Discussion About Indian Football

[Sabir]

Sabir,..........Any idea when is the match between India vs Pakistan??

And at what channel Broadcast??

It is in August...I am not sure who will broadcast. But it will be definitely done because of the hype. Nowadays a Bengali Channel Mahua Bangla is broadcasting most of the matches of Indian team. They have some agreement with AIFF. So people in Kolkata has no problem.

 

[Sabir]

The only indian footballer I know is Baichung Bhutia and that guy who plays in MLS...

any exciting youngsters that are coming up?

Here are some exiciting young players (My favourites)

1) Subrata Paul (Goal keeper) (24) (6'1").....There is no doubt he is the most valuable player in India at present and in my opinion one of the best in Asia. He plays for Pune FC and the club is demanding 1 crore transfer fee if any club wants to sign him....highest ever in India.

Few months back , India was defeated to South Korea by 1-4, but Subrata Paul was rated very highly in Korean Press. They named him 'Spiderman'. He made atleast 18 saves in that match (even I made the count) else it would have been the worst defeat in our football history.

2) Jeje Lalpekhula (Stricker) (20) (5'8") from Mizoram. Plays for Pune FC. Already football fans are seeing next Baichung in him. Already has 11 goals in 13 international matches.

3)Robin Singh (Stricker) (20) (6'1") East Bengal Paid 50 Lakh to sign him from Tata Football Academy- A record for any kid from TFA. He has a good left foot, good hight, excellent shooting, good spot jump and good heading- a complete package to give lot of headahe to opponent. For unknown reason he is not in Indian team (not even U23)... Some says U23 coach did not like his badboy attitude, some says East Bengal did not release him as I-league was going on)....Hope to see him in national team very soon...

Some other promishing players are Raju Gaikowad (defender), Steven Dias (Mid-field) Mehtab Husain (Mid-field) Lal Kamal Bhowmick (Mid-field)...you can find youtube videos about these footballers if you wish to see...

 

[Sabir]

New-look India hope to upset UAE

Dubai: Jeje Lalpekhlua is India's big hope heading into their two leg World Cup second round qualifier with the UAE, in a game that will have everything to do with netting chances, said team manager Mandhar Tamhane.

At January's Asian Cup a lacklustre UAE side failed to score in their three games with Iraq, Iran and North Korea. India meanwhile managed three goals against Bahrain, Australia and South Korea — two of those came from Kansas City whizkid Sunil Chettri.

But watching back on those old videos now will give you no idea of how India has developed as an outfit post Bob Houghton.

Now under new coach Armando Colaco, who is also juggling I-League duties with Dempo, Indian football has found a new groove, which the UAE can't afford to dismiss.

Article continues below

"It's less of Mr Houghton's long ball up front and deal with it there — and more passing, pressing, possession play. Everyone is happy and adapting well to this new style of Indian football. It's more like how Dempo has played in the I-league under Armando," said Tamhane in an exclusive interview with Gulf News.

"Selections have been made on fitness and I-League form and the final squad will be decided after our friendly with Qatar on July 17. We have 10-11 left over from Bob Houghton's Asian Cup squad but eight to ten who form the nucleus of the Under-23 side as Armando looks to build a side for the future," said Tamhane.

"We've just had a friendly with the Maldives where we drew 1-1 and didn't make the most of our chances; there's a lot of pressure on strikers Chettri and Jeje going into the UAE match as taking our chances will be of utmost importance," said Tamhane.

Lalpekhlua, just 20, has a 100 per cent strike rate with four goals from four games so far for India and is the highest Indian scorer of last year's I-League (13) with Pune. He along with Chettri is at the forefront of a new-look India outfit.

Tamhane added: "We know the UAE is a strong and very capable side. It will be very tough in Al Ain but we're positive if we can hold on we'll have a chance at home. Obviously if we win this will be a massive boost for Indian football."

gulfnews : New-look India hope to upset UAE

 

[Sabir]

UAE played in World Cup in 1990...they won Gulf Cup in 2007....and worst news is that they beat India in a friendly just 7-8 months ago with a margin 5-0..."( India conceded 22 goals in 4 friendly matches ...worst was 1-9 against Kwait...then 13 goals in 3 matches of Asian Cup)....Hope Colaco team will do much better than Houghton's 'oldage team'

 

[indian_sukhoi]

Subrata Paul is a Strong Keeper, Has a good Command of Box and Aerial Ability. I Saw him playing in 2008 AFC Challenge Cup which was in Hyderabad.

We sneaked into dressing room, asking for autographs I even have pictures of India and North Korea players. I will try to post those pictures!!!


