Monday, July 31, 2017

Bengaluru sign Bidyananda and Robinson

Bengaluru FC Media 

Bengaluru FC, today, announced the signings of midfielders Bidyananda Singh and Robinson Singh on two year contracts. While Bidyananda joins from ISL side Atletico De Kolkata, Robinson Singh joins the Blues from Mohun Bagan.

A defensive midfielder who progressed through the AIFF Academy ranks, Bidyananda joins the Blues after having represented India at the U13, U14, U15, U16 and U17 sides. The 19-year-old faced the Blues while playing for the AIFF U19s in a friendly in Bengaluru in 2015, a match in which he found the net.

“Bengaluru FC are the best in India and it is a big moment for me to sign for a club that wins trophies and competes with the best in Asia every season. I’m happy to get this opportunity and I’m looking forward to making the most of it,” said Bidyananda following the move.

Robinson, meanwhile, joins the Blues having represented Mohun Bagan for the last two seasons. The 20-year-old has also represented India at the U16, U17 and U19 levels. He was also part of the India team that took part in the AFC U23 Championship qualifiers in Doha, earlier in July.

“I’ve always believed that a move to BFC would be the best path for my career. In terms of the coaching, the professionalism and every aspect of football, this is the right place to be for any young footballer. This move is one that I’ve been working hard for, for a long time,” said Robinson.


Wednesday, July 26, 2017

U-15 Youth League selection trials - Roots Football School

Roots Football School will hold selections trials for goalkeepers and strikers for its Under 15 team on Friday, July 28, 4.30 pm at St. John's Medical College C ground, Koramangala. 

They are only looking players for in goalkeeper and striker position. 

Interested players are requested to bring original birth certificate, identity proof, and photograph along with them for trials. 

Venue: St Johns Ground Koramangala
Date: Friday, 28th July
For: Boys born between 1.1.2002 to 31.12.2002
Position: Goal Keepers and Strikers only

For Registration & details contact:  9986098905
Email: rootsfs@RootsFootball.in

Roots Football School is a non-residential academy accredited by the All India Football Federation with a 2 star rating. Over the past 7 years over 30 of our trainees have been selected for district,state and national teams as well as play for age group teams of I-League clubs.  Over 450+ kids train at our after school centers at multiple locations in Bangalore.



Bengaluru kick-off pre-season, fans welcome new-look squad

Bengaluru FC Media

Bengaluru FC kicked off their 2017-18 pre-season with an open training session at the Bengaluru Football Stadium on Wednesday in front of the Blues’ faithful who turned out in numbers to vociferously cheer their heroes on.

With the AFC Cup Inter-zonal Semifinal against North Korean side April 25 SC fast approaching, the Blues wasted no time in starting off their pre-season training in the city three days post the ISL Draft.

Speaking on the sidelines of the season’s first ever training session, Head Coach Albert Roca was delighted to be back in action. “We’re happy to be back on the field. Our target is to build on last season’s progress as we move into a new chapter in the club’s history. But before our domestic season begins, we’ve got big matches coming up fast in the AFC Cup. We don’t want to waste any time and prepare the best way possible for the first leg at home. The Spain tour will also help us massively as it gives us a good opportunity to gel as a squad,” he said.

The day at the BFS began with an introductory meeting between the new players and the staff, both technical and non-technical as the club welcomed its new signings into the fold. Albert Roca and co. then quickly briefed the players about their expectations for the tough season ahead while encouraging them to train at the highest level always.

Club captain Sunil Chhetri said he was confident of the task ahead despite the reshuffle in the squad. “Things will get tougher from here given we have only just assembled a squad. But we’ve got a really good set of players that I’m confident will turn into a unit with time. There’s a nice blend of experience and youth and it’s going to be an exciting season ahead.”

On the field, it was all about sessions in endurance training which was overlooked by the entire coaching staff. The idea was to assess the players’ physical condition before the day was rounded off with a core session. The players and staff then interacted with the fans before posing for selfies and signing autographs.





Monday, July 24, 2017

Former state football official Sampangi Ramaiah no more

MN Sampangi Ramaiah, the longest serving governing body member of KSFA passed away on July 19. He was a life member of KSFA for the last 50 years. Ramaiah was 93 years old and was suffering from age-related illness. 

He was very close associated governing body member and actively participated in state football affairs. KSFA and BDFA condoled death of Sampangi Ramiah. 






Bengaluru to train in Spain ahead of AFC Cup clash

Bengaluru FC

A new-look Bengaluru FC side will kick off their pre-season training this week in the city before heading to Spain early next month for a 10-day training camp. The Blues will train at the state-of-the-art facilities at Pinatar Arena in Murcia during their stay in the Mediterranean region. Having finalized their squad on Sunday at the ISL Draft, Bengaluru FC Head Coach Albert Roca will now have an eye on the crucial AFC Cup Inter-Zonal semifinal against North Korean side April 25 SC as he prepares his squad for the first leg at home on August 23.

