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East Bengal end an 11 year wait to lift the Fed Cup Title.
Edmilson Marques Pardal of East Bengal - 6 Goals in 3 Matches( Top Scorer)
15.09.2007:Kuntal Chakraborty: Eleven years back the score line was the same
2-1 in favour of East Bengal when they last won the Federation Cup title. In 1996
the opposition was Dempo Sports Club….In Ludhiana the victory came against
Mahindra United…. The Kolkata club ended a decade long drought to win India’s
premier knock out football tournament.
A slow start to the final turned into an action packed drama inside the final 10
minutes of the first half….In the 36th minute Mahindra conceded a penalty and
Edmilson converted from the spot to put the red and gold ahead. Just a few
minutes passed and Mahindra’s Sunil Kumar was given the marching orders by
referee K. Shankar for kicking Edmilson without the ball.
The first half injury time just started and East Bengal got their second goal when
the Brazilian striker Edmilson scored one of the best of this Federation Cup.
Following a through at the right flank Edmilson floated over the head of Sandip
Nandy from outside the box. The experienced Mahindra goal-keeper was standing
little up the goal line and couldn’t even expect an attempt like that.
Down by a men and two goals, Mahindra United made a strong come back into the
game after East Bengal defender Mehrajuddin Wadoo mistimed a tackle and gave
away a penalty in the dying seconds of injury time. Manjit Singh made no mistake
to bring the Jeep men back on track.
Half Time Score--- East Bengal: 2 Mahindra United: 1
Second half started and Ashim Biswas came close to score the third for East
Bengal following a Mahindra defensive lapse but his shot went just wide. The red
and gold attack continued as Edmilson shot inches out of the Mahindra goal.
Tension started to build in both the camps which saw the players losing
temperament on a number of occasions. As a result, the first 15 minutes of the
second half saw a flurry of yellow cards were shown by the referee K. Shankar.
Mahindra started to build pressure on East Bengal in the last twenty minutes but
numerical supremacy helped the Kolkata side to prevail over their rival. Goal
Keeper Subrata Paul continued his left over form for the Indian national side and
thwarted the Mahindra strikers on a couple of occasions.
Victories are always sweet and East Bengal tasted it after a nerve wrecking ten
minutes of injury time in the second half.
EAST BENGAL TEAM: Subrata Pal ; I. Surkumar Singh,
Majekodumni Bolaji, Alvito D'Cunha,Saumik Dey; Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehrajuddin
Wadoo (Abdul Samed Okocha 82'), Jayanta Sen, (Dipankar Roy 74');
Edmilson Marques Pardal ( Dipendu Biswas 90'), Ashim Biswas.
MAHINDRA UNITED: Sandip Nandy;
Djidjia Douhou Pierre, Krishnan Nair Ajayan,Sunil Kumar , Harpreet Singh ,
Sushanth Mathew, Dhanraj Ravanan ; Steven Dias ( M Mohammed Rafi 78'),Manjit Singh (Surajit Bose 79' )
; Edson Dico Minga (Sukhwinder Singh 46' ), Andrews Pomeyie Mensah.
YELLOW CARDS: Mehraj din Wadoo 45'+2', Edmilson Marques Pardal 54'
Alvito D'Cunha 64', Subrata Pal 88', (all from East Bengal); Sunil Kumar 35',
Harpreet Singh 35', Dhanraj Ravanan 54', (all from Mahindra United).
