Indicast Podcast: Goa vs Bengal in Football

Kolkata & Goa share the love for two F words: fish & football. The names that flash across the mind immediately on the mention of football in India are East Bengal & Mohun Bagan (not necessarily in that order). However, the fact is that Goan teams that have ruled the roost & sustained the tag of India's champions in the last several years. The state seems to attract the best talent, the best coaches, the top goal scorers. In Kolkata, something must be amiss somewhere. We are trying to put a finger on it.

In this one we have Mark Rodricks with us as the Goa expert for the Goa side of things. Mark is a FA level 1 licensed coach, plying his trade in Pune. We plan to penetrate into Kolkata football in the next episode.



Listen Online (64 kbps) : ~ 34 mins





Here the direct link to the Indicast Podcast page: Sportsbench Podcast



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Armando Colaco calls 42 Players as probables

The AIFF today released a list of 42 players who have been asked to report for the preparatory camp for India's 2014 FIFA World Cup - Asian Qualifier against the United Arab Emirates. The camp will begin in New Delhi from June 15, while the matches are slated for July 23 in Abu Dhabi (away match) and July 28 in New Delhi (home tie).

13 senior players have been left out of the squad amongst them Baichung Bhutia, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Surkumar Singh, Anwar, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Govin Singh, N.S. Manju, Renedy Singh, N.P. Pradeep, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Jagpreet Singh, Mohammed Rafi and Abhishek Yadav.

Armando Colaco explained why, "I have full respect for the Seniors and am aware of their contribution for Indian football. Obviously, it was a very difficult decision for me. I relied on present form and building a team for the future. Players who have played well in the I-League have been preferred over others."

In addition to the 42 players named goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya and midfielder Anthony Pereira will also be a part of the camp as part of their ongoing rehabilitation process.

The footballers who are a part of India's Olympic campaign against Qatar will be joining the camp after the return leg on June 23.


INDIA Probables

Goalkeepers
Subrata Pal (Pune FC), Jagroop Singh (Indian Arrows), Sandip Nandy (East Bengal Club), Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar SC), Laxmikant Kattimani (Dempo SC)

Defenders
Gouramangi Singh (Churchill Brothers SC), Denzil Franco (Churchill Brothers SC), Robert Lalthlamuana (Churchill Brothers SC), Rowilson Rodrigues (Churchill Brothers SC), Thokchom Naoba Singh (East Bengal Club), Gurwinder Singh (East Bengal Club), Raju Eknath Gaikwad (Indian Arrows), Khangembam Singh (Salgaocar SC), Valeriano Rebello (Dempo SC), Debabrata Roy (Dempo SC), Sameer Naik (Dempo SC), Mahesh Gawli (Dempo SC), Nalappan Mohanraj (Mohun Bagan AC), Rakesh Masih (Mohun Bagan AC)

Midfielders
Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal Club), Syed Rahim Nabi (East Bengal Club), Harmanjot Khabra (East Bengal Club), Steven Benedic Dias (Churchill Brothers SC), Jewel Raja Sheikh (Indian Arrows), Khangembam Jibon Singh (Indian Arrows), Shilton D'Silva (Indian Arrows), Lalrindika Ralte (Indian Arrows), Gilbert Oliviera (Salgaocar SC), Francis Fernandes (Salgaocar SC), Anthony Barbosa (Salgaocar SC), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar SC), Baldeep Singh (Salgaocar SC), Peter Carvalho (Dempo SC), Climax Lawrence (Dempo SC), Clifford Miranda (Dempo SC); Xavier Vijayakumar (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC)

Forwards
Sunil Chhetri (Chirag United SC), Jeje Lalpekhlua (Indian Arrows), Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC), C.S. Sabeeth (Viva Kerala), P.K. Anil Kumar (Viva Kerala), Sushil Kumar Singh (East Bengal Club)

Officials
Armando Colaco (Chief Coach), Savio Medeira (Assistant Coach), Marcus Pacheco (Goalkeeping Coach)

Karim fulfils Indian Dream!

Moroccan Karim Bencharifa has finally fulfilled his dream of winning the I-League title with Salgaocar Sports Club! The Goans won their final game of the 2010/11 season against JCT in Ludhiana on May 30 to ensure that none of the other contenders could catch them.

What makes this title so special not only for Karim, but for the players and Salgaocar SC as a club is the fact that this is a team of mainly talented youngsters and an experienced bunch of foreigners in Brazilian Luciano Sabrosa, Japanese Ryuji Sueoka and Ghanian Yakubu Yusif.

"This triumph means a lot to me, my players, staff and management. I would also like to dedicate this triumph to the Salgaocar fans. They were really behind us, especially at home and that helped us a lot," said an overjoyed Karim.

For Karim the title came in year five of his coaching stint in India. After two years with Churchill Brothers SC (2006-08), close to two years at Mohun Bagan (2008-10) and over a year at Salgaocar SC (2010 - ...), he has finally won the title on the third attempt. At all three clubs he has build teams from scratch and he did it around strong foreigners, seasoned locals and give young Indians a chance to launch their career.

Be it Gouramangi Singh, Arindam Bhattacharya, Govin Singh at Churchill Brothers; Manish Maithani and others at Mohun Bagan, now Gilbert Oliveira, Cajetan Fernandes, Anthony Barbosa and Francis Fernandes at Salgaocar. Karim has the eye to pick young talent and give them playing time to prove their worth to him.

I remember a conversation we had in February 2011 in Kolkata. Karim said at the time his ambition was to finish amongst the top three this year and then challenge for the title next season. It seems he was beaten by his own plans.

My heartiest congratulations to my friend Karim! You deserve it...

Mohun Bagan sign prize catch Odafe Okolie

The transfer of the summer in Indian football is through on day one itself! Asia's oldest football club Mohun Bagan AC have signed Nigerian striker Odafe Onyeka Okolie from Churchill Brothers SC on a one year contract with the biggest ever paid salary in Indian football.

For years Mohun Bagan and city rivals East Bengal Club, but especially the green-and-maroon have been trying to lure Odafe back to Kolkata. It was in the City of Joy that Odafe's journey in Indian football had started when he was signed by Mohammedan Sporting Club, but it didn't work out so Odafe had to join smaller Kolkata side Peerless SC. He soon left for Bangladesh only to be brought back to India by Churchill Brothers SC in 2006 in their quest to get back into the old NFL. It worked and Odafe would go on to be top scorer of the NFL/I-League in the coming four years. Only this year he was beaten by fellow Nigerian Ranty Martins Soleye to the top scorers crown with won he had shared the title in his first year.

For Mohun Bagan June 1, 2011 was a big day at the club's Maidan Tent then Odafe was introduced to the media as a Mohun Bagan player by general secretary Anjan Mitra and finance secretary Debasish Dutta only after he had arrived in the city from Goa.

"It's a great day in the club's history," Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra said during Wednesday's unveiling.

Odafe said at the press conference, "I had a great time in Churchill Brothers and Alemao is like my father. I am sure Mohun Bagan officials will treat me properly and I will have a great time here. I will make sure that Mohun Bagan win lot of trophies in the coming season."

And speaking about playing alongside Brazilian Jose Ramirez Barreto, who is an institution at Mohun Bagan, Odafe said "He is great player. I’ll be really happy to play with him!"

Odafe is said to be getting a salary of Rs. 16 Million (1,6 crores) plus a flat at High Land Park and a luxurious BMW. All this will put a lot of pressure on Odafe not only to perform and score goals, but win trophies for Mohun Bagan who did not win anything in the 2010/11 season.

Indicast Podcast: FIFA is Dead. Long Live Football

I join Nani from Zurich, the venue for the FIFA presidential election. Football lovers from around the world are shocked and concerned after news reports which announced that some FIFA officials received bribes for handing out World Cup bids. In this short podcast, we give a ground zero update from the media centre.