Whereas when it come to other Young players, We do have a promising under-17 squad coming up but no resourses to support. I did heard about Robin Singh but never saw him in action before.

 

[sob]

Yesterday I was seeing highlights of the Womens World Cup semi final. These girls were very good, fast and the moves , set pieces were at par with their male counterparts.

I am sure if either the US or French Women's team played against our National Men's team there would be no prizes to guess the winner.

 

[Sabir]

India is facing Qatar in an international friendly. Ten Action will show the match. It is the last opportunity for both the teams to do their homework before they go for world cup qualifiers. India will be facing UAE and Qatar will face Vietnam in world cup qualifier.

In Asia, Qatar is a formidable team,( ranked 94 at present in FIFA ranking) organiser of 2022 World Cup. In last three matches against Qatar (including U23) , India got early lead in all but failed to maintain that.

Last 3 matches of Qatar (national team)

Qatar 1-1 Russia
Qatar 2-3 Japan
Qatar 3-0 Kwait (the same Kwait routed Houghton's India 9-1)

Last 3 matches of India

India 1-1 Maldives
India 1-1 Turkmenistan
India 3-1 Pakistan

Adaptation of passing football by new coach Armando Colaso, discarding Houghton's Long ball strategy, and inclusion of junior footballers like Jeje, Ralte, Raju Gaikowad, Shilton D'Silva etc and successful players of I-league like Mehtab Hussain are the only interesting factors. Else there is no chance of India against Qatar.

 

[Sabir]

India defeated Qatar 2-1. Sunil Chhetry and Sushil Kumar Singh scored for India in 18" and 74". Qatar reduced the margin at 75". Qatar is atleast 50 spots ahead of India in FIFA ranking and it was an away match for India and India scored twice. Clearly India will get atleast 10-12 points for the win. So an upmove is coming in FIFA ranking.

India will face UAE in 23rd and UAE is behind Qatar in FIFA ranking. Hope India will continue good show....Armando Colaco ki JAI HO

 

[Sabir]

Sunil Chhetri Signs a Pre-season Contract with Benfica

Sunil Chhetri: Indiano no Benfica - Última Hora - Correio da Manhã

Sunil Chhetri Signs a Pre-season Contract with Benfica

 

[Arunpillai]

The problem of indian football is lack of support for local football teams... Football needs to be taught at school.. It does not require much finance or equipment. Just a football... The football market is a huge untapped area... If the football infrastructure is properly developed, league matches could be more exciting than IPL...

 

[Sabir]

India lost to UAE 0-3 in a dramatic encounter last night in the first lege of world cup qualifier. Two of India players were shown red cards and two penulties were given within 20 minute of the match. Down by 2 goals as well as two men India fought hard and denied UAE to increase the margin till the end. Star goal keeper Subrata Paul was the villain for India as he hit an opponent unnecessarily with his knee at 21st minutes of the match. Referee promptly sent him out and gave the second penulty of the match. Just 3 minutes earlier Debabrata Roy pulled an UAE forward down inside box and conceded a penulty while earning a marching order for himself. Concidentally Subrata saw red card even in the last qualifier 4 years ago. And his collision with Christiano Junior in a domestic match took junior's life. Unfortunately Subrata has not learned from his mistake and once again make his team suffer.

 

[Sabir]

India hold UAE 2-2 in Home match for world cup qualifier

Despite being behind 0-2 till 75 minutes India manged to end 2-2 thanks to Jeje and Gourmangi Singh. In a ground more suitable for water polo than football, India was expected to give hard times to UAE team. Unfortunately they failed to reap any fruit of their domination in the first half. Rather UAE showed their professionalism to defend well in a ground they would hardly like to play and scored first from a fine cross from left. UAE captain increased the lead with a thunderous shot from the edge of box. However substitution of Dias by 18 years old Dica proved lucky for India. Jeje scored the first for India from a well addressed cross of Dica from the right. Gourmangi equalised in the injury time when he found the net through a jungle of bodies of both colour.

UAE will move to next round because of their win in their home match 3-0 which was very much controversial as two Indian players were sent off within 20 minutes and both occasion UAE scored from spot kicks to get an early 2-0 lead. Only consolation for India to get some points for holding much higher ranked UAE, which will help to improve FIFA ranking currently 153.

Man of the match or I shoud say Men of the match were the Indian fans who filled the stadium despite torrential rain through out the day. Congratulation Fans......

 

[Sabir]

Indian U 19 team reached the semi-final of the Weifang Cup in China. Though Indian boys lost the last match of the group against the junior team of famous Portuguese club Benfica by 0-2, they managed to finshed second in the point table. Earlier they drew with local Shandang FC 2-2 and then defeated FC Adelaide 4-3 in a thrilling encounter. The Australian side had 5 players who had represented Australia in recently held U 19 world cup. But the Indian boys won despite being trailed by 1-3 at one point of time. Most probably they will face a Mexican club in the Semi-final. The Junior team of China is also competing in the tournament from other group.

