UEFA Europa League: Playoffs draw out

The draw for the final round of qualifiers for the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League was carried out earlier today in Nyon, Switzerland. There are some well known sides who are fighting to survive to play in continental competitions this season.

Last season finalists Athletic Bilbao from Spain face Finnish side HJK Helsinki, while former champions Liverpool FC take on another British team in Heart of Midlothian FC and while FC Vaslui host 2010 UEFA Champions League winners Inter Milan.

The UEFA Europa League qualifiers for the group stage will be played on August 23 and 30 with the group stage to be drawn on August 31 in Monaco.


UEFA Europa League - Play-off Round

FC Anzhi Makhachkala (RUSSIA) - AZ Alkmaar (NETHERLANDS)
APOEL FC (CYPRUS) - Neftçi PFK (AZERBAIJAN)
Atromitos FC (GREECE) - Newcastle United FC (ENGLAND)
Tromsø IL (NORWAY) - FK Partizan (SERBIA)
FC Vaslui (ROMANIA) - FC Internazionale Milano (ITALY)

Heart of Midlothian FC (SCOTLAND) - Liverpool FC (ENGLAND)
Athletic Club Bilbao (SPAIN) - HJK Helsinki (FINLAND)
CS Marítimo (PORTUGAL) - *FC Dila Gori (GEORGIA) or Anorthosis Famagusta (CYPRUS)
Molde FK (NORWAY) - sc Heerenveen (NETHERLANDS)
Debreceni VSC (HUNGARY) - Club Brugge KV (BELGIUM)

FC Sheriff (MOLDOVA) - Olympique de Marseille (FRANCE)
Trabzonspor AS (TURKEY) - Videoton FC (HUNGARY)
FC Midtjylland (DENMARK) - BSC Young Boys Bern (SWITZERLAND)
WKS Slask Wroclaw (POLAND) - Hannover 96 (GERMANY)
FC Dinamo Bucuresti (ROMANIA) - FC Metalist Kharkiv (UKRAINE)

AC Horsens (DENMARK) - Sporting Clube de Portugal (PORTUGAL)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISRAEL) - F91 Dudelange (LUXEMBOURG)
Feyenoord (NETHERLANDS) - AC Sparta Praha (CZECH REPUBLIC)
Motherwell FC (SCOTLAND) - Levante UD (SPAIN)
FK Crvena zvezda (SERBIA) - FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRANCE)

KSC Lokeren OV (BELGIUM) - FC Viktoria Plzen (CZECH REPUBLIC)
S.S. Lazio (ITALY) - ND Mura 05 (SLOVENIA)
AIK Solna (SWEDEN) - PFC CSKA Moskva (RUSSIA)
Legia Warszawa (POLAND) - Rosenborg Trondheim BK (NORWAY)
Bursaspor (TURKEY) - FC Twente Enschede (NETHERLANDS)

FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROMANIA) - FK Ekranas (LITHUANIA)
FC Slovan Liberec (CZECH REPUBLIC) - FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKRAINE)
VfB Stuttgart (GERMANY) - FC Dinamo Moskva (RUSSIA)
PAOK FC (GREECE) - SK Rapid Wien (AUSTRIA)
FC Luzern (SWITZERLAND) - KRC Genk (BELGIUM)
FK Zeta (MONTENEGRO) - PSV Eindhoven (NETHERLANDS)

*Subject to the CDB decision

Tata Tea Jaago Re: 16 boys selected for Milan trip

Sixteen school footballers from India in the under-15 age group have been selected from the Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars to represent India at a youth football tournament in the Italian city of Milan in September 2012 besides getting training at Inter Milan.

This season Italian giants Internazionale Milan were the new partners of fifth season of the Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars program. In the national finals in Shillong the top 16 schools from across India took part after 15 zonal qualification tournaments were held with over 6,500 childen from close to 1,100 schools taking part.

Youngster Yami Longwah from Shillong said, "We are very excited to play with the famous club Inter Milan. I always dreamt of playing at a club like Inter. It is a dream come true for me."