Listen Online (64 kbps) : ~ 11 mins





Here the direct link to the Indicast Podcast page: Sportsbench Podcast



Follow me on Facebook: Arunava Chaudhuri Fanpage

Follow me on Twitter: @Arunfoot

Follow me on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/arunavaaboutfootball

Postponed I-League Games: HAL avoid the drop, East Bengal finish second

June 1 was an I-League match day for postponed Round 24 & 25 matches. The matches had been postponed due to Dempo's and East Bengal's AFC Cup commitments. In the end HAL avoided the drop with a 4-2 win against Dempo SC while East Bengal secured second spot with a small Kolkata derby win against Chirag United.


Match by Match Short Review
Round 24
01-Jun-2011: Dempo SC 2-4 (2-1) HAL, Bangalore (in Goa)
HAL scored a vital 4-2 comeback win against now former champions Dempo SC in Goa to retain their place in the I-League. HAL like Air India, JCT and ONGC finished on 24 points; but they survive the drop due to a better head-to-head record against JCT and ONGC, who have to go down to the 2nd Division. Dempo finished third with 50 points from 26 matches.
Only two days after having trashed Air India 14-0, Dempo were out playing again in their final league match with only second spot to play for. HAL took an 11th minute lead through former Dempo striker R.C. Prakash, but Dempo hit back with Ranty Martins Soleye scoring a brace in the 25th and 42nd minute to take his tally to an incredible 30 goals this I-League season.
After the break HAL would make an unbelievable comeback. First Xavier Vijayakumar would get the equaliser five minutes into the second session and it was once more Vijayakumar to give HAL a shock 68th minute lead. Dempo went all out to get the equaliser, but instead Valeriano Rebello scored an own goal in the 87th minute to ensure HAL's victory and their top tier status. After the final whistle it was celebration time in the HAL camp.

Here all I-League Round 24 match reports

Round 25
01-Jun-2011: East Bengal Club 2-1 (2-0) Chirag United SC (in Kolkata)
East Bengal Club ended their season with a 2-1 win against local rivals Chirag United SC at the Saltlake Stadium, Kolkata. With the win East Bengal leapfrogged past Dempo SC and Churchill Brothers SC into the second spot with 51 points from 26 matches, which will bring some smiles back to Trevor Morgan and his boys. Chirag United ended their season on 29 points as eighth in the season.
East Bengal took a 18th minute lead from a Susanth Mathew goal, while Australian striker Tolgay Ozbey made it 2-0 in the 38th minute. Chirag United's Sunil Chhetri was only able to reduce the deficit in the 63rd minute as the match ended 2-1 in favour of East Bengal.

Here all I-League Round 25 match reports


Click here for the 4th I-League 2010/11 - League Table & Fixtures .

Hamburger SV looking at Chelsea talent

This summer German Bundesliga side Hamburger SV is looking at young talent coming out of FC Chelsea London. The reason is simple then the new HSV Director of Sports is Frank Arnesen, who until recently was the chief scout and Technical Director at the English Premier League club. And Arnesen knows that big spending Chelsea have young talent which isn't good enough for the Blues but would surely strengthen a new, rebuilding Hamburg.

Arnesen was in England over the weekend to speak to his former club, players of interest and their agents to convince them to move to the North German club. Hamburg are in the process of rebuilding their team for the new season as costly players like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ze Roberto and Frank Rost are being off-loaded as the club has to reduce their wage bill.

The first signing was officially announced yesterday in England Under-21 international Michael Mancienne, who has penned a four year contract with HSV. Chelsea are getting a transfer fee of around 2 Million Euros for the defender and defensive midfielder, but 23 year old Mancienne has played most of the last three years on loan at EPL rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Frank Arnesen said on the signing, "I knew Michael from my time at Chelsea, I have followed his progress over the years and I know he has great potential."

Mancienne said, "Hamburg is a huge club with a fantastic tradition and supporters. It's a big challenge to be able to play for them."

And Mancienne could only be the first of a few Chelsea starlets who could join Hamburg over the summer. The next on the list is 19 year old Dutch defender Jeffrey Bruma, but he is currently away with the Netherlands on an international tour to South America and is said to be undecided on the next step in his career.

Hamburg might also try and work out a deal with Chelsea where young talent is loaned to the German club as they are said to be interested in English teenager Joshua McEachran, French midfielder Gaël Kakuta and Italian Fabio Borini.