Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Sports » Football » PTI > Report
Search:  Rediff.com The Web
Advertisement
  Discuss this Article   |      Email this Article   |      Print this Article

Bagan ready for Manchester debut
Get Sports updates:What's this?
Advertisement
August 04, 2006 18:23 IST

Mohun Bagan will be first Indian representatives at the Manchester United [Images] Premier Cup when the club's Under-15 side takes the field in the biggest tournament at club level starting Tuesday.

The Kolkata outfit will be one of 20 such sides which will take part in the tournament.

Mohun Bagan earned the right to be at the elite U-15 event by winning the qualification tournament for clubs in south-east Asia.

After defeating Indian U-15 rivals such as East Bengal, Tata Football Academy and Mahindra United in March, the Mohun Bagan colts secured qualification by winning the second stage held in Bangkok by defeating strong opponents from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka [Images].

In the final in May, they beat Singapore Sports School 2-0 to make it to the Manchester tournament.

Mohun Bagan will be one of only five Asian teams which have made it to the world finals -- the other four being Bulleen Lions from Australia, Beijing [Images] Sanfang FC from China, Tokyo Verdy from Japan [Images] and Ulsan Hyundai FC from Korea.

The tournament in Manchester will feature youth teams from some of the biggest football clubs around the world.

Apart from hosts Manchester United, their great premiership rivals Arsenal [Images], Germany's [Images] Hertha Berlin, Italy's [Images] Inter Milan, Portugal's Boavista FC, Spain's Athletic Bilbao, Switzerland's [Images] FC Basel and Brazil's [Images] Sao Paulo FC will be some of the top teams in action.

The teams will be divided in four groups and two from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals.



© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
 Email this Article      Print this Article

© 2008 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback