In there country's they don't see cows on roads in major city's as they are confined to farms and rural areas, so when they come here they are surprised to see cows roaming everywhere.
Calcutta: No longer the premier tournament it once used to be, the 72nd edition of the Santosh Trophy begins on Monday with two Group A games - Bengal vs Manipur and Chandigarh vs Kerala.
Ten teams who have qualified for the main round have been divided into two groups of five each. Two from each group will make it to the semi-finals, with the final scheduled to be played on April 1.
The Bengal-Manipur match, to be played at the Howrah Stadium, will see an under-prepared team take on a well-prepared outfit.
Bengal, as coach Ranjan Chowdhury has said, have hardly managed to practised together. The squad has quite a few Mohammedan Sporting players who have been busy playing in the second division I-League and so joined late. And that's not all, Chowdhury has also lost a bunch of players who will have to play for their employers - Railways - in an inter-Railway tournament.
Nevertheless, Chowdhury is hopeful of a good performance from his boys. "Some of the Mohammedan Sporting players played just on Saturday, so as a coach I can't put pressure on them in practice. Whatever little we could do as a team at practice, we did. Hopefully, we will begin the tournament well, because the first match is always important," he said after Sunday's practice session at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium.
Asked about their opponents, Manipur, Chowdhury said: "I know that they are a young and talented team. In fact, unlike us, they have a set team and have practised well. But then, we have quality in our side. If my boys have confidence - representing the state should be enough of a motivation - then as a unit, we can overcome whatever be the hurdle."
Chowdhury isn't wrong. As his counterpart, Ratan Elangbam, said: "We are prepared. After the qualifying round, we had a two-three week break, but have practised together thereafter. We have a young team."
Sharing his strategy, the Manipur coach said: "We don't have much idea about the Bengal team. I will analyse the opponents in the first 20 minutes of the game and then plan accordingly. But we usually play with a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Jerry Pulamte as the lone striker. That way, we will have enough players both in defence and attack."
Bengal captain Jiten Murmu, who plays for Mohammedan Sporting, echoed his coach when he said: "Yes, we couldn't practice together for a long time. But we will have to overcome that."
STATS THE WAY
Bengal have won the Santosh Trophy 32 times.
Punjab come next having won the tournament eight times, followed by Kerala (5), Goa (5), Services (5), Karnataka (4) and Maharashtra (4).
Bengal and Goa were declared joint winners in 1982,the only time when the trophy was shared.
Bengal won the tournament five consecutive times or more twice. First from 1975 to 1979 and then from 1993 to 1998.
India’s domestic football season ends with more questions than answers
India’s uniquely bizarre domestic football season, which had two top divisions, concluded on Saturday. The ‘league’ with a ‘final’ had an ending that few had predicted whereas the ‘other’ league produced a finale that no one could have scripted. But at the end of it all, one basic question remains unanswered, however trivial it may sound: Which team should be called India’s champion?
Minerva Punjab won the I-League in the most dramatic of fashions while on Saturday, Chennaiyin upset Bengaluru to lift the ISL trophy. But the ludicrous arrangement between the All India Football Federation, Asian Football Confederation and Football Sports Development Limited, ISL’s promoters, to grant equal status to the two leagues means that both clubs can stake claim to the title of champions when they play in Asia next season.
In all likelihood, this arrangement, which was originally designed for one season, will continue this year as well, since the AIFF is yet to come up with a solution that is acceptable to all. But the procrastination is doing more harm than good to Indian football.
The AFC slots
The biggest question is, are the two best clubs representing the country in Asia? This year’s winners – Minerva and Chennaiyin – will be India’s representatives in the continental club competitions next season. India currently get a slot each for the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup qualifiers. If a team fails to qualify for the Champions League, they automatically get drafted into the AFC Cup.
The level of Indian clubs has still not reached a point where they can make the cut for the continent’s most prestigious club competition so they end up playing in the AFC Cup, where India has a decent track record. To pacify the I-League clubs, the AIFF handed the Champions League qualifier quota to the champions, which in this case are Minerva. Take nothing away from them, but with the budget they have and the quality of players they possess, there are genuine concerns over Minerva’s competitiveness at the Asian level. Aizawl, the winners of last I-League season, are already struggling in Asia. Whether Chennaiyin can hold on to their ISL-winning squad to pose a threat in the AFC Cup remains to be seen.
Calls for VAR
Considering that refereeing has been the talking point all season, it’s fitting in a way that the ISL ended with Bengaluru FC owner Parth Jindal rooting for VAR to be introduced next season after his team found itself at the receiving end of two potentially title-deciding calls. A senior AIFF official said it’s unlikely that the video referral system, which will be used in the World Cup this year, will be introduced in India any time soon due to the high operation cost.
