Success of ISL not reflecting on the performance of Indian national Team

Another shocking news for Indian football as it slipped five places to 172nd in the latest chart, the second lowest ever, and courtesy two back-to-back losses. India lost six ranking points after their defeat at the hands of Turkmenistan and Oman in their 2018 World Cup qualifiers last month and they now have 122 points. The Indian team, which had their lowest ranking of 173rd in March, is now ranked 33rd among Asian Football Confederation countries.

In the last 25yrs from 1990 to 2015 a number of foreign coaches were in charge of Indian national team. They are namely Josef Gelei (Hungary), 1991 Jiri Pesek (Czech Republic), 1994

 Rustam Akhramov (Uzbekistan), 1996 Stephen Constantine (England), 2003 Bob Houghton (England), 2006 Wim Kovermans (Netherlands) 2010 Stephen Constantine again 2014.

Yet, India has only managed an average FIFA ranking of 133 (it is 172 now) and it has had a downward trend. No disrespect to any foreign coaches, but their tenure is limited, bringing them is extremely expensive for the administrative system and it is virtually impossible for a non-Indian to be able to streamline a system for a country as vast as India in a short span of 2-3 years.

In the recent time Smt Nita Ambani founder Chairperson Football Sports Development(Reliance-IMG-Star Network) initiated Indian Super League to develop Indian football. HeroISL is world's 4th popular league in terms of viewers but 172 FIFA ranking of Indian National Team, it raises many questions. This shocking down fall may be an eye opener.

Are we going into right direction? When entire corporate is in their top enthusiasts are ready to support football, is AIFF doing justice to select their coach and support staff?

May be it is the best time to rethink and evaluate the function of AIFF

Missed Penalty and a red card cost Kerala Blaster' heavily

Trevor Morgan perhaps the best coach who knows strength of Indian footballers more than any foreign coaches. Former EastBengal coach brought 3 changes and formation slightly.  When he introduced Soumik at left back and Perone at to Elano. Another change was Sanchez watt, this young lad played a fantastic game by supporting two upfront striker Rafi and Dagnell. Right from the beginning Kerala fired all the cylinders to get a goal but off colour Sandesh Jhingan unnecessary blocked Mendoza which cost them a penalty.  Kerala Blaster is known for their support of 12th Man. Some 60000+ supporters they sing, dance and cheer for their home team no matter if they win or lose. This is the strength of Kerala, they utilized it to bounce back in 24th seconds of the second half by a fine header from Chris Dagnell. It seems system and strategy of Morgan is going to get 10/10. There was hardly any open space for Elano Blumer or Mendoza and the ball were in Chennai's defensive third only. Under that pressure Mailson made a silly mistake to give away penalty.  It could have been a best reason to celebrate for yellow brigade but the costliest mistake came from Josu, he came as a substitute just 10 minutes ago. Fresh pair of leg was seen lacking in confidence just before his kick and Chennai GK Karanjit proved his presence and quality under the bar. Still Kerala was trying hard and hammering on Chennai's goal but Perone got a red card under a watchful eye from referee David Gantar. It was more than sufficient to demoralized Kerala Blasters and placed 8th in 8 Team #HeroISL

#ISL #KERvCHE #LetsFootball #HeroISL #StarSports

Delhi stole the away show at dying moment from Atk

Atk again lost the match. This time at their home ground at YBK on Thursday. Opponent was Roberto Carols’ Delhi Dynamos. Football often surprises and this is the nature of this game and create excitements. But goal against atk in 90th minute kolkata fans were not expecting this surprise. Legendary Roberto Carlos played more than half an hour but kolkatans were heavy in heart by 3rd consecutive loss Atletico de Kolkata is in crisis with 7th position in current league table. I think absence of positive goal scorer is the key reason behind this crisis. Injuries of the marquee footballer, Helder Postiga and Izumi Arata are paying a lot behind this catastrophe. There is no one at the opponent penalty box to convert the crosses of Sameer Doutie. In a league of 8 teams like ISL if a vital player is unavailable for 5 to 6 matches then the team is surely going to suffer. Same is the situation here in Atk. Coach Antonio Habas is still trying hard to get replacement of Postiga. Lone striker, Ian Hume was coming down on midfield to build attack. As a result he couldn’t reach the attacking third to attend the crosses. Obviously opponent by claiming the numerical supremacy at their defensive third is ready to tame Atk. Midfielders are also countable when striker is nullified. In that case, when strikers are failure, the morale of the team will be totally lost. Losing at the home ground is another matter of scary. 