RED CARD: Sunil Kumar (42', Mahindra)
LAST 10 Years Result of FEDERATION CUP
Year
FINAL RESULT
Result
1995/18th Fed Cup
East Bengal 1 - 1, 3 - 5 JCT*
1996/19th Fed Cup
*East Bengal 2 - 1 Dempo
E:Tusar Rakshit,I.M.Vijayan - D:Gonsalves
1997/20th Fed Cup
East Bengal 1 - 2 Salgaocar*
E:Samuel Omello - S:Bruno kutinho 2
1998/21st Fed Cup
East Bengal 1 - 2 Mohun Bagan*
E:Carlton chapman - M: Amit Das,I.M.Vijayan
2001/24th Fed Cup
Dempo 0 - 2 Mohun Bagan*
M: Barrero,Seriki
2003/25th Fed Cup
*Mahindra 1 - 0 Mohammedan S.C
MU:S.Venkatesh
2004/26th Fed Cup
Dempo 2 - 0 Mohun Bagan
D: Cristiano Junior
2005/27th Fed Cup
*Mahindra 2 - 1 Sporting Goa
MU: Barreto 2 - S: Dudu
2006/28th Fed Cup
*Mohun Bagan 1 - 1,3 - 1 Sporting Goa
M: Favio Vidal - S: Harmanjit S.Khabra
1999, 2000, 2002 - Match was not held
Mahindra knocks out Dempo to set up a title clash with East Bengal
Full Time Score( 1 - 1):Goals: Mahindra United - Manjit Singh 31'
Dempo S.C - Roberto Mendes Silva (Beto) 38'.
Tie Breaker Result:
DEM:Beto missed
MU: NP Pradeep scored
DEM: Chidi Edeh scored
MU: Harpreet Singh scored
DEM: Climax Lawrence missed
MU:Djidjia Douhou Pierre scored
DEM: Ranty Martins Soleye missed
12.09.2007:Mahindra United defeated NFL holders Dempo Sports Club to reach the
final of Federation Cup in Ludhiana. The Mumbai side won in tie-breaker after
both the teams were locked in a 1-1 draw inside the regulation 90 minutes and
extra time.
Manjit Singh put Mahindra ahead in the 31st minute through a thunder strike just
outside the penalty box. Dempo took just 7 minutes to restore parity when Beto
scored following a defensive lapse. Both the teams failed to score after this to set
up a tie-breaker finish in Ludhiana.
Skipper Beto, Ranty Martins and Climax Lawrence missed from the spot as Dempo
made an exit from the Federation Cup.Mahindra United will now take on East Bengal in the title clash day after tomorrow
while Dempo will play Mohun Bagan for the third-fourth position decider.
DEMPO S.C:Abhijit Mondal; Valeriano Rebello, John Charles Dias,
Mahesh Gawli, Samir Naik, Peter Carvalho (98' Jerry Zirsanga),
Climax Lawrence, Roberto Mendes Silva, Clifford Miranda (105' Nicolau
Borges, Ranty Martins Soleye, Chidi Edeh.
11.09.2007:Kuntal Chakraborty:Seven goals were scored in last Kolkata
Derby. It was five on the board this time…But the intensity of rivalry was even
higher. Twelve goals over all in two back to back EB-MB matches----
Can somebody tell when did it happen last??? The result was in favour of green
and maroon last time but it was the other way around in Fed Cup semis as East
Bengal took a sweet revenge against their arch rivals to win it 3-2.
The match started with both the teams playing cautious football. Mohun Bagan
shot into the lead in the 11th minute of the match against the run of play when
a Barreto cross spilled out of the hands of East Bengal goal keeper Subrata Paul….
Baichung Bhutia made no mistake to put the green and maroon ahead. Bagan was
playing better football in this phase of the game but the tide turned in favour of
East Bengal after coach Subrata Bhattacharya replaced Debabrata Roy and
brought veteran Dipendu Biswas in.
East Bengal started to play more organized and aggressive soccer with attacks
started to flow in from both the flanks. Alvito D’Cunha and Jayanta Sen fed the
strikers well with timely moves and East Bengal restored parity from one of those
attacks when Sur Kumar Singh scored in the 24th minute from a right footer.
Bagan goal keeper Sangram Mukherjee could have done better to stop the ball
as it went through his hands.
Dipendu justified his replacement just 10 minutes after the first goal was scored
and put the Red and Gold ahead in the 34th minute of the match. Mohun Bagan
tried to play attacking soccer after conceding the second goal but East Bengal
defense looked rock solid in presence of Majekdumni Bolaji.
Half Time Score- line: East Bengal 2—Mohun Bagan 1.
