Sahu Mewalal, the great footballer passed away last night. He was admitted in the Udburn Block of SSKM hospital. The octogenarian brought India lot of success. He played for Mohun Bagan in 1946. May his soul rest in peace.

BORN: Sahoo Mewalal, the prolific goal getter of Indian football was born on 1-7-1926 at Fort William, Kolkata.

CAREER: He started his carrier under the coaching of Sergeant Burnet of Fort Williams in the Morning Star Club in the year 1937 in right out position and later on switched over to Centre-Forward. In 1938 he scored his first goal against Grear Sporting Club on behalf of Nepier Club and that match was locked 1-1.

FIRST BIG MATCH: He played his first big match on behalf of IFA-X1 against India-X1 in the year1944 defeating India-X1 by 3-2, the wining goal was scored by Sahoo Mewalal.

KOLKATA FOOTBALL LEAGUE CLUBS: Mewalal played for the following (Domestic football) clubs in different seasons.

Aryan Club 1945, again in 1956 – 57
Mohunbagan Club 1946
Eastern Railway 1947 – 1955
B.N.R 1958 

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL: He participated in the London Olympic in the year of 1948 (Bare footed) but lost 1 – 2 to France.

Europe Tour: India altogether played four matches. The results are follows:
India Vs Denmark  4 – 1 
India Vs Austria  4 – 1 
India Vs Germany  4 – 1 
India Vs Denmark  1 – 1 
India Vs switzerland 1 – 1 

In those four matches Mewalal netted 6 goals providing his outstanding capibility in scoring goals.

Exhibition Matches in foreign Country:

In the the year 1949, India against Afganistan routing them 8 – 0 .Mewalal scored 4 goals with a hattrick in his credit. Again in the year 1950, India defeated Burma 5 – 1, here too Mewalal scored 3 goals in a row. Against Thailand in the same year India won by 3 – 1, where Mewalal scored one goal.

Asian Games:
In the year 1951 Asian Games, India won gold . Mewalal scored 2 goals against first match against Indonesia (4 – 2). Next match India defeated Afganistan by 3 – 0. Here Mewalal scored one goal. And in the final match India defeated Iran and won gold medel by a lone goal which was scored by Mewalal.

TOP SCORER IN KOLKATA FOOTBALL LEAGUE:

In the erstwhile Calcutta Football League, Mewalal showed his supremacy in scoring goals with immaculate accuracy. He was adjusted "TOP SCORER" for the following years:

1949  32 Goals  
1951  18 Goals 
1953  11 Goals 
1954  29 Goals 
1958 16 Goals 

The table shows how much he was involved and dedicated to football to make it popular and as a result spectators in appreciable number used to rush to the field to witness the skilled football. Mewalal had acrobatic fitness and scored a number goals from "BACK VOLLY"(Bicycle kick) which is rare seen now a days.

He may without any hesitation be declared the best Centre Forward India have ever produced.

He scored 1032 Goals in his career in First Class and National and International Tournament including 32 Hattricks.

COURTESY: WWW.KOLKATAFOOTBALL.COM
 

 

Baichung Bhutia has been named AIFF player of the year. Sponsor McDowell organized a Futsol tournament in Mohun Bagan ground today. Mohun Bagan celebrated its 13th Federation Cup win after they beat Dempo SC , Goa 1-0 in Finals. See pictures in https://www.mohunbaganclub.com/gallery.php. This is a record by itself as the Green and Maroon brigade were forced to play 5 games in 9 days while rivals Dempo played only 2 games in 12 days. Barreto scored the only goal of the match in 68th minute. This is second consecutive win for Bagan against Dempo.

The team from Cochin won the McDowell Futsol tournament by winning the finals 1-0. In an exhibition match played later on, Mohun Bagan beat Cochin 3-1, Jr. James scored 2 goals and Lalramluah scored 1 goal. Pictures www.mohunbaganclub.com/gallery.php. Pictures taken by Soumyadeb Sinha. This was a 5 sided match. Mohun Bagan team consisted of Rino Anto, Suman, James Jr., Henry, Lalramluah, Tapan and Nabin Kumar.

Celebration pictures in Mohun Bagan ground, www.mohunbaganclub.com/gallery.php.  President, Tutu Bose announced that 5 lakh rupees will be distributed amongst all players of team. Tomorrow in Mohun Bagan ground, McDowell will organize a Futsol tournament that will start at 4 pm. One team will reach final who will play against Mohun Bagan, the final is scheduled to start at 6.20 pm. The pictures have been taken by Tridip Sheet.