“The facilities at Pinatar Arena are top-class and I thank the management for providing us with this opportunity. The arena will provide us with everything we need to get up and running as fast as possible. Among all the other ISL teams, we’ll be in action first in the AFC Cup and it’s important that we utilize this time well so that our team settles in quickly. While we have managed to retain the core of our team, there are a lot of new signings which means that we need to put in that extra effort in pre-season to gel as a unit,” explained Roca.

During their stay, the Blues are set to face Spanish Segunda-B Division side UCAM Murcia CF (August 9) and 2016-17 UAE Pro League side Baniyas S&R(August 15) in friendly games.

The Blues base - the Pinatar Arena - boasts of six natural grass (Bermuda and ray grass) floodlit football pitches at FIFA standards with special areas designated for goalkeepers and a stadium with a capacity of 3,500 spectators that hosts friendlies and tournaments. The Arena also has top-class fitness centers with all the latest equipment from health and fitness innovators.

While the facility recently hosted an U21 tournament between national teams of Australia, Austria, Finland and Netherlands, they have regularly hosted training camps of top-flight clubs from all over Europe. A few of them include, German heavyweights Borussia Dortmund and FC Kaiserslautern, Spanish sides Levante UD and UD Almeria, Russian powerhouses CSKA Moscow and FC Zenit apart from Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea), FC Twente (Netherlands), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) and Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine).

This will be the second time the Blues travel abroad for a pre-season training camp having earlier visited China at the start of the 2014-15 season. Back then, the Blues faced off against Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Guangzhou R&F FC (0-3) from the Chinese Super League and Hong Kong Premier League’s Eastern AA (0-2).

The 23-man team departs from India on August 5th and is scheduled to return on August 16th. 



Sunday, July 23, 2017

ISL Draft: Bengaluru retain five, sign eight new players

Bengaluru FC Media

Bengaluru FC went about their business smartly at their first ever Hero Indian Super League draft retaining five players from last season while strengthening their squad further by adding eight more Indian players, in Mumbai on Sunday.

First pick and fan-favourite goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte was joined by Harmanjot Khabra, Lenny Rodrigues, Alwyn George and local-boy Calvin Abhishek among the players who will continue to be part of the squad. These players, along with the existing retentions in Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, John Johnson, Juanan, Nishu Kumar, Malsawmzuala and Daniel Lalhlimpuia, will boost the squad ahead of the AFC Cup Inter-Zonal Semifinal against North Korean side April 4.25 SC in a month’s time from now.

Joining them will be seasoned professionals in goalkeeper Abhra Mondal, midfielder Boithang Haokip and defenders Rahul Bheke and Zohmingliana Ralte, along with exciting youngsters Joyner Lourenco, Collin Abranches, Thongkhosiem Haokip and Subhasish Bose.

Albert Roca, Bengaluru FC Head Coach, was content with the draft and the luck factor that goes with it, “We cannot have all the players we want. Eugeneson, Rino and Chhuantea have been important players for the club, but we knew it was impossible for us to get all our choices. However, we are happy with our picks and who we've signed so far. The circumstances of a draft mean that some players have to go and we've tried to keep as many players as possible. We looked at players who are compatible with our team, because we have important games in the AFC Cup coming up fast.”

While new signings Abhra Mondal and Boithang Haokip bring in loads of experience, the likes of Rahul Bheke and Zohmingliana Ralte were few of the stand-out performers in Indian football over the last few seasons. Rahul has created a name for himself on the domestic circuit with consistent performances for Air India, Mumbai FC, East Bengal, Kerala Blasters and FC Pune City over the last six seasons. Meanwhile, Zohmingliana, an ex-Pune FC and DSK Shivajians player, was an ever-present figure in Aizawl FC’s fairy-tale run to the I-League title. In fact, Aizawl were second only to Mohun Bagan when it came to conceding goals as they romped to the title with Zohmingliana scoring a decisive goal against the Kolkata club in the penultimate game of the season.

Bengaluru FC continued their tradition of keeping faith in youth by snapping up striker Thongkhosiem Haokip and left-back Subhasish Bose. Twenty-four-year-old Haokip was the highest scoring Indian player in the 2014-15 I-League netting seven goals throughout the season while at Pune FC. He then had stints with Salgaocar FC, FC Goa, Kerala Blasters and East Bengal. 

Twenty-one-year-old Subhasish, on the other hand, had a breakthrough season at Churchill Brothers, before becoming a defensive mainstay for Sporting Goa in 2016 which prompted Mohun Bagan to sign the talented youngster. His impressive performances with the Kolkata-side even caught the eye of National Team Coach Stephen Constantine who called him up to the National Team camp, while also being part of the Indian U-23 team for the AFC Championship Qualifiers 2017.