Atk couldn’t fetch the advantage of getting 10-men Delhi. Instead of scoring conceded. Being a positive striker and having fresh legs, Sushil Sing didn’t create pressure on Delhi defense. The enthusiastic performance of Arnab Mondal and Rino Anto went in vain after conceding by Dos Santos at the dying moment. Once again Santos proved his utility earning 3 points for Delhi. At the same time excellent performance of Florence Maluda created a big difference.

#ATK #atk #ATKvDEL #LetsFootball #HeroISL #StarSports

Eastbengl in classic form to achieve Dream once again

Eastbengal once again created an epic moment  playing their 200th matche against foreign clubas they confronted Mohammedan Sporting (Dhaka) in the semifinal of Sheikh Kamal Gold Cup at MA Aziz Stadium, Wednesday in Chittagong. Red n Gold bridged are the only Indian club who touched this historic bench mark by playing 200th matche against foreign contingent.It is also noteworthy to mention that, by defeating Mohammedan Sporting (Dhaka) in the Semifinal by 3-0 Eastbengal earned their  84^th win in international arena against foreign clubs.

This was East Bengal's fourth entry in the final of a tournament on foreign soil. Incidentally in the previous three occasions when East Bengal qualified to the final - WAI WAI Cup at Kathmandu (1993), LG Asean Club Cup (2003) and San Miguel Cup at Kathmandu (2004) they had finished as Champions.

Ranti Martins played exceptionally well to score a brace to put forward Eastbengal. He got back his excellent rhythm in the soil of Chittagong. Rafiq, the local talent contributed in the gigantic win of red n Gold to gain confidence. I must say the unstoppable form of Dibyendu Sarkar under the bar of Eastbengal needs special mention. In Semifinal also, this young custodian performed marvelously and attracted fans.

Being a former footballer of eastbengal, appeared in 67th matche wearing Red n Gold gloves,  I feel proud when they reached such a classic height and flew Tri-color so high in the overseas tournament. .In the final on 30th October,2015 Kingfisher East Bengal will clash with Abahani Club (Chittagong).

I  proudly  wish them a very best of luck for the final.

East Bengal's Moment Of Glory Against Foreign Contingents

Kingfisher East Bengal FC, has brought a number of glorious moments for Indian football fans to treasure and cherish. This magnificent trend of performing well against foreign clubs started way back in 1948, when the club defeated Chinese Olympic XI 2-0 in a friendly match, which also marks East Bengal’s first ever exposure to the international level. The Chinese Olympic XI was not an ordinary side; it was a pretty strong team consisting of the best available talents in China, who represented the country in 1948 London Olympics. 

 1. East Bengal 1-0 PAS Club, Iran – IFA Shield, 1970 It was a historic moment for Indian football. This Red-&-Gold victory is the first ever victory by an Indian club against a foreign side in a competitive match, since independence :

 2. East Bengal 3-1 Leventis United, Nigeria – IFA Shield, 1986 The then Nigerian Premier League and FA Cup Champions and 1985 African Cup Winners Cup runner-up, Leventis United, a club based in Ibadan City in the state of Oyo, was one of the strongest club sides in the African continent during those days.: 3. East Bengal 6-2 Al-Zawra’a SC, Iraq – Asian Cup Winners Cup, 1993-94 Asian Cup Winners Cup, currently known as AFC Club Cup, was a tournament in which all the domestic league champions from AFC affiliated countries used to participate. From India, East Bengal participated in this prestigious tournament for a record 10 times. In the 1993-94 edition of the tournament, East Bengal was grouped with Iraq National Leaguechampions Al-Zawra’a SC.: 4. East Bengal 1-0 Verdy Kawasaki, Japan – Asian Cup Winners Cup, 1997-98 In the 1997-98 Asian Cup Winners Cup, East Bengal hammered Tribhuvan Club, Nepal 8-0 in the home leg before thrashing them 3-0 at their own backyards to set up a second round clash against one of the strongest teams in Asia – Japan’s Verdy Kawasaki – currently re-branded as Tokyo Verdy. Verdy Kawasaki had won the inaugural edition of Japan’s J-League in 1993 and repeated the same feat in the following year. They also finished runner-up in 1995 edition of J-League : 5. East Bengal 3-1 BEC Tero Sasana FC, Thailand – LG ASEAN Cup Final, 2003 East Bengal clinched the 2002-03 edition of Indian National Football League, which earned them an opportunity to participate in 2003 ASEAN Club Championship, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The top-12 clubs from South East Asia took part in this prestigious competition and they were clubbed into four groups. East Bengal qualified for the quarter final stage from Group D to face  the local favorites Parsita Tangerang of Indonesia. Riding on a goal each from Baichung Bhutia and Bijen Singh, East Bengal defeated Parsita 2-1 to set up a semi final clash against the 2002 Indonesian Premier Division League Champions, Petrokimia Putra