FEDERATION CUP MATCH REPORT

Mariners totally outplayed Dempo Sports Club, Goa to win the 30th Federation Cup title for the 13th time and qualified to play for AFC Cup. Mohun Bagan completely dominated the match to such an extent that Sangram had to make just one save during the match and Dempo got only one easy chance to score, that too at the fag end of the match. This was one of the best tactical games won by Mohun Bagan this year, Kareem also agreed with this opinion. He said, "This is one of the best matches we played this year and we won a tactical game. I give full credit to Dempo whose defenders did a good job and made our task tougher. We may have slight domination but Dempo also played well but yes after we scored the goal, the match came completely in our grip. We could have scored few more goals." Credit definitely goes to coach Kareem who marshaled the tactics. Dempo mainly relies on Beto and Clifford in their midfield which Kareem did not allow to function properly. It was due to Habibur that Clifford Miranda could not deliver his crosses from left side. Marcos totally controlled the midfield from start of the match and ensured that he did not allow Beto to move freely and also he covered Beto nicely with his brilliant anticipation and tackling. When asked to comment about Marcos, Kareem said "Usually I don’t name players but about Man of the Tournament, the first name that comes to my mind is Marcos, he was absolutely brilliant and today did not allow any free space to Beto. Before the match, it was our tactical decision to stop their attacks from wing and to mark Beto properly and the boys did their job brilliantly."  It seems the number 68 is very lucky to Kareem, the winning goal came in 68th minute and he was born in 1968, he pointed out to us.

        

Lalkamal was brilliant as an attacking medio and it seems Lalkamal is back in his supreme form from Air India match. Tulunga and Ishfaq troubled Dempo defence with their brilliant runs down the flank. It has been proved again that combination of Tulunga and Habibur creates magic in right wing. After match Habibur said, "With due respect to all players, I enjoy playing with Tulunga. We have good understanding. Whenever I overlap down the right flank, he takes my position and makes sure that opponent team doesn’t start overlapping from that side. Of course, it is the final decision of the coach whom he selects in first XI." Dipak was brilliant in stopper position and did not allow Ranty to take any shot towards goal. Dipak was well supported by Masih in defence. About Dipak Kareem said, "Credit goes to him because when playing in stopper position, he being not so tall, have to win aerial battles with some tall strikers like Ranty. Usually when he plays in side back that is not a problem. He has extremely good sense and good anticipation. He is one of the best stoppers in India." Last but not least, Jose Ramirez Barreto, the best foreigner of all time to have played in Kolkata. Critics sometimes raise questions about his fitness, about his agility, but the man goes on performing. As Veronica laughed about this after match, "Barreto and we don’t care about who says what, his job is to perform and he tries to deliver in field." Kareem said, "With Barreto in our team, we always have an extra captain, who is leading the players from front without an arm band." Lalampuia gave good support to Barreto in the match. Kareem dedicated the Fed Cup to his wife, his son and to all the fans of Mohun Bagan. It is a nice gesture indeed on part of Kareem who said, "I know how the fans are feeling. We feel happy to bring smile to their face." When asked whether this is an answer to the critics, Kareem said, "No, I have no grudge against anybody. In fact, I don’t feel reporters didn’t criticize our team that much, they were just pushing us and pointing out our mistakes. You people played like good defenders and didn’t commit fully (laughing)." However, Kareem is happy about the team spirit, he said, " “I have no doubt now that we are the best team in the country when it comes to team spirit and solidarity. Look at (NS) Manju. He didn’t play in the tournament but he was celebrating more than those who played today. That’s a good sign. That’s how we have started living like a family. Federation cup and I league are the two most important tournaments of India and our target now is I league and I am happy that team has qualified for AFC Cup." On their team’s participation in IFA Shield, coach said, "We had to pay a heavy price at the initial stages of the I-League for players getting injured in the local league. My focus is on the I-league and I don’t want my boys to go through the grime of another one so soon. I have called for practice on 5th January and the boys need this well-earned vacation." It is to be noted that IFA Shield starts on January 5th. Debasish Dutta said, "This victory is an answer to the critics who only finds fault of our team and criticized when we signed Marcos and continuously wrote against our team, Barreto, Baichung, Kareem." Regarding IFA Shield, he wittily said, "Our practice starts from January 5th and our next match is on January 23rd against Mumbai FC."        

