Football great Krishnaji Rao no more

Former Indian International Krishnaji Rao, captain of the Santosh Trophy winning team passed away today evening at a hospital in Bengaluru. Football icon Krishnaji, popularly known as Captain was 81 years old and left his wife, a son, and two daughters. He was not keeping well for past few years. 

Krishnaji represented CIL at club level and his association brought lot of laurels; it was regarded as the golden era of CIL. However, Krishnaji’s name will go down in the history of state football as a victorious captain who led his team (then Mysore) against a star-studded Bengal in the final of Santosh Trophy at Sree Kanterava Stadium in 1969.

Krisnaji Rao moved into coaching and successfully coached CIL and HAL for many years, also, he was a part of the Indian Senior National Team as an assistant coach during 80s. 

With Krisnaji passing away brings end to a beautiful era of football in Bangalore. 

Cuadrat part ways with Bengaluru FC owing to health concerns

Bengaluru FC have announced that they have parted ways with Assistant Coach Carles Cuadrat by mutual consent after the Spaniard conveyed his decision to step down from the post owing to health concerns. The announcement marks the end of Head Coach Albert Roca's long-standing association with Cuadrat, having coached together at various clubs and national teams before arriving in India. 

Cuadrat, who gained a reputation of being a master at set-pieces, was flown back for treatment after landing in Pune for an away game with a condition in his knee. Having been away from the field during the Blues' last two home games, the Spaniard had been using the internet to send Roca plans in the build-up to games. 

Speaking about his decision to step down, Cuadrat said, “We landed in Pune for an away game and I had to fly back the same day for a surgery. I will now have to spend the next two months in recovery. I sat with the club management and we decided that it is best I take a step aside given how packed the fixture calendar is. I won’t be able to give the team and myself one hundred percent. We are a professional team and need all hands on the deck at all times, which is why I have taken this decision.” 

The Blues have now appointed Barcelona-native Marc Huguet as the new Assistant Coach, who like Roca and Cuadrat, has also served as a Coach in the FC Barcelona youth setup. Huguet, who recently served as an Assistant Coach with FC Dinamo Tbilisi in Georgian 1st Division, Cordoba CF in La Liga and RCD Mallorca in Segunda Division, will join the Blues in the first week of January.  

Roca is ready for challenge, Bengaluru begin pre-season on Monday

Bengaluru FC Media 

Bengaluru FC Head Coach Albert Roca said his stint with the champions of India would be a big challenge but one that he was confident of working hard towards and succeeding at, as the Spaniard interacted with the media for the first time since landing in the city, on Thursday.

The club also unveiled Carles Cuadrat who will serve as Roca’s assistant and has worked with the Head Coach at Barcelona, Galatasaray, Saudi Arabia and El Salvador (both national teams).

“I am proud to have signed for Bengaluru FC. We have arrived at a champion team so the challenge is big but we look forward to do our best and succeed which is the sole reason we’re here,” said Roca.

Roca’s first assignment will be the AFC Cup quarterfinal tie against Singapore side Tampines Rovers in September. “We have a difficult challenge first up with the AFC Cup game and we will do our best to progress.”

The coach arrived in Bengaluru on Tuesday before meeting the team and staff on Wednesday and seemed pleased with the little he has got to see. “The management at BFC are thorough professionals which is important for us. The facilities are enough for us to work hard with and we aren’t here to complain about situations. Everyone here has opened their arms to us in a bid to help us achieve what we want to from now till the end of the season. We’ve started as one big family and that’s important,” he said.

Serving as an assistant to Frank Rijkaard for five seasons at Barcelona, one season at Galatasaray and two seasons at the Saudi Arabian national team before being appointed head coach of the El Salvador national team, Roca believes his travels through the leagues and countries will help him adapt to Indian football faster. “I believe the experiences we’ve had, not only at Barcelona but other places as well, have helped us prepare for India which is not easy but at the same time, won’t be too difficult because we are used to different cultures and travel.”

