East Bengal maul apart HAL

After coming back from a hard fought derby that went against their favor, the red and gold brigade put a spirited show and mauled HAL’s hapless defense by scoring a huge 8-1 win. Making a comeback, Aussie striker Tolgay Ozbey notched up four goals, defender Uga Okpara braced with a brace, with strikers Robin Singh and Baljit Saini filling up the rest.

EB's men - cause for our destruction

Few quick attacks and East Bengal struck the right chord. 8 minutes into the game, keeper Amar Deb fumbled from a feeble back pass from skipper Femi Adeola, latching quickly onto the lapse, striker Robin Singh placed the ball straight to the goal.

After another 8 minutes, Hamza earned a penalty for his team after Robert Lalthama tripped him inside the penalty box. Hamza made no mistake that helped HAL to restore parity. 

East Bengal raided HAL defense repeatedly which was nothing but nerves. Uga Okpara plainly toyed with this defense and scored two goals in a gap of 10 minutes.  

Come second half, and Tolgay was just waiting for his share of action. His trademark running down the flank always troubled HAL full backs. However, this time, defense could barely cope with his pace and in no time he scored his hat trick. 

Baljit Saini joined the party with a goal within a minute replacing Sanju Pradhan. The 8^th goal came from Robin’s cross - Tolgay, coming from behind a HAL defender, sweetly timed his jump with an accurate header and scored his 4^th goal of the match. 

Post match, a visibly elated coach Trevor James Morgan said, “Great response from the boys after coming from a loss. We could’ve added few more, but I’m not complaining.” Also, stated that HAL had a nightmarish time in controlling Tolgay’s power and pace.

HAL to take on East Bengal tomorrow

Nothing seems to be going well for the Aircraftsmen – lying at the bottom of the points table. Their primary concern was their inability to score. They did score two quick goals in the last match, but conceded three goals in late second half. 

Let us see what manager Muralidharan means  when he tells "applying fresh attacking approach" for tomorrows match. But he must look for setting defense straight.

For East Bengal, must have been a tough job - giving 100% against your arch-rivals, closely losing out on a high-intense battle, and then travel to another city to play the next round. Wonder what must be going in their minds. 

East Bengal chief Morgan has job cut out. They should deal with their earlier loss positively. Big relief is Aussie striker Tolgay Ozbey coming to the team after serving a double-booking suspension against Mohun Bagan. 

East Bengal had a strenuous workout at their ground today morning, they are reaching late in the evening in Garden City. 

The earlier encounter at the same venue was from the previous I-League edition, inaugural match played in the artificial turf in May this year. That fast-paced entertaining match resulted in a 1-1 draw. 

Tomorrows match starts at 3 pm.

HAL faces another defeat

Displaying an attacking game of football, the airmen rally from a one-goal deficit to win 4-2. Air India was down by 2-1 in the lemon break. The second-half was altogether a different story, when they pumped 3 more goals.

The hosts were quick enough to open the account, thanks to a great combination from the flank from Bijoy Das and Vinoth Kumar, the later put up a cross for Malamnganba Meitei, and Malamnganba header made a right connection to the goal.

Air India equalized in the 8^th minute through a Manjit Singh free kick.

HAL again took the lead in the 20^th minute from an attack from striker Abdullah Hamza-Aleksandar Sujdovic duo. With a one-on-one situation, Aleksandar beat the keeper and gave his team a 2-1 lead.

After changing half, both the team started playing attacking football. Airmen were quick enough to equalize, again from an excellent set-piece free kick from Indian international Manjit Singh. Nigerian striker gave them the lead in the 75^th minute from a corner. 

It was Sandesh Gadkari, who came in as a replacement put the final nail in the host’s coffin in the dying minutes of the match.

Aircraftsmen to lock horn with Airmen

The fight is between the only two institutional teams in this I-league, it is the fight between two bottom-half teams - the teams known for the fighting stature and probably not for their flamboyance. It is the fight between the Aircraftsmen and Airmen - HAL Vs Air India!