Second half just started and East Bengal got their third goal after Dipendu Biswas
nudged a ball to Ashim Biswas inside the opposition box. Biswas dodged past a
Bagan defender to put EB 3-1 ahead. A minute later Mohun Bagan could have
reduced the margin but Habibur Rehman failed to put the ball in after receiving it
from a corner. Now acknowledged as one of the most gifted player in Indian
football, Biswas scored the 215th goal of his career in the semi-final of the 29th
Federation Cup against defending champions Mohun Bagan
Unlike a common trend in derbies East Bengal continued to play aggressive even
after getting a two goal lead over their arch rivals made the task difficult for
Carlos Pereira’s men. But Jose Ramirez Barreto showed why he is rated so highly.
The Brazilian game maker scored in the 71st minute from a brilliant header
following a floater from Lal Kamal Bhaumik.
With barely three minutes past and it could have been 3-3 but Baichung
Bhutia’s goal was ruled out because of a marginal off-side. Mohun Bagan kept
the pressure on and Gafari’s shot just went out with 12 minutes left in the clock.
Alvito D’Cunha showed his vintage class following this move and tried to set up a
good ball dribbling past a couple of Bagan defenders but EB strikers were there to
receive it.
Then came the moment when the green and maroon came close to restore parity
…Baichung Bhutia’s flick found Lalam Puia with only EB goal keeper Subrata Paul
to beat but the in form EB goal keeper stretched his legs just the right time to
thwart the young Bagan striker.
Mohun Bagan ran out of time after this as the red and gold reached the final
of India’s premiere knock out football tournament.
EAST BENGAL TEAM: Subrata Pal; Irungbam Surkumar Singh,
Majekodumni Bolaji, Muttath Suresh, Saumik Dey; Syed Rahim Nabi,
Mehraj din Wadoo (84' Abdul Samed Okocha), Jayanta Sen, Debabrata
Roy (16' Dipendu Biswas); Ashim Biswas, Alvito D'Cunha.
MOHUN BAGAN TEAM: Sangram Mukherjee; Habibur Rehman Mondal,
Peter Odafe, Sanjeev Kumar Maria, Rauf Sher Khan (58' Pachau Lalam
Puia); James Lukram Singh, Mohammed Gafari, Suman Datta (43' Lal
Kamal Bhowmick), Dharamjit Singh; Jose Ramirez Barreto, Baichung
Bhutia.
YELLOW CARDS: Subrata Pal (80', East Bengal); Sanjeev Kumar
Maria (72', Mohun Bagan).
Dempo sails into the Semis with a 2-0 victory over Churchill
10.09.2007:NFL Champions Dempo Sports Club made it to the last four of the
Federation Cup football with a 2-0 win against Churchill Brothers..Dempo, the clear
favourites in an all Goan affair, took the lead through Ranty Martins. The Nigerian
striker scored from a brilliant header from the top of the penalty box.
Just a few minutes passed before Churchill Brothers were 10 men after their goal
keeper Vinay Singh was red carded for a deliberate hand ball outside the penalty
box. Down with a player short and by a goal Churchill Brothers didn't have the venom
to make a come back against a strong opponent like Dempo Sports Club.
The NFL holders went on to take a 2-0 lead in the 37th minute of the match as in
form Edeh Chidi scored his fourth goal of the tournament.
The margin of win could have been more in favour of Dempo but the Goan giant
played percentage football for the rest of the game,perhaps to save energy for
the all important semi final clash against Mahindra United.
DEMPO: Abhijit Mondal; Valeriano Rebello, John Charles Dias,
Mahesh Gawli, Sameer Naik, Jerry Zirsanga ( Peter Carvalho 73'),
Climax Lawrence, Roberto Mendes Silva, Clifford Miranda (Nicolau
Borges 77'), Ranty Martins Soleye, Chidi Edeh.
CHURCHILL BROTHERS: Vinay Singh, Thokchom Naoba Singh,
Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, Vinu Jose ( N Govind Singh 39'),
Robert Lalthalma, Chitrasen Chandam Singh, Mashangva Genius Zenith,
D Raju (Lalit Thapa 18'), Khemtang Paite (Thangjam Saran Singh 18'),
Odafe Onyeka Okolie, Stephen Njon Mbanyam.
