East Bengal vs Shandong Lunen FC - IFA Shield 

East Bengal continues their superb testimony against foreign club once again today at the Salt lake stadium against Shandong Lunen FC of China. As both teams already out of the tournament there were very few to witness the superb free flowing example of football. East Bengal started with their unimpressive Brazilian Alessandro along with Baljit Saini and Sushil Sing with an attacking 4 – 3 – 3 formation. Mehtab Hussain’s inclusion reinforced the East Bengal midfield. East Bengal looked solid from the beginning as Sushil Sing & Baljit Saini started combining well with continuous overlap from two wing backs. But it was Shandong Lunen FC who took the lead against the run of the play. A loose ball collected by no 3 of SLFC and he took the full advantage of not closing down by neither Mehraj nor Gurwinder. A very powerful left footer from no 3 went past clueless Avro Mondal. After this goal for a small period of time East Bengal looked sloppy and started committing unforced errors. This time Avro made two good saves to keep east Bengal in the match. Baljit Saini could not keep his header down from a ravinder cross. Then Vasum and LEKO missed two golden opportunity to equalize.  Just after these mis Baljit leveled the terms with a superb left footed volley after a fine move by midfield.

After the break both teams started the match with a very positive note. Both played superb attacking football. Mehtab & Mehraj stood firm this time to keep East Bengal in the match. Then Avro saved one free kick superbly as well as SLFC custodian kept Mehtab long renger out. Then east Bengal made a vital change, Rajib Ghosh came in for LEKO and Ravinder stepped up in the left wing from left back. This change proved costly for SLFC and East Bengal started attacking with all the energy. Then from a superb move initiated by Baljit and Ravinder, Vasum made it 2 – 1 in favor of East Bengal. Then in the injury time man of the match Ravindr put the last nail in the coffin. This IFA shield was not a successful venture for East Bengal in terms of trophy but they kept their record against foreign clubs.

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier - India vs Turkmenistan 

In AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers India take on Turkmenistan tomorrow in their ultimate Group B match, at the MBJP Stadium, in Malaysia. Both sides have won their two opening matches so far and have made sure way to next year’s finals.  This last match is about who will top the group.

It has been a fine tournament in favor of India so far. First a smooth 3-0 win against Chinese Taipei and then they had to work tough by Pakistan in their 3-1 victory. Indian youngster Jeje Lalpekhulua has scored three goals in his first two international matches so far.

Turkmenistan is a different competence. Turks have a touch of Russian style in and are a bit physical; this is going to be a tough test for India. India coach Bob Houghton will come out with some new faces for sure. Viva Keral striker CS Sabeth will get some time on the pitch as he has scored in the Olympic qualifier against Mayanmer. Apart from Sabeeth there will be some more changes in the team and this match will be a very good opportunity for the youngsters to probe themselves.

  In this tournament so far Turkmenistan beat Pakistan 3-0 and Chinese Taipei 2-0.

UNITED SIKKIM FC - Another visionary step from Baichung Bhutia

After becoming the victor of all possible silverwares in Indian football Baichung Bhutia started his newest venture in Indian football in the form of United Sikkim FC.  Baichung was the first Indian footballer to play professionally in England. He was the first Indian to rub shoulder with maestros like Zidane, Kaka, Figo. He established the first ever organization for the professional footballer in India. The list will be endless.

                                       In India football is not spread uniformly throughout the realm. In our I – league we see the majority of the teams are from either Kolkata or Goa. But the game is very popular in north east and lots of quality footballers come from that region each year. In recent past we have seen the rise of Lajong FC from Shilong another North East civic. But particularly in Sikkim there was no professional club though definitely talent is there. Hopefully United Sikkim FC will accomplish the expectation of football fans and aspirants of north east. In past there were lots of clubs founded with great enthusiasms like FC Cochin, Bengal – Mumbai Football Club, though they were self declared professional clubs, nobody could survive long. Hope USFC will not have the same fate and they will fulfill & maintain all AFC criteria.

                           United Sikkim FC is getting prepared for the I league two on Sports authority of India complex in Kolkata. They have appointed Stanley Rosario as their chief coach. Stanley Rosario is an AFC qualified coach assisted national football coach Bob Houghton and also took Lajong FC & Mouhonbagan AC to the Federation cup final two years back to back. They have already grabbed experienced Indian national team members Renedy Sing & NS Manju. We will see many young & promising players like Budhiram Tudu, Bikhokoi & three new-fangled foreigners. These three will be playing first time in India. Last but not the least Baichung Bhutia himself will join the action once he gets fully fit.

We will be eagerly waiting to see this latest member of Indian football in action. Hopefully they will qualify for the next year I league and make the game more popular in north east. Wish you all the best Baichung for your new venture.

View From the Stretford End  - SHAYAK G

 [Shayak is a marketing professional, a keen watcher of football, a die hard MANU fan also loves to play football]

The weekend is here all you football fans. Another round of mouth-watering fixtures await us at the Barclays Premier League. It’s a feast for us football fans with weekend football matches being played all over Europe. So start rooting for your favourite team now, what are you waiting for.

Arsenal welcome Steve Bruce’s high-flying Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium. Sunderland are just 2 points off sixth placed Liverpool and are in the running for a Europa League spot. Arsenal have been in fine touch themselves, hammering 5 past Leyton Orient without  reply, with Danish international Nicklas Bendtner scoring a hattrick. We have a mouth-watering encounter in the offing to say the least.

