Mohun Bagan and India striker Jeje Lalpekhlua was declared winner of the 'Indian Player of the Year' award by the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) at its annual awards function held at the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai. The 25-year-old from Mizoram, who made his international debut in 2012 and came through the junior ranks, received the highest number of votes from fellow professional footballers, beating the challenge from the short list of India captain Sunil Chhetri, Bikash Jairu, David Lalrinmuana and Dhanachandra Singh, to win the coveted award. Jeje, incidentally, was the winner of the FPAI's Junior Indian Footballer of the Year award in 2011, AIFF Emerging Player of the Year award in 2013 and the 2015 Indian Super League Emerging Player of the League award while representing franchise outfit Chennayin FC, the eventual champions, on loan from Bagan.
Hosts Australia have been named top seeds for the 2015 Asian Cup ahead of next week's draw and will avoid being drawn in the same group as defending champions Japan.
India, who tallied 173 points, are ranked 22nd among Asian countries, above teams like Yemen and Lebanon, to whom Bob Houghton's boys lost in the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
Reader Sameer Sayed sent us a picture of Baichung Bhutia from Hyderabad.
Mohun Bagan suffered their fifth successive defeat in the AFC Cup, this time a 0-5 thrashing by Jordan's Al Wehdat in their Group D away match in Amman.
A lacklustre Dempo suffered a 1-2 defeat to Syrian side Al Maged in their Group E AFC Cup match in Damascus on Tuesday night. Dempo, who had beaten their opponents 1-0 at home, were outclassed by the Syrian side and could have lost by a bigger margin had not goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal saved at least half a dozen shots on target at the Al Abbassiyin Stadium.
Dempo conceded a last-minute goal against Al Muharraq of Bahrain and missed out on a chance to set one foot into the last 16 stage of the AFC Cup Group E football tournament, at the Nehru Stadium in Margao, Goa, on Tuesday. Substitute Madhkoor headed home a well-directed cross by Leandson in the 90th minute to give Al Muharraq their first win and hand the hosts their first defeat.
Mohun Bagan failed to convert the chances that came their way and Al Kuwait SC rode on a Samer JAS Almartah strike to register a 1-0 victory in the Group D AFC Cup match at Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday. Bagan clearly dominated the first-half with better ball possession but the visitors were quick to acclimatize to the hot and sultry conditions and score the all-important goal through Almartah in the 61st minute.
Despite being reduced to ten men midway through the second half, defending champions Dempo thumped Mohammedan Sporting 4-1 to move to fourth in points table of the ONGC I-League football, at the Nehru Stadium inn Margao, Goa, on Thursday.
Captain Steven Gerrard scored twice to rescue Liverpool from FA Cup embarrassment and lead them into the fourth round after a tricky 2-1 win at fourth tier AFC Wimbledon on Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
All India Football Federation (AIFF) chief Praful Patel is hopeful of establishing fruitful relations with new FIFA president Gianni Infantino and work towards the development of the game in the country.
Palestinian sports supremo Jibril Rajoub has threatened to call for Israel's expulsion from world soccer's governing body after it denied a number of officials entry to the West Bank for a youth tournament on security grounds
Defending champions Dempo kick-off their campaign in the second edition of the I-League on September 28. This I-League will commence on September 26, with East Bengal taking on debutantes Chirag United at Barasat Stadium and Sporting Clube de Goa meeting Vasco in Goa.
East Bengal duo Surkumar Singh and Syed Rahim Nabi were left out of the 20-member Indian football squad for the international friendly against Hong Kong on January 14.
Owing to their AFC Challenge Cup triumph, India rose two places in the FIFA rankings and are now at 151.
Jose Mourinho's first Premier League game as manager of Manchester United ended in a comfortable 3-1 victory away to Bournemouth on Sunday.
National coach Bob Houghton termed India's AFC Challenge Cup victory as the culmination of a determined effort by his charges and the football establishment to reach the Asian elite stage. By winning Asia's second tier tournament after a 4-1 thrashing of defending champions Tajikistan, India qualified for the 2011 Asian Cup. Houghton said his charges were the deserving winners.
Only Sandesh Jhingan, who led the side, Rahul Bheke and Subhasish Bose retained their places, but India still won the match through a 17th minute strike from midfielder Anirudh Thapa in the third-place match at the Thunder Castle stadium.
Hamze Aboud scored the only goal of the match following a corner to give the Lebanese side a 1-0 victory in the first leg of the AFC Cup semi-final at the Sports City Stadium, in Beirut, on Tuesday.
Dempo are looking to maintain their good run when they take on their West Asian rivals in the first leg of the AFC Cup semi-final at the Sports City Stadium in Lebanon on Tuesday.
India made a disastrous start to their Under-16 AFC Championship campaign, losing 2-5 to South Korea in their opening match of Group B in Tashkent on Saturday.
Arsenal slumped to a last-gasp 2-1 Premier League defeat at relegation-threatened Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday in a blow to the London club's chances of securing European football next season. Watford's Craig Dawson grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser with an overhead kick to earn his side a 1-1 draw with Leicester City on Saturday and a vital point in their battle for Premier League survival.
With the nagging hamstring injury sustained in the AFC Challenge Cup healed, a fit-again Baichung Bhuita is raring to go full throttle when his team Mohun Bagan opens its I-League campaign against minnows Mumbai FC on Saturday.
Captain Sunil Chettri starred in India's 5-0 victory over Chinese Taipei, registering his third career-hat-trick, but the feat did not invoke wild celebrations from the striker, as he is someone who does not like to "celebrate outrageously" on the field.
East Bengal and Lebanon's Safa FC played out a goalless draw in a dull and drab AFC Cup Group B encounter in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The India Under-16 football team conceded a late goal and went down fighting 1-2 to the Everton youth team in a friendly match at Everton, England, on Thursday night.
India football coach Bob Houghton heaped praise on his charges for their "immense desire to win" in difficult conditions. India rode on an 82nd minute goal by striker Sunil Chhetri to beat Myanmar 1-0 and book a berth in the final of the of the eight-nation AFC Challenge Cup tournament, the winner of which will qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup.
India rode on a late goal by Sunil Chhetri to beat Myanmar in the first semi-final of the AFC Challenge Cup football tournament.
Captain Baichung Bhutia came off the bench to earn India a 1-1 draw with defending AFC Challenge Cup champions Tajikistan in Group A, in Hyderabad, on Friday. The point from the match kept India, who beat Afghanistan 1-0 in their opening match, in the race for a place in the semi-finals. Substitute Bhutia scored on the hour mark after Tajikistan's Yusuf Rabiev opened the scoring after just 10 minutes.
India coach Bob Houghton conceded his team was lucky to earn a point against defending AFC Challenge Cup champions Tajikistan in Group A on Friday. "In some ways you could say that we were lucky," said Englishman Houghton. "The early goal for Tajikistan surprised us and when we went into the attack we were vulnerable at the back.'
Title favourites DPR Korea lived up to expectations as they outplayed Sri Lanka 3-0 in their opening Group B match in the AFC Challenge Cup in Hyderabad on Thursday.
This and more from the happenings in the world of footbal.
Argentina stay on top of the list, ahead of Brazil and Italy. The only change in the top 10 is England, which gained two places to number nine at the expense of Portugal, which slipped to 11.
The Premier League game between Manchester United and Bournemouth on Sunday was abandoned after two stands at Old Trafford were evacuated before kickoff.
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