YELLOW CARDS: Vinu Jose 32', Odafe Onyeka Okolie 87', both Churchill Bros).
RED CARD: Vinay Singh 17', Churchill Brothers).
East Bengal ride on Edmilson brace to last four in Fed Cup
09.09.2007:After 9 years East Bengal and Mohun Bagan will fight in Fed Cup.
The margin of win doesn’t tell the story that East Bengal were always at ease
through out the match…..The red and gold brigade stormed into the semi finals
of Federation cup beating JCT by an odd goal in five. Subrata Bhattacharya’s
team shot into the lead in the 14th minute of the match when Sur Kumar Singh
drew the first blood. With just a minute left for the lemon break Edmilson made
it 2-0 in favour of East Bengal.
JCT pulled one back in the 50th minute through a penalty as Edu converted from
the spot after he was brought down inside the box by Alvito D’ Cunha. The Punjab
side started to build on the pressure after the goal but East Bengal made the game
slow with possessional football.
Edmilson scored again in the 75th minute to make it 3-1….East Bengal defense
looked a bit complacent towards the end of the match and Renedy Singh reduced
the margin during the injury time.
Earlier in the days first match defending Champion Kolkata Giant Mohun Bagan
defeated Viva Kerala by 3 - 1.Brazilian Jose Ramires Barreto (15th),
Ishfaq Ahmed (39th) and P.C. Lalawmpuia (56th) kept Mohun Bagan in the hunt
to defend their title. Sajesh P. struck from a free kick for Viva Kerala to reduce
the margin for Kerala Team.
Mohun Bagan Skipper Baichung Bhutia did not play today but inspired team by sitting in the
sideline bench.But the team didn't feel the absence of Bhaichung Bhutia,
who missed the match due to fever. As many as eight Bagan players were
down with either fever or stomach upset but despite all odds they booked a
semi-final berth.
East Bengal will now meet Mohun Bagan in the last four. Since 1998, the city rivals
will face each other in this tournament. In 1997 Semi final match at Kolkata East Bengal
beat Mohun Bagan 4 - 1 with Baihung Bhutia's Hattrick for East Bengal.
In 1998 Final Mohun Bagan won the Cup by beating the arch rival 2 - 1.
Scorers of Mohun Bagan was Amit Das and I.M.Vijayan where Carlton Chapman for East Bengal.
Previous 17 times face to face in Fed Cup East Bengal won 5 times,Mohun Bagan won 4 times, match
drawn for 8 tomes,while East Bengal scored 13 Goals, Mohun Bagan 11.
A few days back seven goals(Mohun Bagan 4 - 3 East Bengal) were scored in Kolkata derby….Federation Cup
semi final between the traditional rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan might
witness an even more intense rivalry. But East Bengal Match maker and scorer
Edmilson may not play in the next game against arch rival Mohun Bagan due to his
injury.
East Bengal: Subrata Paul (goalkeeper), M. Suresh, Majekodunmi Bolaji, Jayanta Sen, Surkumar Singh, Debabrata Roy, Alvito D'Cunha, Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Asim Biswas, Edmilson Marques (Dipendu Biswas, 90)
Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee (goalkeeper), Habibur Rehman Mondal (Suman
Dutta, 46), Anit Ghosh, Peter Odafe, Rauf Khan (Sanjeev Maria, 70), L. James
Singh, Mohammed Gafari, Shanmugham Venkatesh, Dharamjit Singh (Ishfaq Ahmed,
35), Jose Ramires Barreto, P.C. Lalawmpuia
Viva Kerela: Puroshothaman (goalkeeper), Othallo Tabia, Irungabam Singh,
Satish Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Parveen Rawat (Javed Ok, 46), S. James Singh,
Bimal Baruah (Shineraj 80), Santa Singh, Lalu K.V
Mahindra beat Sporting Goa 6 - 5 in Penalty shoot out and reached in the Semi Final
08.09.2007:Nabarun Mukherjee:Mahindra United of Mumbai pulled off a nail-biting finish over their rivals Sporting
Club De Goa by a 6-5 margin through penalty shootouts and kept their hopes alive
in the Federation Cup Championship today at Ludhiana. Both the teams were tied
up 1-1 during the regulation time and failed to alter the score-line in the next 30
odd extra minutes which saw some pace-football and close encounters and of
course also revealed the cancer of Indian football (!) - the forwards failing to
capitalize on easy chances.