Coming back to the match, Mohun Bagan controlled the match from the beginning. The most impressive part of Mohun Bagan’s play was their short passes and did not rely only on long balls. In 9th minute, Barreto gave a brilliant through pass to Ishfaq who failed to control the ball and missed an easy chance. In 16th minute, Marcos took a free kick from right side which Barreto headed towards Lalampuia who could not take a shot, wasting yet another chance for Mariners. Dempo got one good chance when a long ball from midfield went to Joaquim, Habibur failed to anticipate the ball properly and Masih made a brilliant tackle to avert danger for Mariners. Satish made a brilliant save to keep the scoreline same, Ishfaq had sent a cross from left side and Barreto’s header was saved brilliantly by Dempo custodian. During the last 5 minutes of the half, Dempo managed to press forward and got few corners but Sangram was alert.

In 49th minute, Joaquim made a solo run and took a right-footed shot that went over crossbar. Mohun Bagan then started dominating and in 55th minute, Marcos missed an easy chance when he lobbed the ball over bar with goalkeeper out of position. In 68th minute, Mariners scored the winning goal of the match. Lalkamal took the corner from left side by his right foot which went over Satish Kumar and straight to Habibur but he miscued the header and ball went straight to Barreto who did not waste any time and his shot went inside goal making it 1-0 in favor of Mohun Bagan. Ranty Martin then was shown red card after he got his second yellow card in 80th minute. While going out, Ranty hit the camera of Zee sports. Action should be taken against him by AIFF for this kind of reaction. Dempo missed an easy chance to score off flag kick just before final whistle when Creson Antao volleyed the ball over bar. The chaotic scenario at the end of the match was the spoiler of the day. With Police personnel donning the role of mere spectators, the rampaging crowd broke the Federation Cup banner and it wouldn’t have been surprising if the trophy itself suffered the same fate today. However, this kind of reaction is not surprising from Mohun Bagan crowd as they were overjoyed by team’s 13th Fed Cup victory.

 

Tragedy struck when an accident cost a Mohun Bagan supporter’s life at the Salt Lake stadium. Mr Sanjeeb Jana, aged 28, fell from the ramps of the stadium before the commencement of the match. Later, he was admitted immediately to a city hospital where he was declared dead today morning.

TEAM: Sangram Mukherjee, Habibur Rehman Mondal, N. Mohanraj, Deepak Mondal, S. Malsawmtluanga (S. James Singh 90+3), Marcos Pereira, Rakesh Masih, Ishfaq Ahmed, Lalkamal Bhowmick, Jose Ramirez Barreto, P.C. Lalawmpuiya (L. James Singh 89).

MOHUN BAGAN HAS TILL NOW WON FEDERATION CUP 13 TIMES AND REACHED FINAL 17 TIMES OUT OF 30 EDITIONS.

YEAR     CHAMPION                     VERSUS                      RESULT

1978          JOINT                           EAST BENGAL             0-0, 0-0
1980          JOINT                           EAST BENGAL             1-1
1981         CHAMPION                  MOHAMMEDAN           2-0
1982         CHAMPION                  MAFATLAL                    1-0
1986         CHAMPION                  EAST BENGAL             0-0 (5-4)
1987         CHAMPION                  SALGAOKAR                2-0
1992         CHAMPION                  EAST BENGAL             2-0
1993         CHAMPION                  MAHINDRA UNITED     1-0
1994         CHAMPION                  SALGAOKAR                 0-0 (3-0)
1998         CHAMPION                  EAST BENGAL              2-1
2001         CHAMPION                  DEMPO                           2-0
2006         CHAMPION                  SPORTING CLUBE       1-1 (3-1)
2008         CHAMPION                  DEMPO                           1-0

COMPARED TO MOHUN BAGAN WHO WON FED CUP 13 TIMES, EAST BENGAL HAS WON THE TROPHY 5 TIMES, SALGAOKAR 3 TIMES, MOHAMMEDAN, MAHINDRA, JCT, KERALA POLICE WON IT 2 TIMES EACH AND DEMPO, BSF AND ITI WON ONCE EACH.
      
                

PICTURE: Tridip Sheet and Soumyadeb Sinha

Mohun Bagan beat Air India 2-1 to reach semi finals of Federation Cup. Lalkamal and Marcos scored the goals for Mohun Bagan. In semi finals, Mohun Bagan will play against East Bengal on December 18th, the match will be played at 6:30 pm.

Mohun Bagan played like champions in 2nd half of the match and beat Air India 2-1 to reach semi finals of Federation Cup. After today’s match goal difference of Mohun Bagan and Vasco was same but Mohun Bagan qualified having scored more goals (4) than Vasco (2). There was a half an hour delay for the match to start as Air India reached the stadium just 15 minutes before start of match due to traffic congestion.