In total 38 children were identified from all the tournaments by head scout Jamshid Nassiri, the Iranian who is a former Kolkata Maidan star, and his scouting team for the coaching camp with local and Inter Milan coaches Marco Monti and Massimo Ciocci. In the end after a week long training camp in Kolkata 16 boys were chosen from this group to represent India in the international youth tournament in Milan, Italy.

"This has emerged as India's biggest talent hunt in five years. Our association with Inter Milan gives these youngsters access to top coaching and an opportunity to go to Milan for a worldclass football experience," said Vikram Grover, vice-president marketing, Tata Global Beverages.


Selected INDIA U-15 Boys

Goalkeepers
Frolic Sondkhar (Shillong), Garry Kynta (Shillong)

Defenders
Nishu Kumar (Chandigarh), Gursevak Singh (Ludhiana, Captain), Banpynkhrawnam Nongkhlaw (Shillong), Yami Longvah (Shillong)

Midfielders
Prakash Nayak (Bhubaneswar), Praneet Purohit (Delhi), Lalrintluanja (Shillong), Raju Biswas (Kolkata), Bonti Mondal (Kolkata), Premananda Singho (Kolkata)

Forwards
Saurav T.P. (Calicut), Yash Sardesai (Pune), Aswini Bhola (Lucknow), Machung Tshering Bhutia (Gangtok)

Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars: Shillong school win!

The national finals of the fifth season of the all-India Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars was held in Shillong with local side O.M. Roy Memorial Secondary School winning the final 2-0 against HRDC Army Boys School from Lucknow at the Polo grounds.

This season Italian giants Internazionale Milan were the new partners of Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars program. In the national finals the top 16 schools from across India took part after 15 zonal qualification tournaments were held with over 7,000 childen from 700 schools taking part.

Obadaiah Bareh of O.M. Roy Memorial Secondary School, Shillong was named as the 'Most Valuable Player' of the tournament and also finished as the top scorer of the national finals. The Best Goalkeeper award went to Amit Khawas of HRDC Army Boys School, Lucknow; while the Skill's contest was won by Yami Longvah of the Shillong Academy H.S.S, Shillong.

In total 38 children have been identified from all the tournaments by head scout Jamshid Nassiri and his scouting team for the coaching camp with local and Inter Milan coaches. 16 children would be chosen from this group to represent India in an international youth tournament in Milan, Italy.

Jaago Re 2012: Don Bosco Matunga win Mumbai-leg

The fifth season of the all-India Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars was held in Mumbai yesterday. More than 66 schools and over 660 children participated in the tournament, which was won by Don Bosco school from Matunga.

The Mumbai winners will go on to compete in the national finals in Shillong with 14 other teams from different cities and states from across the country. The under-15 talent hunt is an initiative by Tata Tea in partnership with Italian side FC Internazionale Milano (Inter Milan).

With participation from over 5,300 students and over 520 schools from 11 cities so far, the Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars initiative will cover four more cities across the country before the national finals. This initiative was started in 2007, with an aim to identify and nurture grassroot level football talent in India and put them on a global platform. Until last season EPL side Arsenal FC were partners, since this edition Inter Milan has joined hands with Tata Tea.

Ritwik Punja from Don Bosco (Matunga) and Mohammed Kashif Ansari from Antonio D'Souza High School were selected from Mumbai for the All-India Camp in Kolkata in May 2012.

Individual Awards distributed at the Mumbai Leg
- Best Goalkeeper: Jimit Shah (St Joseph High School, Wadala)
- Most Valuable Player: Tanishq Shetty (St Lawrence, Borivali)
- Highest Goalscorer: Mohammed Kashif Ansari (Antonio D'Souza High School)
- Skills Contest: Prem Sagar (St Teresa's, Bandra)

Deloitte Football Money League: Real Madrid top once more!

The Deloitte Football Money League 2010/11 has been released with Spanish giants Real Madrid topping the league table of the world's 20 highest earning football clubs for the seventh straight year, according to auditing firm Deloitte.

For the first time the combined revenues of the 20 biggest football clubs in the world has crossed the 4 billion Euros mark and now stands at 4,3 billion Euros an increase of 8,3 percent with all these clubs coming out of Europe. England remains the most represented with six out of the top 20 clubs from the Premier League, five from Italy, four from Germany, three from Spain plus two from France.