But a solution needs to be found to the increasing number of human errors that overshadowed both ISL and I-League. One of the key reasons for this was referees’ burnout. Since India has just six officials with FIFA badges, they were made to juggle between the two leagues. Generally, referees get a seven-day break between two matches but the increased workload due to simultaneous conduct of the leagues meant most Indian referees did two matches in a week while in some cases. The fatigue, referees claim, played a huge role but the argument did not cut ice with the coaches, who continue to demand foreign coaches. Or like Jindal, the video referral system.
Kolkata trio’s trauma
The most compelling stories came out of, where else, Kolkata. ATK showed you do not have to be an East Bengal or Mohun Bagan to mess up a fine run, a trait painfully familiar for Kolkata-based clubs. That East Bengal and Mohun Bagan finished third and fourth respectively in an I-League season where they seemingly had no competition shows how poorly the two clubs are managed. And ATK are proving to be quick learners. Last year’s champions changed three coaches in a four-month season. They started with Teddy Sheringham, who was sacked after managing just 10 points from 12 games. The Englishman was replaced by his compatriot Ashley Westwood.
The former Bengaluru FC manager was shown the door after just seven games in charge, during which he managed 1 point. Robbie Keane was ultimately handed the reins as a player-manager. He picked himself in his managerial debut against Avram Grant’s North East United, scored the only goal of the match and took home the man-of-the-match award but that did little to redeem ATK’s season.
Coaching conundrum
The Sheringham story is a direct consequence of one of the touchy issues of ISL – hiring of coaches. The league mandates teams to have a marquee manager, meaning someone who has coached or played at a high level. That dilutes the quality sometimes, since top coaches – like players – are hesitant to come to India. So the clubs have often pick a retired player who wants to cut his teeth as a coach, which as Sheringham now, or Nicolas Anelka in the earlier season, showed isn’t the smart way.
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov’s cryptic social media posts provided an insight into how the player-turned-coaches strategise before the match. Without naming him directly, Berbatov called David James the ‘worst coach ever’ and said the former England goalkeeper’s sagely advice to his players was: “Chip the ball to the striker’s chest and we’ll take it from there.” The hashtag, alas, was Berba’s only contribution to the league where he miserably failed for Kerala Blasters.
It’s not a coincidence that the four teams who made it to the semifinals had people in the backroom with strong knowledge about Indian football – Chennaiyin’s assistant coach Sabir Pasha, Bengaluru had Naushan Moosa to assist Albert Roca, FC Goa had the veteran coach Derrick Pereira and Pune City had Pradhyum Reddy. Despite being integral to their team’s success, these coaches — along with a few others — can not become managers of an ISL club in the future despite having the necessary credentials. It’s a rule that ISL needs to look at, like they did with the concept of marquee players.
India U-16 team leaves for exposure tour to Hong Kong, Spain
The team will play at least six matches on this tour.
The India U-16 National Team currently preparing for the AFC U-16 Finals to be held in September in Kuala Lumpur left for a month-long exposure tour to Hong Kong and Spain today (March 22, 2018) morning.
This tour is the second of a series of exposure tours arranged by the All India Football Federation along with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to help the team prepare in the best possible fashion for the U-16 finals where a berth in the FIFA U-17 World Cup is at stake.
The squad being coached by Bibiano Fernandes will first be participating in the Jockey Club International Youth Invitational Football Tournament, a four-nation tournament where the colts will be playing against U-17 National Teams of Chinese Taipei, Singapore and hosts Hong Kong.
The fixture for the Jockey Club International Youth Invitational Football Tournament is as follows:
March 23: Chinese Taipei U17 vs. India U17.
March 24: India U17 vs Singapore U17.
March 25: Hong Kong U17 vs. India U17.
Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, All India Football Federation expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Sports Authority of India and the Ministry of External Affairs for facilitating the tour and the entire procedure.
“I would like to profusely thank the MYAS, the SAI and the MEA for all the assistance provided to make this exposure tour possible. This tour would not have happened if they had not stood by us,” he said.
Post the tournament in Hong Kong which ends March 25, the squad will be proceeding to Spain to play another tournament which includes short-format matches league plus knockout elite tournament, which would also be participated by clubs/academies of the likes of FC Barcelona, Manchester United, UC Sampdoria, Villareal CF, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, etc.
The schedule for the tournament is as follows:
March 28: India U-17 vs IFK Stocksund (SWE).
March 29: India U-17 vs BCN FC (AUS).
March 29: India U-17 vs CEF SP Vidrerenca (ESP).
March 30-31: Knockout rounds.
The squad, thereafter, will proceed to play the SportChain Cup, a 4-nation single round tournament which includes the likes of USA and Norway, the fixtures of which are awaited.