It was Mahindra Coach Derek Pereira’s one tactical move of replacing skipper
Sandip Nandi with Subhasish Roychowdhury which ultimately paid off as
Subhasish honored his coach’s faith by diving to his left to save the last shot of
Viviano, arguably one the few most experienced and persistent penalty shooters
in the country.
From the very beginning, both the teams concentrated more on defending rather
than risking their chances by venturing on all-out attack. The match never
reached great heights with plenty of mispasses, goalmouth impasses, a couple
of hurricurrie by the goalkeepers and mind-less football - for which players of
both the teams are to be blamed. With neither the rival forwards showing decisive
persistence, in the 28th minute of the first half, it was rather a concentration-lack
of the Sporting defenders that allowed agile Ajayan, standing absolute unmarked
at the top of the box, to touch the ball inside the nets off a long cross from
fellow teammate Steven Dais and give Mahindra their first lead in the game (1-0).
Sporting forward Ambani lacked supply from behind and Olushola - the other
Nigerian recruit of Sporting did nothing right throughout the game except a great
play acting by diving forward at the slightest touch of Jeep man Gautam Debnath
inside the D-box, that eventually earned his team a penalty and returned them
back into the game in the 74th minute of the second session. Viviano, returning to
his old club this season after a short stint at East Bengal of Kolkata was right on
the target (1-1). Except this, there was nothing remarkable to say about in the
second session but for some stray glimpses of individual brilliance and a few
sudden burst of counter attacks from both the teams.
As the match approached its regulation time, both the teams crowded their
defence resulting in an inevitable penalty shootout. It was at this moment Derek
brought in Subhasish replacing custodian Sandip Nandi, who looked inconsistent
enough beneath the bars throughout the match.
Bisheswar Singh, Nicholas Muyoti, Rajesh Metai, Oloshula scored for Sporting,
while for the Mahindras it was N.P.Pradeep, Steven Dais, Douhue, Manjit and Surajit
Bose who were sharp on targets. Bibiano fernandez was however not lucky enough for the
second time, as was his team also, which faded out of the tournament with this
loss in the hands of Mahindras.
MAHINDRA UNITED:Sandip Nandy ( Subhashish Roy Chowdhury 118');
Sunil Kumar, Harpreet Singh,N. P. Pradeep,
Goutam Debnath, Steven Dias, Djidjia Douhou Pierre, Sushanth
Mathew, K. N. Ajayan, M Mohammed Rafi ( Surajit Bose 78'),
Edson Dico Minga ( Manjit Singh 59').
SPORTING CLUBE GOA: Luis Xavier Barreto; C Chandrashekar Rao,
Nicholas Muyoti, Philip Gomes, N Rajesh Meetei; Harmanjot Singh Khabra,
Bibiano Fernandes, Micky Fernandes ( L. Bisheshwor Singh 68'),
Joseph Pereira;Olushola Ogundare, Boniface Ngairah Ambani
(Freddy Mascarenhas 45' , Cavin Lobo 99').
YELLOW CARDS: Sunil Kumar 69', Steven Dias 76', NP Pradeep
105' all from Mahindra); Philip Gomes 17', N Rajesh Meetei 48', ( Sporting Clube Goa)
07.09.2007:Chidi shines as Dempo off to a flyer
DEMPO S.C 3 - 0 CHIRAG UNITED
Goals: Chiddi Edeh Hattrick( 38',80, 83')
07.09.2007:Selection of foreign footballers in club football is important criteria of any team’s
success….And in India Dempo will top the chart in this category….Last year it was
the Mohun Bagan discarded Beto who played a crucial role in Dempo’s national
football league triumph. It is just the start of this season and already Dempo’s
new recruit Edeh Chidi showing signs of proving to be an asset for the Goan
outfit.
