India's football captain Baichung Bhutia is looking for 20 to 30 acres of land to start a football academy in any state.
Defending champions India sans star striker Baichung Bhutia failed to impress as they went down 0-1 to Syria in their inconsequential last round-robin match of the Nehru Cup international football tournament in New Delhi, on Saturday. Having already qualified for Monday's final against the same opponents, India rested Bhutia, who had received a yellow card in the tournament opener against Lebanon.
He never thought he would come this far but Baichung Bhutia on Sunday became the first Indian footballer to play in 100 international matches, leading the side against Kyrgyzstan in the crucial round-robin match of the Nehru Cup in New Delhi. Born at a sleepy but enchanting Sikkim hamlet of Tinkitam, Bhutia has come a long way from playing his first international match as a 19-year-old.
'God's gift to Indian football' and an 'icon of his generation' is how the country's former greats described national captain Baichung Bhutia. who became the first Indian player to compete in 100 international matches. Bhutia, who began his international career in 1995 at the age of 19, on Sunday reached the milestone of playing 100 matches for the country when he led India in their second round-robin match of the Nehru Cup international football tournament in New Delhi.
Despite being predictable and sluggish at some places, Saina seems like something Parineeti Chopra would be proud of, notes Prateek Sur.
India's football captain decided to part ways with Mohun Bagan in retaliation to the club's decision to serve him a show cause letter recently for missing practice and an exhibition match in Jalpaiguri.
Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra speaks about fashion trends, films and how the recession hit his business.
Baichung Bhutia celebrated his 100th match appearance for the country by scoring one and setting up another goal in India's 2-1 win over Kyrgyzstan in a round-robin fixture of the Nehru Cup International football tournament in New Delhi, on Sunday. India thus bounced back into a final berth contention in the five-nation tournament after losing to Lebanon 0-1 in the opening match at the Ambedkar Stadium.
Fit-again striker Sunil Chhetri converted a penalty as the Indian football team wound up its Barcelona training tour on a winning note, beating Spanish third division side FC Santboia by a solitary goal in their fourth and final friendly game, High Performance Sports at the outskirts of Barcelona on Wednesday night.
A depleted Mohun Bagan, without skipper Baichung Bhutia, suffered a 0-4 drubbing at the hands of Al Karamah in their last AFC Cup Group D match and ended their season on a disappointing note, in Howrah, on Tuesday. Bagan ended their AFC Cup campaign, losing all their six matches and conceding 19 goals.
Mohun Bagan has barred captain Baichung Bhutia from practicing with the team and served a showcause notice asking the footballer to explain reasons for missing number of training sessions and an exhibition match in Jalpaiguri on Monday without prior notice.
Muritala Ali scored a fine brace as Mahindra United beat East Bengal 3-2 to register their first victory in the I-League at the Cooperage in Mumbai on Wednesday.
India enhanced their chances of making it to the final of the five-nation Nehru Cup football tournament with a 3-1 victory over Sri Lanka at the Ambedkar stadium in Delhi on Wednesday.
Baichung Bhutia is not amused at the way India teammate Sunil Chhetri was treated by Coventry City and feels the Delhi player's agent could have handled the situation better. "Sunil's agent and Coventry could have done better than give him just a couple of days' trial," Bhutia said in Delhi on Monday.
India captain Baichung Bhutia on Monday 'signed' a year's contract with East Bengal and vowed to play for the club till he hangs his boots, even though he is yet to be released by Mohun Bagan.
Ace footballer Baichung Bhutia and swimmer Bula Chowdhury were named for the Padma Shri while the late Edmund Hillary, the first to scale Mt Everest, will get the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.
Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia will play under Michael Ballack or Clarence Seedorf in the 'Goal 4 Africa' charity match in Munich.
After his inspirational showing in India's AFC Challenge Cup triumph fetched him the most valuable player award in the tournament, it came as no surprise when the All India Football Federation named Baichung Bhutia the country's player of the year at their Annual General Meeting in Delhi on Tuesday. The India and Mohun Bagan skipper, who first won the award in 1995, is the only player after I M Vijayan to win it twice.
Star footballer Baichung Bhutia on his Jhalak Dikhla Jaa experience.
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A 10-man Mohun Bagan beat JCT 2-0 to register their third successive victory in the I-League. Bagan, who dominated from the outset, sealed the match in the first 30 minutes itself after man-of-the-match Ishfaq Ahmed and Jose Ramirez Barreto scored a goal each.
Baichung Bhutia and Kiran Bedi's refusal notwithstanding, the Olympic torch relay continues to draw celebrities, with sharpshooters Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Abhinav Bindra joining the April 17 run with the flame. According to a statement from Samsung, the Olympic torch relay partner, sprint queen P T Usha, powerlifter Rajinder Singh Rahelu, actor Sagarika Ghatge of Chak De! India fame and sarod player Ayaan Ali Khan will also join the run.
Syed Rahim Nabi sparkled with a brace as East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan 3-0 and ended their 10-match winning steak, in the ONGC I-League at Yuba Bharati Krirangan, in Kolkata on Sunday night.
Karim Bencherifa's team beat Mumbai FC 3-0 and registered their seventh triumph on the trot in the I-League to go just one behind leaders Sporting Clube de Goa.
Jose Ramirez Barreto's goal in the second-half gave Mohun Bagan a 1-0 victory over a 10-man Dempo in the Federation Cup final in Kolkata on Sunday.
Having missed the IFA Shield and Durand Cup, Baichung Bhutia said he is not fully fit and will take some time to settle down when he dons the East Bengal jersey in the I-League.
India captain Baichung Bhutia rued the missed chances in the SAFF Cup 2-1 semi-final victory over Bhutan on Wednesday. In Saturday's final, India meet Maldives, who got the better of Sri Lanka 1-0 in the other semi-final.
Mohun Bagan bounced back into the reckoning after registering their fifth win on the trot by prevailing over Mahindra United 1-0 in an ONGC I-league match at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Monday.
India's ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar has pulled out from the Olympic torch relay to be held in New Delhi on Thursday.
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.
President Pratibha Patil congratulated the Indian football team for winning the ONGC Nehru Cup football tournament.
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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 were held to a 1-1 draw by Malaysia in a friendly football match played at the Lal Bahadur stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
A solitary goal by Brazilian striker Jose Barreto helped Mohun Bagan beat Mahindra United 1-0 in their ninth round match of the ONGC I-League and keep their title hopes alive in Kolkata on Saturday.
Brazilian Carlos Roberto Silva has been named chief coach of the team for the 2007-08 season.
Goals from N P Pradeep, Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chetri and Sushil Kumar Singh gave India a 4-0 victory in the SAFF Championship opener at Maldives National Stadium in Male on Tuesday.
The Mohun Bagan ace was also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 for arguing with the referee and refusing to leave the field after being shown the red card during the match against archrivals East Bengal on September 26.
The 30-year-old captain of India's football team, who switched allegiance from East Bengal to Bagan in June 2006, signed for another two years saying he is very happy to continue playing with the Kolkata giants .