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Bengal are ready for Manipur
Calcutta: No longer the premier tournament it once used to be, the 72nd edition of the Santosh Trophy begins on Monday with two Group A games - Bengal vs Manipur and Chandigarh vs Kerala.Ten teams who have qualified for the main round have been divided into two groups of five each. Two from each group will make it to the semi-finals, with the final scheduled to be played on April 1.
The Bengal-Manipur match, to be played at the Howrah Stadium, will see an under-prepared team take on a well-prepared outfit.
Bengal, as coach Ranjan Chowdhury has said, have hardly managed to practised together. The squad has quite a few Mohammedan Sporting players who have been busy playing in the second division I-League and so joined late. And that's not all, Chowdhury has also lost a bunch of players who will have to play for their employers - Railways - in an inter-Railway tournament.
Nevertheless, Chowdhury is hopeful of a good performance from his boys. "Some of the Mohammedan Sporting players played just on Saturday, so as a coach I can't put pressure on them in practice. Whatever little we could do as a team at practice, we did. Hopefully, we will begin the tournament well, because the first match is always important," he said after Sunday's practice session at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium.
Asked about their opponents, Manipur, Chowdhury said: "I know that they are a young and talented team. In fact, unlike us, they have a set team and have practised well. But then, we have quality in our side. If my boys have confidence - representing the state should be enough of a motivation - then as a unit, we can overcome whatever be the hurdle."
Chowdhury isn't wrong. As his counterpart, Ratan Elangbam, said: "We are prepared. After the qualifying round, we had a two-three week break, but have practised together thereafter. We have a young team."
Sharing his strategy, the Manipur coach said: "We don't have much idea about the Bengal team. I will analyse the opponents in the first 20 minutes of the game and then plan accordingly. But we usually play with a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Jerry Pulamte as the lone striker. That way, we will have enough players both in defence and attack."
Bengal captain Jiten Murmu, who plays for Mohammedan Sporting, echoed his coach when he said: "Yes, we couldn't practice together for a long time. But we will have to overcome that."
STATS THE WAY
Bengal have won the Santosh Trophy 32 times.
Punjab come next having won the tournament eight times, followed by Kerala (5), Goa (5), Services (5), Karnataka (4) and Maharashtra (4).
Bengal and Goa were declared joint winners in 1982,the only time when the trophy was shared.
Bengal won the tournament five consecutive times or more twice. First from 1975 to 1979 and then from 1993 to 1998.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/sports/bengal-are-ready-for-manipur-216811
India’s domestic football season ends with more questions than answers
India’s uniquely bizarre domestic football season, which had two top divisions, concluded on Saturday. The ‘league’ with a ‘final’ had an ending that few had predicted whereas the ‘other’ league produced a finale that no one could have scripted. But at the end of it all, one basic question remains unanswered, however trivial it may sound: Which team should be called India’s champion?
Minerva Punjab won the I-League in the most dramatic of fashions while on Saturday, Chennaiyin upset Bengaluru to lift the ISL trophy. But the ludicrous arrangement between the All India Football Federation, Asian Football Confederation and Football Sports Development Limited, ISL’s promoters, to grant equal status to the two leagues means that both clubs can stake claim to the title of champions when they play in Asia next season.
In all likelihood, this arrangement, which was originally designed for one season, will continue this year as well, since the AIFF is yet to come up with a solution that is acceptable to all. But the procrastination is doing more harm than good to Indian football.
The AFC slots
The biggest question is, are the two best clubs representing the country in Asia? This year’s winners – Minerva and Chennaiyin – will be India’s representatives in the continental club competitions next season. India currently get a slot each for the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup qualifiers. If a team fails to qualify for the Champions League, they automatically get drafted into the AFC Cup.
The level of Indian clubs has still not reached a point where they can make the cut for the continent’s most prestigious club competition so they end up playing in the AFC Cup, where India has a decent track record. To pacify the I-League clubs, the AIFF handed the Champions League qualifier quota to the champions, which in this case are Minerva. Take nothing away from them, but with the budget they have and the quality of players they possess, there are genuine concerns over Minerva’s competitiveness at the Asian level. Aizawl, the winners of last I-League season, are already struggling in Asia. Whether Chennaiyin can hold on to their ISL-winning squad to pose a threat in the AFC Cup remains to be seen.
Calls for VAR
Considering that refereeing has been the talking point all season, it’s fitting in a way that the ISL ended with Bengaluru FC owner Parth Jindal rooting for VAR to be introduced next season after his team found itself at the receiving end of two potentially title-deciding calls. A senior AIFF official said it’s unlikely that the video referral system, which will be used in the World Cup this year, will be introduced in India any time soon due to the high operation cost.