After spending a nightmarish last season for JCT, the Nigerian striker had a dream
start to the federation cup for his new side… Dempo overcame a slow start and
went ahead in the 38th minute of the match when Chidi scored his first.
Chirag United was up to the task and came close to equalise on a couple of
occasions but Chidi made it 2-0 against the run of play after scoring a gem
of a goal from a counter attack. It took three minutes more for the mercurial
Nigerian striker to score his hat trick and made it 3-0 for Dempo.
Dempo will now face Churchill Brothers in Quarter Final Match.
DEMPO:Abhijit Mondal; Valeriano Rebello, John Charles Dias, Mahesh Gawli
(Crassan Antao 87'), Sameer Naik, Jerry Zirsanga, Climax Lawrence,
Roberto Mendes Silva, Clifford Miranda (Nicolau Borges 79'),
Ranty Martins Soleye (Joaquim Abranches 63'), Chidi Edeh.
CHIRAG UNITED:Somnath Khara, Dulal Biswas, R. Dhanarajan,
Louis Nigi Ebami, Kingshuk Debnath,Sasthi Duley,
Francis Chibueze Maduako, Achinta Saha, Gouranga Datta,
Theodore Sunday Wrobeh, Shankar Oraon (Ashim Das Jr 84').
YELLOW CARDS: NIL
(06.09.2007) :Defending Champion Mohun Bagan Starts a poor in Fed Cup
Mohun Bagan A.C 2 - 1 ONGC
Goals:MB:G.Rongmoi Own 31', Barreto 106':::ONGC: Jatin Singh Bisht 81'
Nabarun Muklherjee:Defending champions Mohun Bagan proceeded in next
round of the championship by defeating a spirited ONGC 2-1 in their maiden
encounter in the Federation Cup here at Nehru Stadium, Ludhiana. With scores
tied 1-1 in the 90 minutes of regulation time, the deadlock was ultimately broken
in the 16th minute of the extra-time with the same old Baretto playing once more
the role of savior for Mohun Bagan scored by heading in a James Sing cross to
seal the fate of the rivals (2-1).
Both the teams started on a even note but it was Mohun Bagan who snatched the
early lead when in the 31st minute of the game, a dear mistake by
Gulidum Rongmoy off a corner from Lalkamal Bhowmick saw the ball rolling into the
nets much to the surprise of the ONGC defenders, who otherwise had a
commendable game against their far formidable superiors. Thereafter Mohun Bagan
weaved in attacks after attacks in the rival citadel and did everything except
scoring the goal. With ONGC supremo Jatin Singh playing in the flanks, and Tarif
alone venturing in the Mohun Bagan defence, ONGC hardly had any player to
operate in the midfield. Mohun Bagan took entire control of the half line and
Venky alone missed at least half a dozen chances in the first half alone.
The second half started with both the teams putting in a lot more commitment
in the game. Baichung who, until now, was playing deep inside with Venky
operating in the front with Baretto, led the Mohun Bagan attack from the very
start of the referee’s whistle. As Baretto desperately tried to find his name in
the scoring list, the rival captain Jatin moved into his usual position in the midfield
resulting the match gathering increased momentum. ONGC defence, lead by
Krishna Shirodkar, Sandip Das and Amardeep Singh played a wonderful game
and successfully repelled the Mohun Bagan attacks which were gradually
becoming venomous with the increasing infamous “Ba-Ba” combination.
