at the Sesa Football Academy ground in Sirsaim, Goa.

Chandigarh Football Academy will now go on to represent India in the Southeast Asia qualifiers in Indonesia later this month to face teams from the host nation, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore with the winner of that tournament getting a place at the global finals in Manchester this summer.

This year the Indian-leg of the Manchester United Premier Cup Under-15 tournament was held under a new format. There were state qualifiers and then a North-East-Northeast Zone qualifiers played in Jamshedpur while the South-West teams played their championship in Goa. While Chandigarh Football Academy won the Jamshedpur-leg, it was PIFA who won in Goa.

"Over the years, Nike MUPC is serving as a platform to identify young talent. This is at the core of our brand to promote the sport," Nike marketing director Avinash Pant told the media.

Former India captain Baichung Bhutia, who was present at the finals, said the tournament will continue to be a platform for young footballers to showcase their talent and also for clubs to scout young talent.