However, U 16 team lost to Pakistan 0-1 in SAFF cup in Nepal, despite dominating the game.

 

[Sabir]

C D Guadalajara of Mexico shocked everyone by defeating Barcelona 4-1 yesterday. Coincidentally Indian U 19 faced the youth team of the same club in semi-final of Weifang cup. Despite an early lead Indian boys lost to much superior opponent by 1-3. Now they will face Benfica for 3rd place.

In Kathmandu, U 16 team thrashed Maldives by 5-0 to reach the semi-final of SAAF U16 championship.

 

[Sabir]

Indian team reached the final of U16 SAAF football championship after defeating Nepal 4-2 in tie-breaker. Match was tied at 1-1 after scheduled time. India will face pakistan which has defeated Bangladesh 2-0.

India lost to Pakistan 1-2 infinal.

 

[Sabir]

Indian football team is about to start their Caribbean campaign today, Barbados (FIFA ranking 145) being the first opponent. Other two matches will be against Trinidad & Tobago and Guyna. Indian U23 team is supposed to face Pakistan, youth teams of England and Scotland in their UK tour. However the team is weakened greatly as most important players are with the senior team in Caribbian tour.

 

[trojan]

India's 1st match against Barbados cancelled due to unknown reasons.

probably colaco complained of poor hospitality by the hosts. officials say it is due to jet lag ...now that's a lame excuse

next match is against Trinidad and Tobago on 21st aug

 

[Sabir]

I dont understand why they need to go other part of the globe for practice match against a team ranked 145 when Nepal has better rank at present. We should be playing with middle-east countries, ASEAN countries and former-Soviet countries more to gain experience and improve ranking. It will be more cost effective too. Very soon our U23 team under Sukhwinder Singh will be travelling to UK to face Pakistan, U23 team of England and U21 team of Scotland. But 7-8 key players like Jeje, Raju,Lalrindica, Sabeeth will not be available as they are with the senior team in an useless tour. AIFF should be prudent while planning such tour.

Colaco's concept of 'passing and possession based football' may give rays of hope for Indian football, but Colaco as a coach is not beyond controversy. Especially, his biasness in favour of Dempo footballer is harming national team. No way Climax, Miranda, Debabrata, Sammer Nayek are worth playing in the national team when he has dropped Baichung,Rafi, Anwar and Rennedy Singh. Players like Sandeep Nandi, Danzel Franco are already declining to play under him because of his biasness towards some players.And he went beyond his jurisdiction by cancelling a FIFA sanctioned game. In my opinion Colaco's concept of passing football is more important than Colaco himself. I will not be surprised if he is get replaced by a Spanish coach soon.

 

[jyoti rathi]

I demand a seperate sticky thread for Indian football....There are many things to discuss. The football fans must have a common space to give their view about Indian football. I propose The moderatorsa shoud update the title regularly with upcoming news or any valuable discussion... Like ...."Indian Football: Armando Colaco is new Indian Coach...

Sabir, before even starting the discussion , the imp thing is that the sports authority should take interest in this sport as much as cricket. Give due recognition to players like cricket, money like them on winning. This news that Armando is the coach may be known to very few because of us because of media..........whereas everyone knows indian cricket team coach.........its about changing attitude and repo of other sports that the children will be interested to enter into this international game.

 

[Sabir]

Sabir, before even starting the discussion , the imp thing is that the sports authority should take interest in this sport as much as cricket. Give due recognition to players like cricket, money like them on winning. This news that Armando is the coach may be known to very few because of us because of media..........whereas everyone knows indian cricket team coach.........its about changing attitude and repo of other sports that the children will be interested to enter into this international game.

The logic behind starting the thread is make people aware about what is happening in Indian football.Over years there are some improvements. Players from N-E, J&K are coming (earlier it was monopoly of Bengal, Goa and Kerala).Regions like Maharashtra, Delhi , Karanataka are showing more interest. New clubs with modern infrastructure are joining in (Ex- Pune FC, Pailan arrows). More important, there is money now so that even an average footballer can make it a profession. Today an newcomer like Robin Singh (Age 20) can sign a deal for 50 L. For an established player like Subrata Paul it is as high as 1 cr. So the change is there. Many industrialists like Chirag group, Pailan group, Prayag groups are coming ahead to invest in football. Giant like Reliance are sending proposals to start a professional league. If things continue like this I am confident India will be among top 5 nations in Asia.