Armando Colaco set to be named interim India coach

The AIFF search for a successor to Bob Houghton continues, but if the Executive Committee on Friday give their go-ahead and the same comes from the Dempo Group management, then Armando Colaco will be named interim coach of the senior Indian national football team for a three month period from June to August.

This step has become necessary as the I-League season is set to end in less then two weeks, while the second Round Asian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup against the United Arab Emirates are to be played on July 23 and 28.

In Bangalore the AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das yesterday said, "There are still some things that need to be sorted out, but we are in advanced talks with Colaco to take over the reins."

Colaco would take a break from his club Dempo SC to manage Team India, but return to coach his club once those three months are over ahead of the next I-League. Also if made national coach then Armando would retain Savio Medeira as assistant coach and Marcus Pacheco as goalkeeping coach.

In taking this decision it would give the AIFF more time to find a suitable successor for Bob Houghton plus allow the new foreign coach, who is likely to have little to no knowledge about the Indian footballers, to come in and get to know the players whom he could call-up for the national team thereafter.

VIDEOs: Bayer 04 Leverkusen to visit Remscheid

The 2010/11 Bundesliga season is over, but tomorrow the leagues runners-up Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be visiting my home town of Remscheid to face our local top team FC Remscheid for a post-season friendly match. A few thousand fans are expected to be at the game at our Roentgen Stadion in Lennep.

Our FC Remscheid is a former 2.Bundesliga club, but currently they are in the seventh division; so the game against Leverkusen is the season ending highlight though FCR still has a couple of league games left to play.


Here reports from the local TV station (the reports are in German).


FC Remscheid - Bayer 04 Leverkusen Preview no.3


FC Remscheid - Bayer 04 Leverkusen Preview no.2


Interview with FC Remscheid coach Stefan Brandt


FC Remscheid - Bayer 04 Leverkusen Preview no.1

I-League: Suspensions to hit East Bengal & Dempo hard

Tomorrow title chasing East Bengal Club and Dempo SC will be playing their postponed Round 19 matches. While Dempo SC travel to Kolhapur to face Mumbai FC, East Bengal Club visit league leaders Salgaocar SC in a crucial title clash in Goa.

But both sides will feel the numerous cards they received from referee Dinesh Nair in their last match at the Saltlake Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday which East Bengal Club had won 3-2 against Dempo SC.

East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan will be hard hit in defence with Gurwinder Singh and Nirmal Chetri suspended due to red cards received in the Dempo match, while dependable Nigerian Uga Okpara got his second yellow card in the game and will have to also sit out.

Talking about the situation East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan said, "We will be missing key players for tomorrow's match, but then have to beat with it."

Dempo SC meanwhile will miss winger Clifford Miranda due to a red card received against East Bengal; while defenders John Charles Dias, Debabrata Roy and Samir Naik all received their second yellow cards and will have to watch the match from the stands.

2011 Copa América: Japan out, Costa Rica in

2011 AFC Asian Cup champions Japan has now made a final decision not to play in the upcoming 2011 Copa América, the South American football championships, to be held in Argentina from July 1 to 24. The Japan Football Association took this decision after much thought, but with European clubs unwillingness to release players in pre-season left the JFA had no other option but to opt out. They will now be replaced by central American nation Costa Rica.

Initially the JFA revised its decision after requests from South America after it had decided earlier to pull out in view of the situation in the island nation following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11. This was due to the fact that the J-League will be running during the period when the Copa América will be played and Japanese clubs had opposed any move of denying them of their best players. The JFA had send a special request to FIFA to help them get release of their players from European clubs as their participation is under the 'guest status' which doesn't force clubs to release players, but this didn't help.

"I regret very much to communicate to you that the Japanese national team cannot take part in the Copa America," JFA president Junji Ogura told tournament organising committee chief Jose Luis Meiszner in a letter to the Argentinian FA.

"Although the European clubs understand our situation, unfortunately most of them have told us they cannot release their players," Ogura was quoted as saying on the AFA's website ( www.afa.org.ar ).

Costa Rica now replace Japan and will take their place in Group A alongside hosts Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia.

India to play two friendlies ahead of World Cup qualifiers

The senior Indian national football team is set to play two friendly matches ahead of their 2014 FIFA World Cup - Asian Round 2 qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates on July 23 and 28.

The two matches will be against the Maldives on July 10 and Qatar on July 17 with both matches being away games, while India is set to prepare itself for the UAE home-and-away tie in Dubai and maybe the Qatari capital Doha in a likely 15 day camp abroad.

"The qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup against UAE are a challenging proposition for the team. Hence, it is imperative the National Team prepares the right manner with enough number of matches," said AIFF National Team Director Tathagata Mukherjee.

