Euro2012: Win chance to hand over 'Carlsberg Man of the Match Award'

The Indian division of Danish brewery Carlsberg, who are one of the tournament sponsors of the UEFA European Championship 2012 in Poland and the Ukraine, has launched a unique 'Carlsberg Man of the Match Award' campaign in India. Through a digitally run contest, participants will battle it out for a place in history - to win an exclusive chance to present the 'Carlsberg Man of the Match' Award at the UEFA Euro 2012™ semifinal match in the Polish capital Warsaw on June 28.

To win this unique opportunity, participants just have to log on to www.facebook.com/Carlsberg and answer a set of seven questions to showcase themselves as 'The Biggest Football Fanatic'. The consumers' creativity and wackiness to answer, 'What would you do to present the Carlsberg Man of the Match Award' is the final test of the participant's passion and commitment towards the sport. The winner from the Top 5 finalists will be announced in the third week of May.

Commenting on the contest Carlsberg India's Marketing Director Subodh Marwah said, "The Carlsberg Man of the Match Award initiative and our association with UEFA Euro 2012 marks yet another milestone in Carlsberg's commitment towards promoting sporting excellence and rewarding fans across India. Through this initiative we will give an opportunity of a lifetime to one lucky Indian to present the prestigious Carlsberg Man of the Match Award at the UEFA Euro 2012 in Poland! For years the UEFA Euro has been receiving great enthusiasm from football fans across the globe and 2012 is just getting bigger. What's exciting to see is how India's appetite for football has grown tremendously over the past few years and it gives us great pride to be able to give Indian fans a chance to be part of the Euro mania."

Carlsberg Group has a strong connection with European football and have shown big commitment to fans, supporters and lovers of football for almost a decade now. Carlsberg India launched the Euro2012 campaign with the unveiling of the official UEFA Euro 2012 Trophy that witnessed great enthusiasm from football enthusiasts in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. Continuing their efforts to grip the growing football mania in the country, Carlsberg India has launched the 'Carlsberg Man of the Match Award' contest which is unique and exclusive in its nature.

This year, the UEFA EURO 2012™ will be held for the first time in Eastern Europe – in the exciting growth markets of Poland and the Ukraine - from June 8 to July 1, 2012.

MUPC Under-15 Zonal Round kicks-off today

The seventh edition of the Indian-leg of the Manchester United Premier Cup Under-15 tournament of the global youth football tournament has been ongoing with the state qualifiers with the Zonal qualifiers kicking-off in Jamshedpur today. The tournament hosted jointly by the All India Football Federation and Nike India is being held across the country.

The qualifiers for the North, Northeast and East are being held on two grounds within the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur with Tata Steel along with the Jharkhand Football Association organising the tournament.

Under-15 teams from Assam, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Orissa, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will face each other in group and knockout matches until May 5 with the best teams making it to the national finals in Goa.

The qualifiers for the South and West Zone will be played from May 7 at the Sesa Football Academy grounds in Goa.

This season there has been some controversy around the format of the Indian-leg of the Manchester United Premier Cup Under-15 tournament with the AIFF allowing only one entry per state and then in Maharashtra a draw of lots was carried out to decide the participant in the zonal finals, while in other states a tournament was played to decide who would represent that specific state.

Now the tournament is on its way with the Zonal phase with the best under-15 teams set to face each other in Goa from May 10 for a place in the Southeast Asia finals to be played in Indonesia in late-May 2012.

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.

AIFF's First Regional Academy opens in Navi Mumbai

The first All India Football Federation's Regional Academy in collaboration with FIFA opened at the Father Agnel School premises in Vashi, Navi Mumbai earlier today. Twenty Under-15 boys including two goalkeepers will be a part of the Residential Academy at the School premises.

Scott O'Donell, Technical Director of the AIFF Regional and Elite Academies conducted the first training session which was more of 'fun than intensive training'.

"It's imperative that the boys settle down. Hence, we will stress on fun sessions for the first few days. Form thereon, we move into intense training," Scott O'Donell, stressed.