Bengaluru FC Squad

(Thirteen players picked at today's ISL Draft are marked in bold)
Goalkeepers: Lalthuammawia Ralte, Abhra Mondal, Calvin Abhishek
Defenders: John Johnson, Juanan, Nishu Kumar, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Zohmingliana Ralte, Collin Abranches, Joyner Lourenco
Midfielders: Erik Paartalu, Dimas Delgado, Toni Dovale, Malsawmzuala, Harmanjot Khabra, Alwyn George, Lenny Rodrigues, Boithang Haokip
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Thongkhosiem Haokip 




Saturday, July 22, 2017

Vinaya Seshan to lead Karnataka in Junior Girls National

Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA) today announced the state team squad the for junior girls participating in national football championship to held at Cuttack, Odisha. From July 26, 2017 to August 10, 2017.

A total of 8 groups are in the competition, the topper of each group will be qualified to the knock-out stage. Karnataka is placed in Group D with Jharkhand and Rajasthan.  

Karnataka will play against Rajasthan on July 28 and Jharkhand on July 30. 


Team

Vinaya Seshan - Captain (SAI-STC), Akshata Dodmani (Mangalore), Hansuja C (SAI), Amshitha Rai (Mangalore), Melissa Theresa D'souza (Mangalore), Priyanka M (Parikrama), Ranjitha P (BUFC), Judith Sonali John (Chrysal High), Reema Seshadri (Sophias High School), Shilpa H (Christal House India), Rivka Smith Aarons (SAI-STC), Diona D'souza (Mangalore), V Lekhasri (BUFC), Harshitha T R (BUFC), Aashna Naik (Inventure Academy), Rithika Srivatsan (DPS-East), Jane Rine Menezes (Mangalore), Jancila Teresa Cutinha (Mangalore),Aishwarya M (Parikrama), Niharika CV (Mysore)

Officials
Manager - Padmapriya Singoor (SAI) 
Asst. Manager - Dechamma (Kodagu)
Coach - Aswitha Shetty (Bengaluru FC)


July 26, 2017: Jharkhand 26 Vs Rajasthan 0 
July 28, 2017: Karnataka 13 Vs Rajasthan 0 
July 30, 2017: Karnataka 0 Vs Jharkhand 5 

Monday, July 17, 2017

Bengaluru FC sign another Spaniard Antonio Dovale

Bengaluru FC Media

Bengaluru FC have added more Spanish flavour to the side, signing winger Antonio Rodriguez Dovale for the 2017-18 campaign. Twenty-seven-year-old ‘Toni’, as he is widely known, joins Bengaluru FC from Spanish Segunda Division side Rayo Vallecano with whom he spent the 2016-17 season. He also becomes the third Spanish player in the side alongside Juanan Gonzalez and Dimas Delgado.

Born in A Coruña in Northern Spain, Toni spent his formative years at Obradoiro and FC Barcelona before joining Celta de Vigo in 2005 as a youth player. Two years later he was promoted to the reserve side before making his first team debut in the Segunda Divsion in 2009.

A brief loan spell at fellow Segunda Division side SD Huesca in 2010-11 was followed by a return to Celta, where he made 30 appearances helping the side achieve promotion to the La Liga at the end of the 2011-12 season. Over the next two years, Toni played an important role for Celta in the top-flight with the highlight being an impressive 9th place finish in the 2013-14 season.

Toni crossed the Atlantic in the year 2014 as he signed for Sporting Kansas City in the Major League Soccer (USA) where he helped the team reach the post-season play-offs. But he returned back to Spain with CD Lugo in 2014-15 before once again achieving promotion to the La Liga in the following season while playing for CD Leganes.

Having penned a one-year deal, Toni was eager to begin his journey at Bengaluru FC as soon as possible. “I am very excited about this new challenge in my career. I know I am coming to a big club and just can’t wait to start training to achieve our objectives this season. I have a good experience as a professional player, and I think that this is a step forward in my career which will be very important,” he said.

Toni was also excited with the prospect of playing in front of the Blues’ faithful, which he regards as a vital part of the club. “The fans are very important for us and I know that they are always supporting the club. I want to assure them that I will do my best to help the club achieve our goals for the season. I am feeling the good vibes and hope that this season will be a successful one,” he added.

Albert Roca, Bengaluru FC Head Coach, welcomed Toni into the Blues’ fold. “Antonio is a good young player and a crafty winger. Having played at the highest level in Spain, he brings in vital experience which will help us in the season ahead. He still wants to continue improving and his desire to learn will help him settle in quickly,” said Roca. 





Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Bengaluru sign Spanish midfielder Dimas Delgado

Bengaluru FC Media

Strengthening their squad ahead of the 2017-18 season, Bengaluru FC have completed the signing of experienced Spanish midfielder Dimas Delgado, the club announced on Tuesday. The 34-year-old Catalan joins the Blues after skippering Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian A-League and the AFC Champions League.