The airmen might have taken severe beatings in the initial 2 rounds, however, came back strongly in last 3 rounds – defeated Salgaonkar at home and Chirag Kerala away and a goal-less away draw against Shillong Lajong. 

For the hosts, it has been all struggles lately! Only 1 point from 5 matches, and more appalling is 3 straight home defeats. “We have nothing but to win this match”, as HAL rightly pointed by coach Thyagarajan, when asked the game plan for tomorrow’s game.

After trying out with a single striker in the last few matches, HAL might come back to the 4-4-2 formation. Veteran RC Prakash likely to take the field and central defender T.V. Biju Kumar sits out due to injury with Liliyan Kenneth replacing the later.

Air India coach, Santosh Kashyap has his task cut out against HAL attack. The Mumbai-team is left out with no option but to try a young defense-line. They will be missing the services of Lamine Tamba, Kali Alaudeen, and captain Napoleon Singh out due to injury.

Kashyap sees no reason to take their opponent lightly, “HAL has been a good side, they play possession football, and always difficult to beat them at home. There’s very less difference between the lower-half teams!”

He has no qualms about the turf-pitch, “the ground is in excellent condition, good to play possession game.” 

Former India and ITI footballer commits suicide

Former national footballer A S Firoz committed suicide on today at Kechery,h Trissur district in Kerala. According to the local police the 34 year old stout defender took this drastic step at his at his residence. He is survived by his wife and two children. 

Alleged reports suggest of some family issues behind the suicide. Firoz was found in a serious condition after he attempted hanging. He was taken to hospital, however, his life could not be saved. 

ITI's AS Firoz (on the ground) foils HAL's Ishfaq Ahmed's attempt to score, as Raja Baliev Nuralan (left) watches on in the National Football League match at Bangalore on Saturday, Nov 24, 2002.

 Picture Source: The Hindu

Firoz played for India in the Pre Olympic qualifiers (U-23). He represented his state, Kerala five times in the Santosh Trophy. Also, he was a member of U-23, U-21 state teams, Kerala Football Association sources said. 

Firoz forayed into the domestic scene while playing for FC Cochin, later he turned out for ITI, Churchill Brothers, Mohun Bagan, Mohammedan Sporting. 

This what Noel Wilson, Feroze’s colleague for many years said:

Just heard about Firoz, very unfortunate! I played the first year of my professional carrier with him in FC Kochin. We were together in Churchill  Brothers, then again in Mohun Bagan club, and finally in Mohammedan Sporting. 

Noel spent half of his professional career playing with Firoz

He was a defender, a very strong and an intelligent defender. I’m unable to find any reason why he took such decision? Very sad day for me to know such thing happened to a person I was very close. I’ve spent half of my professional club playing with him. Really sad!

He was one of my closest friend, I don’t know what prompted him to do that stupid thing! Really feel sorry for his family members and his wife.

Former HAL captain, Dronacharya Awardee Xavier VijayKumar:

Can’t believe the news. I’ve played against him in several occasions during the HAL-ITI derby, especially in the Puttaiah Memorial tournament. He was a good defender.
My condolences for his family!

Second Mahindra Youth Football Challenge

After the runaway success of the inaugural edition of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge (MYFC) the garden city will once again have the honor of being one of the cities to kick off the second year’s intense footballing action from November, 2011.

The third Intra-City round, after Delhi and Kolkata, of this unique Under-14 Schools Football Tournament-cum-Talent Hunt will see 32 leading soccer playing schools from Bangalore competing amongst themselves to bag the honor of the “Champion School’ of Bangalore. The Bangalore champions will then lock horns with five other champion schools from Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Delhi and Kerala to decide the winner of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge. 

MYFC is the Mahindra Group’s commitment to promote football at the grassroots level. The company has partnered with Scottish football giants, Celtic Football Club, who will take on the responsibility of training and grooming young talent identified through the initiative. This year too MYFC has got on board 92.7 BIG FM, the country’s largest FM network with 45 radio stations across the country, as the official Radio Partner for this edition of the tournament.