Colm Toal, Head Coach of the AIFF Youth Development and National Team Coach Savio Medeira were also part of the first training session.

"The Academies would provide the National Coach more options when he sits down to choose the Indian squad in the future," Colm Toal maintained.

"This was long due," Savio commented. "All India Football Federation's effort is laudable indeed."

The AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said, "The future of Indian football lies in the youth. This is AIFF's first Regional Academy and we stay committed to open more Regional Academies."

"The entire focus stays on creating World Class Players for the future," he added.

Father Saturnino Almeida, Managing Director of Father Agnel Schools who has been running from pillar to post to get everything in perfect shape, said "the Academy is all about the future!"

"This is a fantastic opportunity where two social institutions of India come together to serve the future of the country in Academies and Football," the Father explained.

Former Indian international Aqeel Ansari will be the Assistant Coach at the Academy while Ms. Sonika Sudan has been appointed as the Physiotherapist and Shailesh Karkera has been appointed the Academy Manager.

ONGC win Mumbai Elite Division!

ONGC are the champions of Mumbai! The Oilmen after having gained promotion to the I-League a couple of weeks back in Gangtok now won the title of the local Mumbai Elite Division yesterday with a 4-1 victory against Central Railway at the Father Agnel's ground in Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

The hero of the day was young striker Kailash Patel who scored a hattrick while Joel Sequeira added a fourth. The lone goal for the Railmen was scored by Dennis George.

With these three points ONGC finished their league engagements on 21 points to clinch their first-ever top tier Mumbai Football League title. Indian Navy finished second on 20 points ahead of Akbar Travels and Mumbai Customs on 19 points each with Akbar Travels in third due to their superior goal difference.

ONGC as champions received Rs 100,000 (1 lakh), while the Indian Navy got Rs 50,000 as runners-up and Akbar Travels will get Rs 25,000 for their third place finish.

United Sikkim FC to hold trials in Kolkata

Newly promoted I-League side United Sikkim FC will hold open trials for their first team on May 4/5 (Friday/Saturday) at the East Bengal Club ground on the Kolkata Maidans to unearth and find new talent.

The trials will be conducted by the United Sikkim FC head coach Philippe 'Indi' de Ridder, who is searching for as he termed it 'Players ready to be Lions and Tigers on the field'.

The club co-owned by Baichung Bhutia plans further such trials in other parts of India with the best talent/performers at the trials set to be invited for a final round of trials in Gangtok. And if successful then the player(s) would be inducted into the United Sikkim FC team.

To register for the trials and for further information contact 98300-13990 or 98747-37237.

FC Cologne confirm Podolski joining FC Arsenal

The transfer of German international Lukas Podolski from his home club FC Cologne (1.FC Köln) to English Premier League side FC Arsenal was finally confirmed by both the clubs yesterday, weeks after the news had first come out in the media of both Germany and England. The exact transfer fee was not disclosed.

FC Cologne will be losing their own son and their identity as many say, but for Podolski personally moving to Arsenal under a coach like Arsene Wenger is a wise career move then moving back to Cologne in 2009 after three years in Bayern Munich has only been about stagnation for a player who should be regularly playing UEFA Champions League.

Podolski with his 18 goals has scored close to half of Cologne's 38 goals this season, but still the club will have to see what happens on the last match day against Bayern Munich and if they can retain the relegation playoff spot.

The timing of the announcement wasn't the best, but what has been this season for FC Cologne. Most likely the announcement was made by the club to give the fans a chance to say goodbye to their local hero at home at the Rhein-Energie Stadion.

About signing for Arsenal Podolski said, "I'm so happy to be joining Arsenal and the Premier League. They are one of the top clubs in Europe with a huge history."

"There are many top-quality players at Arsenal and their style is fantastic," Podolski added.

FC Arsenal are getting a real striker and winger who could be a great addition to Robin van Persie upfront and with Germany team mate Per Mertesacker at Arsenal this should make Podolski's arrival at the Gunners easier then he needs a suitable surrounding to perform.


Here an article I had written a few weeks ago: Could Lukas Podolski succeed at Arsenal?