In the 81st minute of the game, just asMohun Bagan seemed to wrap up
the game in their favour, an innocent counter-attack by the ONGC men found
an absolutely unmarked Jatin Singh standing right at the top of the rival box,
and he made no mistake to ramp the ball in the Mohun Bagan nets with a
powerful right footer much to the surprise of custodian Sangram who was
totally out of position (1-1). Taken aback by the sudden setback,
Mohun Bagan put in all their resources to comeback in the game, which then
witnessed some fine attacking football from the defending champions with
equally beautiful defencing by ONGC players. As the match gradually drifted
towards the penalty shootout, a quality acceleration from Baretto found rival
defender Sandip Das making a costly infringement, thus earning free kick for
Mohun Bagan from around 18 yards outside the box. With most of the defenders
marking Baichung, Baretto did the work by beautifully heading in a measured cross
from James Singh (2-1). With this win Mohun Bagan will now face Viva-Kerala
who beat Air –India 2-1 in the other match of the tournament.
MOHUN BAGAN TEAM:Sangram Mukherjee; Habibur Rehman Mondal
( Pachau Lalam Puia 90'), Peter Odafe, Peter Siddiqui, Rauf Sher Khan;
Mohammed Gafari; Lal Kamal Bhowmick ( James Lukram Singh 62'),
Shanmugam Venkatesh, Dharamjit Singh (Ishfaq Ahmed 62');
Jose Ramirez Barreto, Baichung Bhutia.
YELLOW CARDS: Gulidom Rongmoi 65', F Lalmunpuia 93', Sandip Das
111'(All from ONGC); Shanmugam Venkatesh 4', Mohammed Gafari 89',(Both of Mohun Bagan).
Sporting Goa and Mahindra United both won in their first match in Fed Cup
05.09.2007:Nabarun Mukherjee:An early goal did the trick for Mahindra
United as they wrap up their first win against a spirited HAL to move into the next
leg of the Federation Cup Tournament held at Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana.
With this loss, HAL is out of the Tournament while the winners will now face
Sporting Club-de-Goa, (who beat Army Xi by 1 - 0 margin scored by Boniface Ambani in 6th Minute),
which definitely promises to be a much tougher game
than the present one.
The match stared in a barren note and being the first match of the season,
both the teams took time to settle down. Mahindra, undoubtedly the favorite
of the game gradually started to attack the rival citadel but have to wait till the
9th minute of the game when Steven Dais positioned himself in place and touched
the ball rightfully in the nets off a well combined third man move involving a couple
of Mahindra men, probably the best of the attacks seen in the match (1-0).
Perhaps too, that was the only time when the HAL custodian Gumphe Rime, who
otherwise had an outstanding game today, failed to narrow the goal-angle and
prevent conceding the goal. Gumphe was rock solid beneath the bars and had
saved almost 6 to 7 sure goals by displaying highest standards of goalkeeping that
will be remembered for long. The way he rushed out and neatly collected the ball
from the legs of Jeep-man Minga in the 59th minute of the second session
reminded the old memories of Bhaskar and Brhamanand era of Indian Football.
Both the foreign recruits of Mahindra- Minga and Douhou, though possess the
required skill and game sense needed to click in the Indian football arena, surely
wants more time to acclimatize with the Indian conditions before some magic is
expected from them.
HAL with their limited resources gave the jeep-men a run for their point, specially
their well organized defence led by foreign recruit Alesh and Fem, both of whom
were outstanding at their jobs.
The first half ended with some erratic play in the middle with both teams coming
closer to score but yielding little result.
The second half, which started with a pile diver from Steven Dais from outside the
box and eventually hitting the bar, promised some entertaining football from both
the teams. Both Kartigayen and Rajendra Prasad of HAL toiled a lot to gain
control of the mid-field but in the absence of quality goal-scorers, the
plane-makers could not fly further enough to cross Sandip Nandi - the Mahindra
custodian, who, except for a couple of times facing the heat, otherwise was not
really tested as his counterpart. Although the Mahindra attack regained the much
needed extra velocity with the inclusion of Manjit Singh in place of Md. Rafi
(61st minute), they failed to alter the score line in spite of dominating the game
with quite a few intelligent penetrations and lots of long range shots at the rival
goal. At the end of the match, a largely relieved Mahindra Coach- Derek thanked
his team for winning the match and promised better football in the matches to
come.