"The away games against Qatar and Maldives would be important to prepare for the first-leg against UAE. We are looking forward to the game against Qatar which will be played under similar climatic conditions as that of UAE," he added.

The AIFF has finalised the preparations for the team, but a coach is still to be named with Dempo SC coach Armando Colaco most likely coaching India in the qualifiers as an interim coach, while the search for a new national coach continues.

Meanwhile in the latest FIFA World rankings INDIA have moved up a place to be now 145th in the world rankings, while they are 25th in Asia.

Stekelenburg drops Dutch Eredivisie trophy

It seems to become fashion these days to drop trophies from buses during open top celebrations. After Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos a few weeks ago it was this time around the much sought after Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who dropped the Dutch Eredivisie trophy during the club's parade through the streets of Amsterdam while celebrating the Dutch title which the club won on the last match day against Twente Enschede. But luckily this time around the trophy didn't end under the bus, but rolled past it....

Here a link to the video:

I-League 2: A look back...

Shillong Lajong FC and Sporting Clube de Goa have topped the final round of the 2nd Division I-League and have gained promotion the premier division of the I-League. Interestingly these two sides had been relegated last year and now go up again, on both occasions together.

On Saturday the 2nd Division ended after 24 matches in the final which followed the 21 games in each of the three preliminary round groups. A total of 75 matches were played involving 23 teams in a rather tournament like format.

And after all the controversies surrounding Lajong FC striker Tuboi's registration, the terrible ground conditions, the allegations of favouring the local Shillong sides, this seasons second Division is finally over.

I would hope that the AIFF structure the 2nd Division from next season onwards more like a league and not leave it like a tournament at the moment.


2nd Division I-League - Final Round Tables & Results

#- Team----------------------------- P W-D-L GF-GA GDF PTS
1. Shillong Lajong FC (Meghalaya) -- 7 5-1-1 12-06 +06 16
2. Sporting Clube de Goa ----------- 7 4-2-1 11-06 +05 14
3. Vasco Sports Club (Goa) --------- 7 4-1-2 13-08 +05 13
4. Ar-Hima FC (Meghalaya) ---------- 7 3-2-2 11-08 +03 11
5. United Sikkim FC ---------------- 7 2-4-1 09-09 +-0 10
6. Royal Wahingdoh FC (Meghalaya) -- 7 1-2-4 12-13 -01 05
7. Md. Sporting Club (West Bengal) - 7 1-1-5 04-09 -05 04
8. Southern Samity (West Bengal) --- 7 1-1-5 04-17 -13 04

Round 1
25-Apr-2011: Royal Wahingdoh FC 2-3 Ar-Hima FC
25-Apr-2011: Southern Samity 0-3 Shillong Lajong FC
26-Apr-2011: Sporting Clube de Goa 1-1 United Sikkim FC
26-Apr-2011: Vasco SC 2-1 Mohammedan Sporting Club

Round 2
28-Apr-2011: Shillong Lajong FC 1-0 Ar-Hima FC
28-Apr-2011: Southern Samity 0-1 Mohammedan Sporting Club
29-Apr-2011: Royal Wahingdoh FC 0-0 United Sikkim FC
29-Apr-2011: Vasco SC 3-0 Sporting Clube de Goa

Round 3
01-May-2011: Ar-Hima Club 2-0 Mohammedan Sporting Club
01-May-2011: Shillong Lajong FC 2-2 United Sikkim FC
02-May-2011: Royal Wahingdoh FC 2-3 Vasco SC
02-May-2011: Southern Samity 1-1 Sporting Clube de Goa

Round 4
04-May-2011: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-1 United Sikkim FC
04-May-2011: Ar-Hima FC 0-2 Sporting Clube de Goa
05-May-2011: Shillong Lajong FC 2-1 Vasco SC
12-May-2011: Southern Samity 1-6 Royal Wahingdoh FC

Round 5
07-May-2011: Sporting Clube de Goa 1-0 Mohammedan Sporting Club
07-May-2011: Royal Wahingdoh FC 0-2 Shillong Lajong FC
08-May-2011: Southern Samity 1-2 United Sikkim FC
08-May-2011: Vasco SC 1-1 Ar-Hima FC

Round 6
10-May-2011: Southern Samity 1-0 Vasco SC
10-May-2011: Royal Wahingdoh FC 2-2 Mohammedan Sporting Club
11-May-2011: Sporting Clube de Goa 3-1 Shillong Lajong FC
11-May-2011: United Sikkim FC 2-2 Ar-Hima FC

Round 7
13-May-2011: Southern Samity 0-3 Ar-Hima FC
13-May-2011: Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-0 Shillong Lajong FC
14-May-2011: Royal Wahingdoh FC 0-2 Sporting Clube de Goa
14-May-2011: Vasco SC 3-1 United Sikkim FC