But a solution needs to be found to the increasing number of human errors that overshadowed both ISL and I-League. One of the key reasons for this was referees’ burnout. Since India has just six officials with FIFA badges, they were made to juggle between the two leagues. Generally, referees get a seven-day break between two matches but the increased workload due to simultaneous conduct of the leagues meant most Indian referees did two matches in a week while in some cases. The fatigue, referees claim, played a huge role but the argument did not cut ice with the coaches, who continue to demand foreign coaches. Or like Jindal, the video referral system.
Kolkata trio’s trauma
The most compelling stories came out of, where else, Kolkata. ATK showed you do not have to be an East Bengal or Mohun Bagan to mess up a fine run, a trait painfully familiar for Kolkata-based clubs. That East Bengal and Mohun Bagan finished third and fourth respectively in an I-League season where they seemingly had no competition shows how poorly the two clubs are managed. And ATK are proving to be quick learners. Last year’s champions changed three coaches in a four-month season. They started with Teddy Sheringham, who was sacked after managing just 10 points from 12 games. The Englishman was replaced by his compatriot Ashley Westwood.
The former Bengaluru FC manager was shown the door after just seven games in charge, during which he managed 1 point. Robbie Keane was ultimately handed the reins as a player-manager. He picked himself in his managerial debut against Avram Grant’s North East United, scored the only goal of the match and took home the man-of-the-match award but that did little to redeem ATK’s season.
Coaching conundrum
The Sheringham story is a direct consequence of one of the touchy issues of ISL – hiring of coaches. The league mandates teams to have a marquee manager, meaning someone who has coached or played at a high level. That dilutes the quality sometimes, since top coaches – like players – are hesitant to come to India. So the clubs have often pick a retired player who wants to cut his teeth as a coach, which as Sheringham now, or Nicolas Anelka in the earlier season, showed isn’t the smart way.
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov’s cryptic social media posts provided an insight into how the player-turned-coaches strategise before the match. Without naming him directly, Berbatov called David James the ‘worst coach ever’ and said the former England goalkeeper’s sagely advice to his players was: “Chip the ball to the striker’s chest and we’ll take it from there.” The hashtag, alas, was Berba’s only contribution to the league where he miserably failed for Kerala Blasters.
It’s not a coincidence that the four teams who made it to the semifinals had people in the backroom with strong knowledge about Indian football – Chennaiyin’s assistant coach Sabir Pasha, Bengaluru had Naushan Moosa to assist Albert Roca, FC Goa had the veteran coach Derrick Pereira and Pune City had Pradhyum Reddy. Despite being integral to their team’s success, these coaches — along with a few others — can not become managers of an ISL club in the future despite having the necessary credentials. It’s a rule that ISL needs to look at, like they did with the concept of marquee players.
Hopefully they play a bigger role with a expanded season.
India U-16 team leaves for exposure tour to Hong Kong, Spain
The team will play at least six matches on this tour.
The India U-16 National Team currently preparing for the AFC U-16 Finals to be held in September in Kuala Lumpur left for a month-long exposure tour to Hong Kong and Spain today (March 22, 2018) morning.
This tour is the second of a series of exposure tours arranged by the All India Football Federation along with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to help the team prepare in the best possible fashion for the U-16 finals where a berth in the FIFA U-17 World Cup is at stake.
The squad being coached by Bibiano Fernandes will first be participating in the Jockey Club International Youth Invitational Football Tournament, a four-nation tournament where the colts will be playing against U-17 National Teams of Chinese Taipei, Singapore and hosts Hong Kong.
The fixture for the Jockey Club International Youth Invitational Football Tournament is as follows:
March 23: Chinese Taipei U17 vs. India U17.
March 24: India U17 vs Singapore U17.
March 25: Hong Kong U17 vs. India U17.
Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, All India Football Federation expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Sports Authority of India and the Ministry of External Affairs for facilitating the tour and the entire procedure.
“I would like to profusely thank the MYAS, the SAI and the MEA for all the assistance provided to make this exposure tour possible. This tour would not have happened if they had not stood by us,” he said.
Post the tournament in Hong Kong which ends March 25, the squad will be proceeding to Spain to play another tournament which includes short-format matches league plus knockout elite tournament, which would also be participated by clubs/academies of the likes of FC Barcelona, Manchester United, UC Sampdoria, Villareal CF, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, etc.
The schedule for the tournament is as follows:
March 28: India U-17 vs IFK Stocksund (SWE).
March 29: India U-17 vs BCN FC (AUS).
March 29: India U-17 vs CEF SP Vidrerenca (ESP).
March 30-31: Knockout rounds.
The squad, thereafter, will proceed to play the SportChain Cup, a 4-nation single round tournament which includes the likes of USA and Norway, the fixtures of which are awaited.