Once more Spain's big two are the highest revenue earners in world football. Though playing second fiddle to FC Barcelona in the Spanish league and on the European stage Real Madrid have been able to increase their revenues by 40.9 million Euros from the previous season to now an impressive 479,5 million Euros with Barca 28,8 million Euros behind. But the Catalans could once more close the gap over their archrivals.

German Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04 are the biggest movers as they move from 16th place into the Top 10 for the first time due to their UEFA Champions League semifinal appearance and winning the German Cup as their budget rose from 139,8 to 202,4 million Euros.

Atlético de Madrid, VfB Stuttgart and Aston Villa dropped out of the Top 20; while Borussia Dortmund, FC Valencia and SSC Napoli entered this elite group of football clubs.


Deloitte Football Money League - 2009/2010 Top 20

01. (01) Real Madrid 479,5 million Euros
02. (02) FC Barcelona 450,7 million Euros
03. (03) Manchester United 367,0 million Euros
04. (04) FC Bayern Munich 321,4 million Euros
05. (05) FC Arsenal London 251,1 million Euros
06. (06) FC Chelsea London 249,8 million Euros
07. (07) AC Milan 235,1 million Euros
08. (09) Inter Milan 211,4 million Euros
09. (08) FC Liverpool 203,3 million Euros
10. (16) FC Schalke 04 202,4 million Euros
11. (12) Tottenham Hotspurs 181,0 million Euros
12. (11) Manchester City 169,6 million Euros
13. (10) Juventus Torino 153,9 million Euros
14. (15) Olympique Marseille 150,4 million Euros
15. (18) AS Roma 143,5 million Euros
16. (--) Borussia Dortmund 138,5 million Euros
17. (14) Olympique Lyonnais 132,8 million Euros
18. (13) Hamburger SV 128,8 million Euros
19. (--) FC Valencia 116,8 million Euros
20. (--) SSC Napoli 114,9 million Euros

Jaago Re Soccer Stars 2012: Switch from Arsenal to Inter Milan!

Tata Global Beverages Limited, the world's second largest tea company, has announced a new European football club partner for their grassroot football campaign 'TATA TEA Jaago Re Soccer Stars'. In the fifth edition of the school competition Italian giants Internazionale Milan will replace English Premier League side FC Arsenal.

The fifth edition is set to kick-off in December 2011 with the Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars initiative covering 15 cities across the length and breadth of the country with participants from over 1,000 schools. This initiative was started in 2007, with an aim to identify and nurture grassroot level football talent in India and put them on a global platform.

Announcing the fifth season, Sanjiv Sarin, Regional President - South Asia, Tata Global Beverages, said, "Since inception TATA TEA Soccer Stars has grown many folds and gone onto become the country's most comprehensive football development program at the grassroot level. This year the TATA Tea Soccer Stars program is adding a new dimension and experience with the historic tie-up with FC Internazionale Milan, one of the world's most successful football clubs. This tie-up not only brings with it the club's massive history and tradition but also gives the children a new and exciting opportunity to learn from one of the most successful football systems in the world."

Commenting on the initiative Internazionale Milan CEO Ernesto Paolillo said, "It is an honour for us to partner with Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars to further the development of Indian football at youth level. Our aim is to train these high caliber and passionate footballers, and help them make a mark in this global sport. I am sure this initiative will engage a diverse youth and awaken the true soccer spirit of the country."

This edition will be held across 15 cities and it is expected to attract upto 15,000 respondents from over 1,000 schools. The overwhelming response in the past has encouraged Tata Tea to move into deeper pockets of the country.

The key highlights of this season are

- It is an all-India football tournament played across four zones and 15 cities for school students aged between 10 and 15 years
- The winning team of each zone will qualify for the finals at Shillong
- 15 teams compete in the national final to decide the All India Champion Team
- 30 of the most talented children get selected for further coaching by Internazionale Milan and Indian coaches
- The final 16 will represent India at a youth friendly tournament in Milan, Italy