JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh says it will be an altogether different ball game when they clash against hosts East Bengal in their third round I-League encounter in Kolkata on Sunday.
East Bengal rode on defender Bello Rasaq's header to defeat Salgaocar 2-1 and jump to second place in the I-League football tournament in Barasat on Sunday.
Skipper Sunil Chhetri struck twice to help Bengaluru FC beat Shillong Lajong 2-1 in a thrilling 12th round match of the Airtel I-League in Bangalore on Sunday.
India's chief coach Anil Kumble has advised Test specialist Wriddhiman Saha to take complete rest for two weeks which will mean that the wicket-keeper batsman will be missing Bengal's first two Ranji Trophy games against Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Wriddhiman, who will be 32 in less than a fortnight had kept wickets for more than 452 overs during the three Test matches against New Zealand. Add to it, two knocks of 50 plus in pressure situation at the Eden Gardens to win the Man of the Match award.
Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly revealed on Friday that India skipper Virat Kohli is open to the idea of playing day-night Tests. His comments come following a meeting with Kohli, in Mumbai on Thursday, during which the idea was floated.
I M Vijayan is amazed at Indian football's leap from amateurism to professionalism.
A former India international, who won the SAFF Cup in his debut season in 1997, Jamil had been at the helm of Mumbai FC for seven seasons but his moment of glory came when he guided Aizawl FC to their maiden I-League title in a path-breaking last season.
Mohun Bagan's Brazilian footballer Jose Ramirez Barreto, who experienced a harrowing time before flying home, returned from Sao Paulo on Monday. The Brazilian, whose passport was confiscated by the Kolkata Customs for allegedly carrying unauthorised foreign exchange, spent about six weeks with his family before returning to the city.
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.
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.
Former Nigerian world cupper Emeka Ezeugo has signed in as the head coach of Churchill Brothers Soccer Club.
The Nigerian World Cup player will take over the Goa club in June. He replaces Moroccan Karim Bencherifa, who resigned in March to join Mohan Bagan.
Laggards in international rankings, India finally made their presence felt by pulling off an impressive under-17 World Cup that drew all-round praise even though the country was eliminated in the very first round.
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.
Goa's Churchill Brothers won their maiden I-League football crown after defeating Mohammedan Sporting 6-2 in the last round of matches at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa, on Thursday. They finished with 46 points, three more than their closest rivals Mohun Bagan, who were defeated by Mahindra United 2-1 in their last match. Sporting Clube de Goa were third, Dempo fourth and Mahindra United fifth. Odafa Okolie (26 goals) emerged the top scorer of the tournament.
The Cricket Association of Bengal will stage the four-day final of the S K Acharya memorial tournament (Ranji Trophy pre-season tourney) with pink balls and under floodlights. The title round of the four-team tournament will be played at the Eden Gardens from October 1-4.
Three goals and three red cards besides a couple of yellows marked a fairly exciting 16th round I-League clash as Sporting Clube de Goa downed Mumbai FC 2-1 at the Cooperage on Sunday to zoom to the top of the table back again.
Having lost the lead to Mohun Bagan on Friday, Sporting Clube de Goa on Saturday roped in former coach Clifford Chukuwama and asked current coach Vishwas Gaonkar to step down with immediate effect.
Mumbai FC scored their second victory in as many matches when they beat Kolkata giants East Bengal by a solitary goal in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Basement club Vasco upset Sporting Clube de Goa by a solitary goal to register their second win of the ONGC I-League, played at Nehru stadium, in Margao on Sunday.
Ruling out competition with Parthiv Patel, India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha on Thursday said the Test series against Australia next year will be easier than the recently-concluded one against England, which the hosts won 4-0.
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.
Ravshan Teshabaev scored late into the second-half to give Vasco a 1-0 victory over Oil India in the 30th Federation Cup at the Vidyasagar Krirangan in Barasat on Tuesday. The victory kept Vasco's hopes alive in the tournament. The Goa side's fate now depends on the other Group C match between Mohun Bagan and Air India.
Churchill Brothers edged past East Bengal 2-1 in the 11th round encounter of the ONGC I-League at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Monday to end their campaign in the first phase one point adrift of second-placed Mohun Bagan on 21.
Mike Okoro struck in the 40th minute to earn Mohammedan Sporting a 1-0 win over a Peerless in the IFA premier division football league game.
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.
Two-time National Football League winners Subhas Bhowmick (East Bengal), Subroto Bhattacharya (formerly with Mohun Bagan) and Armando Colaco (Dempo) have been named among the five all-time best coaches of the National Football League from 1996-2007.
FC Barcelona's Asia Pacific director general Jordi Camps believes it is a matter of time before an Indian plays in Spanish top-flight.
Mahindra United and South Africa's Santos Football Club on Wednesday set up a summit clash after winning their semifinal encounters in the 113th IFA Shield Football tournament.
The newly-crowned NFL champions said the weather and ground conditions in Gurgaon are not conducive.
Dempo Sports Club, Goa, thrashed Viva Kerala 4-1 to lift the inaugural ONGC I-League title.
Odafe Onyeka Okolie scored a double hat-trick as Churchill Brothers whipped cellar team Vasco 9-1 in a 16th round match of the ONGC I-League football championship in Goa on Friday to stay in the hunt for the title. The victory kept Churchill in third place, with 30 points, behind league leaders Mohun Bagan (33) and Sporting Clube de Goa (31).
Malsawmtluanga Shylo scored twice as Salgaocar rallied to hold Mahindra United to a 2-2 draw in an I-League football match in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Mohun Bagan coach Carlos Roberto Perreira said too many local fixtures is detrimental to the development of Indian side.
Legendary German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn took his final bow from competitive soccer before a capacity 1.20 lakh crowd at Yuva Bharati Krirangan as Bayern Munich decimated Mohun Bagan 3-0 in a friendly in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Oliver Kahn is looking forward to play in front of capacity crowd at the Salt Lake stadium when Bayern Munich take on Mohun Bagan in a friendly.
Despite coming up with the better chances, Air India failed to take off and were held by fancied JCT to a goalless draw in an I-League encounter at the Cooperage on Wednesday.
East Bengal are likely play an exhibiton match against top English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur nine days before their arch rivals Mohun Bagan take on the German club Bayern Munich at Salt Lake stadium on May 27.
A Chidi Edeh strike against the run of play was enough for Goa's Dempo Sports Club to claim their maiden Super Cup title as they beat Kolkata's East Bengal by a solitary goal in Gurgaon on Wednesday.
National football coach Stephen Constantine may have ruled Michael Chopra out from representing India but the British PIO today said he's not lost hope and was waiting the 53-year-old's exit. Hitting out at the India coach, the Kerala Blasters forward said: "Stephen Constantine can say whatever he wants. Personally, it's not a problem for me. Well has he achieved anything in the game as a player? No." There had been reports that All India Football Federation may not be too keen to extend Constantine's contract that gets over in February, a month before the Asian Cup qualifiers begin.