Chelsea coming of a victory at the Bridge against table toppers Manchester United, a controversial victory, nonetheless have a relatively easier outing at Blackpool.  A win here would help the Blues close in on 3^rd placed Manchester City. Manchester City welcomes Wigan Athletic at the City of Manchester Stadium.  A string of inconsistent performances has seen Roberto Mancini’s side pick up just 8 points out of a possible 18, in the last 6 matches. The cash-rich outfit, has some serious selection issues with Mancini undecided on who to pick between in-form Carlos Tevez, eccentric Balotelli and Bosnian Dzeko ,whose not been bringing his A-game at premier league matches till date. Clearly, City are not going to benefit if the trio start all at once.

And lastly, the epic battle which football fans around the football globe have been waiting for is here. Fierce rivals Manchester United face Liverpool at Anfield on Super Sunday. Resurgent Liverpool have a point or two to prove after being undone by a superb Dimitar Berbatov hattrick at the reverse fixture at the Theatre of Dreams. Manchester United are well on their way to a record 19^th tittle under Sir Alex, which would eclipse 18 tittles of that famous Liverpool Team of the 80’S.

Manchester United will be coming off a dramatic loss at Stamford Bridge, where the surrendered an initial lead to finally lose that match in the dying moments of the game. A depleted back four will be a cause for worry for Sir Alex. Nmenja Vidic is out with a red card at the last game at the Bridge. Rio Ferdinand has still not recovered calf injury. Johnny Evans has been out for a while with ankle injury.Chris Smalling will partner Wes Brown at the center of defense.

Liverpool are going to miss Portuguese Raul Meireles who has been inspirational in the Mersysiders’ recent resurgence. Daniel Agger and Fabio Aurelio will be back for the Scoucers.The grossly over-rated former Newcastle United man,Andy Carroll could get his first game in the famous Red jersey,this Sunday.It’s gonna be a golden opportunity to justify his 35 million pound price tag,which is way over his usual value,one believes.

Whatever the teams are.when they step onto that Anfield pitch ,it is going to be a feisty affair,with every team giving it their all. Where the crowd eggs you on for that bone-crunching tackle,where every shot on goal is applauded by millions.Where every goal is celebrated with rapturous frenzy,Where tempers flare , where new heroes are applauded and losers incur the full wrath of the team faithful at the Anfield terraces. So,brace yourselves people. 

AFC CUP - East Bengal vs Chonburi FC


Kolkata: Kingfisher East bengal of India  & Chonburi FC of Thiland  shared one point each on YBK today. East Bengal took the lead through Tolgey after Robin Sing won the ball from a defender and passed it to Tolgey, again on 23rd minute Tolgey scored from a Pen pass. The moment it was looking like East Bengal going to have a cake walk CFC hit back from a defensive lapse and a goal keeping error. Just before the lemon break CFC came back on level term thanks to a long ranger from Adul. Soon after the lemon break CFC scored two goals in quick succession. As people of YBK started thinking about a replay of Bahrin vs India match in Asian cup East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan made two substitutions. Baljit Saini & Ravinder came on for Sanju Pradhan & Vasum. Both the substitute scored and changed the course of the game. East Bengal now has a mammoth task to do  in the second leg as CFC scored four away goals and Tolgey is out with an injury. 

RANKING IN WORLD FOOTBALL & INDIA

We all know that our country is ranked 145 presently according to FIFA/COCA COLA ranking published last month. Everyone talks about poor ranking of Indian football team. Before talking about India & it’s true positions in football world let’s have a look how points are calculated in FIFA world ranking.

Calculation of points for a single match

The number of points that can be won in a match depends on the following factors:

• Was the match won or drawn? (M)

• How important was the match (ranging from a friendly match to a FIFA World Cup match)? (I)

• How strong was the opposing team in terms of ranking position and the confederation to which they

belong? (T and C)

These factors are brought together in the following formula to ascertain the total number of points (P).

P = M x I x T x C

The following criteria apply to the calculation of points:

M: Points for match result

Teams gain 3 points for a victory, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a defeat. In a penalty shoot-out, the

winning team gains 2 points and the losing team gains 1 point.

I: Importance of match

Friendly match (including small competitions): I = 1.0

FIFA World Cup™ qualifier or confederation-level qualifier: I = 2.5

Confederation-level final competition or FIFA Confederations Cup: I = 3.0

FIFA World Cup™ final competition: I = 4.0

T: Strength of opposing team

The strength of the opponents is based on the formula: 200 – the ranking position of the opponents

As an exception to this formula, the team at the top of the ranking is always assigned the value 200 and the

teams ranked 150th and below are assigned a minimum value of 50. The ranking position is taken from the

opponents’ ranking in the most recently published FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

C: Strength of confederation

When calculating matches between teams from different confederations, the mean value of the

confederations to which the two competing teams belong is used. The strength of a confederation is

calculated on the basis of the number of victories by that confederation at the last three FIFA World Cup™

competitions. Their values are as follows:

UEFA/CONMEBOL 1.00

CONCACAF 0.88

CAF 0.86

AFC/OFC 0.85

            
        So it is clear that until & unless we start playing international friendly matches regularly our ranking will not be improved. Playing occasionally in world cup qualifiers & other qualifiers will not help much to increase rank. And to avoid conflict between clubs & AIFF regarding release of players for national team, we need to schedule our football calendar according to international football calendar. Presently we have so many state leagues & short duration tournament like Durand Cup, IFA Shield it is very difficult to schedule I league accordingly. Now days AIFF started appointing soccer / sports management professionals in helm. So we can expect that a proper calendar will be done.

             You may ask why I am so much worried about ranking. If we improve our rank our top players can get work permit to play in Europe or other soccer developed nations. In recent past Sunil Chettry got a chance to play for Coventry City but could not play because British FA does not give work permit for players from countries ranked higher than 100. It will help us to be seeded in a tournament that we can avoid tough opponents in earlier stage of the tournaments. We have lots of international matches to be played in near future. Hope we will win some of them and improve our rank for the better.