Roca admits he’s taken over the reins at a club where the bar has been raised high with the Blues having won a trophy every season since its existence in 2013 but maintains that developing football at the club and in the country remains a priority. “About the results and success, we cannot tell now. But we’re not here just for the results. We are here to improve football in Bengaluru and India and let’s see if we can make the fans happy at the end of the season. If we work hard, things will fall in place,” said.

The Blues begin their first session of pre-season on Monday.

Wim Koevermans: I’m concerned about the national players who are affected in MohunBagan ban

National Coach Wim Koevermans was right here at the Garden city for a noble cause - an occasion to present the auctioned Indian football shirt and the football to the winner. 

This was an initiative by Toe To Heart, a Bangalore based NGO that financially and socially supports orphans and children from very poor or broken families. 

Koevermans freely interacted with the journos who were present at the event. The discussion ranged from Toe To Heart’s charity venture to his eagerness on utilizing the FIFA match days 2013, from India’s preparedness in bidding U-17 World Cup to the obvious MohunBagan’s ouster from I-League. 

A noble gesture from Kim, he’s keen to help an organization who is helping the kids in education, also, hopes to people should help a venture like Toe To Heart. 

Playing on a FIFA match day is a prime objective for Koevermans in 2013. To start with, India is playing its first internal game against Palestine in Guwahati on February 6. This will be followed by a training camp for the AFC Challenge Cup where India is grouped with Guam, Chinese Taipei, and Myanmar. 

Koevermans interacts a lot with the international Sunil Chettri, who is currently playing in Portugal - sometimes he plays, sometimes he is on the bench, however, he is training four times a week with quality good players. Coach monitors Sunil as much as the other players. Also, speaks to Indian Arrows coach Arthur Papas, thanks to his frequent visit to Kolkata to see I-League matches.

What about India’s U-17 World Cup bid, does that give a boost to the infrastructure? “If we are awarded the hosting rights, it will lift football in India in a very big way”, considers coach. There are a lot of stadiums, which needs to upgraded and renovated. Also, need to identify the host cities to bring in good training facilities. It will help develop football in India! 

What’s Koevermans’ take on MohunBagan ban?
For once he sounded cautious, however, more than the ban he is more concerned about his national team players who play for Bagan, “Something happened on the pitch and rules were applied. If people put rules in the book and something happens, you have to apply them, that’s the way it is! 2.5 years of ban is a tough punishment!” 

From the national team point of view he looked worried, “A lot of players can’t play at the moment, I’m not happy with that!” 

Koevermans is hoping something positive from the next meeting (which is scheduled sometime later this month) so that players can play some competitive matches.

AIFF coaching seminar in N M’bai

AIFF kicked-off their coaching seminar at Royal Orchid, Vashi, N M’bai. This 5-day long coaching seminar organized by AIFF would be first of its kind in India. 

Technical Director, Rob Baan, National Coach, Rob Baan, and Technical Director, Regional and Elite Academies, Scott O’Donell would be conducting the seminar. Also, Colm Toal, Head Coach, Youth Development will also be expressing his views at the seminar. 

The theoretical sessions will be held at the Royal Orchid Hotel in Navi Mumbai and the practical sessions at the Father Agnel ground, where the AIFF’s first Regional Academy is based. 

Bangalore has a strong representation in the form of former HAL coach R Thyagraj, former national assistant coach – senior team, Stanley Rozario, national assistant coach – senior team, Thomas Joseph, former MohunBagan player, Mastan Ahmed, and former players John Kenneth Raj  and P Muralidharan , and SAI Bangalore coach Aslam Khan. 

Participants posing with AIFF TD Rob Baan, National Coach, Wim Koevermans, TD Regional and Elite Academies, Scott O’Donell, AIFF Secretary Kushal Das, and Bhaichung Bhutia