The midfielder becomes the Blues' fourth foreigner and joins fellow countryman Juanan Gonzalez, along with John Johnson and recently signed Erik Paartalu in the side.

Santa Coloma-born Dimas, who began his career at Catalonia-based Spanish lower league side Gramenet in 2002, made the move to FC Barcelona in 2006. He represented FC Barcelona Reserves for two seasons, before joining newly promoted La Liga side Numancia in 2008. He was a mainstay in his side’s midfield, racking up 20 top-flight appearances in the club’s third La Liga stint post-2000.

A three-year stint at Numancia was followed by spells at Cartagena (2011-12) and Recreativo Huelva (2012-15) in the Segunda Division. Having played over 400 games in Spanish football, Dimas made his first overseas move joining Western Sydney Wanderers.

His experience proved vital for the team as they finished runners-up in the 2015-16 season after being placed ninth in the previous campaign. The following year, Dimas was named captain of the side and led them to the finals series as well as in the AFC Champions League. Over two seasons, Dimas made a total of 59 appearances, while netting six goals in all competitions for the Sydney-side.

“I’m very excited to join Bengaluru FC and it will be a fantastic experience for me and my family in India. I can’t wait to start and get to know everyone at the club along with my teammates and staff,” said Dimas having put pen to paper on a one-year deal.

“I will give my best every single day to help my team and all the players, and hope to take the club to even bigger heights,” he added.

Coach Albert Roca, who was assistant at Barcelona when Delgado was with the B side, said he was aware of the quality that the midfielder will bring to Bengaluru. “I’ve seen Dimas from close quarters and have no doubt about his quality and experience. He is a hardworking and good professional and we’re confident this stint will be a successful one.”


Thursday, July 6, 2017

Bengaluru sign Aussie midfielder Paartalu

Bengaluru FC Media

Less than a week after retaining Sunil Chhetri and Udanta Singh, Bengaluru FC have added to their arsenal in signing Australian midfielder Erik Paartalu on a season-long deal. The Blues have also retained defender Juanan Gonzalez who will join John Johnson for another season at the heart of Bengaluru’s defence.

Towering at 6'4", Sydney-born Paartalu began his career in the National Soccer League, now the A-League, with Northern Spirit. His stints in Australia included three seasons with Brisbane Roar when they played AFC Champions League football. At Brisbane, Paartalu won two Championships and one Premiership and played 85 consecutive matches while setting an Australian record of any sporting code with an unbeaten streak of 36 games.

Paartalu moved to Chinese side Tianjin TEDA FC in 2013 before a switch to Thailand with Muangthong United the following year. He was also part of South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai for a brief period in the season that side went on to win the AFC Champions League.
The midfielder earned his first senior national team cap in 2012, playing in a World Cup Qualifier for the ‘Socceroos’ against Saudi Arabia.

“I was really excited by the Bengaluru FC project because it is a club that's doing really well for itself in an expanding market. Indian football is getting bigger and bigger. It felt like the right project to get involved with. I spoke with Cameron Watson and he sold it to me in terms of where the club is. They've been very successful in the last four years and are looking to make major steps in the Indian Super League,” said Paartalu.

The 31-year-old was confident that his experience in AFC competition will prove handy for the Blues who are gearing up for their inter-zone semifinal in the AFC Cup against North Korean side 4.25 SC on August 23.

“I've played in a lot of countries in Asia so that experience is invaluable when it comes to playing games on different continents with short turnarounds. Being 31, I've experienced football for a long time and playing in the AFC Cup will definitely suit me. I look forward to playing in the ISL and I know I can do well in the League with a good team around me.”

Bengaluru FC coach Albert Roca said he was confident of Paartalu bringing his experience to the table as the club attempts to rebuild the squad this season. “A lot of things change for us this season and experience is what will play a key role during this phase. Erik brings that kind of experience with him and I’m certain he will be a vital figure at Bengaluru FC,” said Roca. 



Saturday, July 1, 2017

[NOTICE] U-19 State Junior Girls Trial cum Coaching Camp

Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA) will be conducting a Trial/Coaching Camp for the state junior women's football Team. The team will be participating in the National Junior Girl's Football Championship 2017-18 to be held at Cuttack, Odisha from 26th July 2017 to 10th August 2017. 

Players born between 1st January 2000 and 31st December, 2003 are eligible for trial which will be held at the Bangalore Football Stadium from Friday, 7th July 2017 from 07:00 A.M. to 09:00 A.M. up to 24th July 2017.

Players are requested to report at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Friday, 7th July 2017 by 07:00 A.M.  

For more information, please contact Shri.A.D.Nagendran at 9980276551.