MAHINDRA UNITED TEAM: Sandip Nandy; Sunil Kumar,Harpreet Singh, Naduparambil
Pappachan Pradeep, Manas Das, Steven Dias, Djidjia Douhou Pierre,
Sushanth Mathew, Krishnan Nair Ajayan, M Mohammed Rafi (Manjit
Singh 61'), Edson Dico Minga.
HAL TEAM:Gumpe Rime; Alesha Shameki, Femi Joseph Adeola, Y
Jaikumar, Sumit Thapa; Karthigeyan, J Muralidharan, Rajendra Prasad,
Xavier Vijayakumar; Sampath Kumar Kuttimani, Bimal Minz ( M Satish
Kumar 81').
YELLOW CARDS: Steven Dias 7', Sunil Kumar 51', (Mahindra)::::J. Muralidharan 79'(HAL).
East Bengal started their Federation Cup journey by defeating Mohammedan S.C3 - 1
Kolkata:04.09.2008:Nabarun Mukherjee:East Bengal started their Federation Cup journey in style by defeating their Kolkata counterpart Md.
Sporting by three goals to one in a closely contested match at Guru Nanak Stadium today, here at Ludhiana,
Punjab.
With both the teams playing on 4-4-2 formations and mostly concentrating at not
to concede goals, East Bengal surely had territorial advantage in the first half of the game that saw some fine football from
both the teams. Md. Sporting relied mostly on counter attacks and as usual, Basudev played the sheet
anchor with some delightful throughs that produced some anxious moments to the East Bengal defence.
Gradually the East Bengal forwards, revealing greater ability to pace their game, took control of the
midfield but found faltering as usual when it came to scoring opportunities.
Six minutes into the first half, Meheraj missed a golden opportunity when a free kick from 35 yards outside the box by Alvito saw him
failing to connect it. However, it was East Bengal who drew the first blood in the 20th minute, when a
dangerously sailing cross from about 40 yards off Nabi saw Ashim reacting at the right moment by heading
it into the nets (1-0). Thereafter the game hovered around the midfield with both the teams getting their
share of scoring chances and both the goalkeepers tested off their abilities. But just when the game
seemed to be drifting towards the end of the first session, a counterattack by Md. Sporting in the 2nd
minute of the extra time witnessed Paul Mcjames taking a powerful right footer only to see East Bengal
custodian Subrata Paul unusually making a costly mistake to collect the ball. As the ball came off his
hand, agile Kuluthungan standing nearby made no mistake to put the ball in (1-1).
The second session saw a rejuvenated East Bengal playing with lot more maturity and application of mind.
Stretching the game to the flanks, which, until, they were not, East Bengal played some penetrating
football and the rival defence was unable to keep check of Edmilson, who with his sudden mobility and
intelligent positional football rattled the opponent defence. In the 50th minute of the game one such
cross at the goalmouth from the right flank by Ashim saw Edmilson forcing in to make some space and
heading the ball inside the nets (2-1). Thereafter Md. Sporting tried to comeback in the game by playing
small passes amongst them and increasing players in the attacking third, and continuing to raid the rival
citadel. However in the 65th minute of the game, relief loomed large in East Bengal coach Subrata
Bhattacharya’s face, when a poor defensive lapse of Md. Sporting defence saw opportunist Edmilson
finishing off smoothly off a pass from Alvito (3-1). With both the teams making few changes, the game
thereafter never reached great heights except for a couple of situations, when in the 78th minute, a
blaster from Adebao beating the East Bengal custodian unfortunately hit the bar and bounced back in the
box with nobody near to follow on.
East Bengal might have won the war this time but to win the ultimate battle Subrata Bhatttacharya must be
spending some sleepless nights, as both his defence and midfield made some costly errors, which they
cannot afford to do so in the matches to come.
EAST BENGAL:Subrata Pal; Irungbam Surkumar Singh,
Majekodumni Bolaji (Abdul Samed Okocha 83'), Muttath Suresh,
Saumik Dey; Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehraj din Wadoo, Jayanta Sen
(Dipankar Roy 65'), Alvito D'Cunha; Edmilson Marques Pardal,
Ashim Biswas.