The second edition of the MYFC will continue to be played out in six cities, including popular football destinations - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Goa, Bangalore and Kerala, casting a wide net to identify the most talented junior football players in the country.  The MYFC initiative is being promoted and executed by leading sports management company, Procam International.

The Bangalore leg of the MYFC is being conducted by the Bangalore District Football association of KSFA. The matches will be played at the Bangalore Football Stadium. 

Among the top 32 schools invited to participate in the championships are fancied names that include:

• Govt. Sports School 
• Parikrama Center of Learning 
• Shri Shri Ravishankar Vidyamandir 
• Christ Academy
• Little Flower English 
• Karanataka Vidyashala 
• Presidency International School 
• Ryan International 
• Mallya Aditi International 
• Army Public School 
• St Augustine’s School 
• Green Hood International School 
• St Joseph’s High School

The inaugural Inter-City Challenge of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge was won by Sukantanagar Vidyaniketan School, Kolkata, while Govt. Sports School, Bangalore finished runner-up.

Chance to learn from the best

The winning schools from the six cities and their coaches will benefit from a four-day coaching camp to be conducted by a panel of visiting coaches from the Celtic Football Club before the Inter-City Challenge. This same panel will then shortlist 24 players from the Inter-City Challenge who will further undergo an intensive five-day long coaching clinic where two to four of the best players will be picked to travel to Scotland and the Celtic Football Club for further intensive training.

Three footballers, Bishal Harizan and Jayanta Mondal from Kolkata and Mani Maran from Bangalore, emerged the best three footballers from the first season of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge. After intense football action across six cities, involving 32 schools from each city, these three were picked after the Inter-City Challenge and got an opportunity to avail of a ten-day intensive coaching camp in Glasgow with the Celtic Football Club.

Bishal Harizan, Jayanta Mondal and Mani Maran spent fruitful days at Celtic FC, where they got an opportunity to watch a Scottish Premier League game at Celtic Park, involving Celtic FC and Motherwell FC and another at Ibrox Stadium featuring Celtic FC vs Glasgow Rangers. Their training there involved individual technique training, multiple sessions of Sports Science Testing, learning the right warm up techniques with the under-19 team, and daily coaching sessions with the Celtic Under-15 team. Bangalore’s Mani Maran was then selected to represent the Celtic FC Under-16 team to play against the Monash Football Club from Melbourne, Australia, capping a successful and satisfying experience for the three lads.

Peter Lawwell, Chief Executive of Celtic Football Club, had this to say about the three boys who were picked after the inaugural edition of the MYFC to travel to Glasgow and train at the Celtic Football Club Academy, “Celtic Football Club has been delighted with the progress made during the first year of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge. The three players who visited the club’s academy in Scotland were a credit to all involved with the tournament and acquitted themselves excellently. We are looking further to developing this relationship further over the next 12 months and hope to play a substantial role in developing young football players across the country and ensuring a positive experience is had by all.”

Awards and accolades

There is plenty to play for in the Intra-City stage, with the winners from each city gaining Rs. 30,000, the runners-up team Rs. 20,000 and the 3^rd placed winner Rs. 15,000. The teams that reach the last eight stages will be provided with kitting, while the winners and runners-up teams will be awarded trophies with each player from these teams getting a kit bag. Similarly, there will be a ‘Star Performer of the Game’ trophy for each match from the quarter-final stage and ‘Best Player of the Tournament’ Trophy to be won.

Going ahead, the champion school of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000, along with the winner’s trophy, while the runner-up team will win a cash prize of Rs 30,000 and a trophy. There will also be awards such as Star Performer of the Game and individual appreciation trophies for the Best Striker, Best Mid-fielder, Best Defender and Best Goalkeeper.

Each player from the six teams in the Inter-City League will be given two pairs of kitting (Jersey, Shorts & Stockings), while travel, out of pocket expenses during the travel, and lodging & boarding of all the six schools will be taken care of by MYFC.