Participants list

Godfrey Pereira, Noushad Moosa, Kundan Chandran, Shaikh Arshad Hussain, Abdul Azim Siddique, Nirvan Shah, Aqueel Ansari, Khalid Jamil, Raghuvir Pravin Khanolkar; Augusto D’Silva, Faruk Ahmed, Md. Yusuf Ansari (all from WIFA); Birbal Singh, Ekendra Singh, Bitan Singh (all from Manipur); R Thyagraj, Stanley Rozario, Thomas Joseph, John Kenneth Raj, Mastan Ahmed, P Muralidharan (all from Karnataka), Prasanta Banerjee, Gautam Ghosh (IFA), Parthasarathy Thulasi, Syed Sabir Pasha, CM Ranjith (all from Tamil Nadu); S Geevarghese, CJ Charles, PM Saji, Biby Thomas, Satheevan Balan, Feroz Sheriff, Narayana Menon (all from Kerala); William Koso (Nagaland); Maymol Rocky, Marcus Pachecho, Francisco Bruto da Costa, Jude Barreto, Savio Medeira, Mario Aguiar (all from Goa), Tarun Roy, Anadi Baruah (both from Delhi); Sajid Yusuf, Hilal Parray (both from J&K); Surinder Singh (Chandigarh)

Coaches from Clubs/Academies
Tanumoy Basu (Pailan Arrows); Bino George (CUK), Arun Pratap (CUK Academy); Deepak (Kerala FA Academy); Sujay Sharma, Arata Izumi (both from Pune FC); Aslam Khan (SAI, Bangalore); Mathew D’Costa, Gavin Araujo (both from Dempo); Augustine Antao, Joaquim Crasto (both from Salgaocar); Suren Chhetri, Pranai Subba (both from United Sikkim Football Club); Richard Hood (Tata Football Academy); Manoj Kumar (Sports and Education Promotion Trust); Pradyuman Reddy (Shillong Lajong Football Club); Sunil Chaudhury, Cetano Pinho (both from ONGC); Ajit Braich (from Canada)

Junior the Mariner

Another new season and the flurry of city-bred players looking for greener pastures begin. The latest and probably the greatest just happened today! After having a fine season with HAL and helping them to get promoted to the 1st division I-League, Satish Kumar jr. is all set to start is next innings with the powerhouse century-old national club of India - Mohun Bagan.

The Mohun Bagan management team made a formal announcement of the team for the coming season and introduced the newly appointed coach to the media

This is not the only Bangalore connection for the Kolkata club. The coach for this season is the former Army XI player and MEG coach, Stanley Rozario. Employed with Indian Army, Rozario played all his life and started his coaching stint in Bangalore. With almost 20-years in coaching, Stanley assisted Indian

senior coach, Bob Houghton before moving to EastBangal. After coaching them for half-a-season, he moved to Salgoankar, helped them to get a I-League 1st division promotion, and then took the charge of Shillong Lajong FC last season. He is back in Kolkata to start his second innings with the green and maroon brigade.

Speaking about Bangalore connection with the Garden City Soccer Stars, coach sounded optimistic. Stanley knows very little about Satish Kumar jr. However, whatever knowedge he has gathered about the nippy player from Gowthampuram is impressive.

“Heard that he had an excellent season with HAL and he posses a superb football sense. I’m looking forward to work with him!” said Stanley.

Satish Kumar is aware of the fact he won’t be an automatic choice for the first-11.  He says, “I’ll give my best performace in the practice sessions, impress the coach, and hopefully he’ll give me a chance to perform.”

Satish Kumar sounds confident, “I am comfortable playing in the right and left half positions. In the final round I-League 2nd division matches, I played as a striker and scored many goals.”

Bangalore has a rich tradition of players turning out for Mohunbagan. Arumanaigam in the 60’s, Ulaganathan in the 70’s, Babu Mani and Mastaan Ahmed in the 80’s, RC Prakash in the late 90’s and early 2000 to Noel Wilson and Shanmugam Venkatesh few seasons ago.

Satish is seeking help from Arumanaigam, Ulaganathan, R C Prakash about playing in Kolkata. “They are like my gurdian and providing valuable tips. It is not only about playing a nice game, scoring also matters” chips in Satish Kumar.

The football district of Bangalore, Gowthampuram has produced several Olympians and Internationals, it is upto Satish Kumar jr. to carry-on the flag. He has a task to cut out and he is jolly well up for it.

Garden City Soccer Stars wishes Satish all the luck! Go for it boy, the Bangalore football lovers are behind you!