In 2nd minute itself Tulunga gave a pass to Barreto who centered from right side that was a little long and went to Ishfaq in left side from whose pass Mohanraj floated a cross into the box which Baichung headed but it went over cross bar. Thereafter it was Air India who more or less dominated the first half. Mohun Bagan mainly relied on long ball from midfield towards Baichung and Barreto in first half and those were easily cleared by Air India defence. Air India on the other hand with their speed caused problems for Bagan defence. Air India got many throw-ins from which Uttam Singh took long throws which Mariners found difficult to handle. From one such long throw, Sangram completely misjudged the ball and luckily for Mohun Bagan the ball went straight to their defender who cleared the ball for safety. In 26th minute, Air India went ahead. Michael Tayo gave the ball to Surojit Roy at half line and he ran with the ball past Mohanraj and gave it to Soccor Velho inside box who cut the ball in past Vashan and took a right footer than found back of the net, Sangram dived but could not save the goal. In 32nd minute, Samson took a direct free kick which came off post, a lucky save indeed for Mariners. Most of the Air India’s attacks were via Bagan’s left side. To repair damage, Kareem changed the position of Tulunga and Ishfaq and Mariners immediately got two chances. Baichung back headed a ball for Tulunga, who took a swinging right footed volley that went over bar post. In the next minute, from a Habibur cross, Baichung tried a bicycle kick but was timely intercepted by Air India defence.

In 2nd half, Kareem brought in Lalkamal in place of Tulunga and this move changed the complexion of the game and we saw a different Mohun Bagan in 2nd half and they started playing with short passes and played the ball mostly in ground and not long balls. In 51st minute, Lalkamal gave a pass to Baichung inside box who turned nicely and took a shot that Arup Debnath got his fingers to it and the ball hit post. Within 2 minutes, Mariners scored the equalizing goal. Marcos gave a pass to Lalkamal in front of penalty box and the latter took a shot from almost 24 yards out that beat Arup and bounced and went inside goal. Mohun Bagan were combining brilliantly at this moment. Barreto missed a easy chance when from a Lalkamal’s center, Barreto nicely chested down the ball but his left footed shot went away. In 60th minute, Napoleon Singh committed a foul on Barreto on top of the box. Marcos Perreira did bend it like Beckham like last match but this time it did not hit post but found back of the net. Marcos had a poor first half but in second half he came back strongly and controlled the midfield. Air India coach then went to 3-5-2 formation by bringing on Kailash and Subhash Singh. They launched a series of attacks causing danger time and again in the Bagan defence, but seasoned campaigner Dipak Mandal put up a fine show to thwart the raids. Air India got a spot kick when Vashan handled the ball in 74th minute. Ravinder scored but referee disallowed the goal and asked to take the penalty again as few Air India players had moved inside the box before the penalty was even taken. Ravinder took the spot kick again but this time Sangram made a brilliant diving save. Just before end of match, Mohun Bagan missed two chances to score. First time Baichung completely miscued a shot from an advantageous position inside box and second time Baichung took a shot from edge of the box which Arup saved and from return ball Barreto headed the ball that hit the post and went out, a lucky escape for Air India again. Though Barreto and Baichung missed few easy chances, but their dedication and the extra effort shown today is commendable and worth a special mention. Mohun Bagan will play against East Bengal in 2nd semi finals at 6.30 pm on December 18th while in the first semi on that same day, Churchill will meet Dempo at 3.15 pm.

TEAM: Sangram, Mohanraj, Dipak, Vashan, Habibur, Ishfaq (James Singh Jr. 90), Marcos, Masih, Tulunga (Lalkamal 46), Baichung (James Singh Jr. 92), Barreto.

Bagan qualifies for the 30th Federation Cup final. This is the record 17th time Mohun Bagan has qualified for the finals. 12 times champions will meet Dempo SC in the final. Bagan won against City rivals, and Premier League ranking 3rd Kingfisher East Bengal in Penalty Shootouts. In the 61st minute Sanju Pradhan scored for KEB. Barreto scored the equaliser in 65th minute. In tie breakers Bagan won 5-3.

Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal 5-3 in tie breakers in 2nd semi final. The scoreline was 1-1 after 120 minutes. Mohun Bagan is unbeaten in the last 9 matches played in Salt Lake. The scores of the last nine matches are 2-1, 4-3, 2-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 1-1, 1-1, 5-3 (1-1). Bagan’s unbeaten run over East Bengal for 691 days, marching towards 1000, a record which all the Mariners will be proud of. The match was a keenly contested one and the best match of this year’s Federation Cup which was full of drama. Mohun Bagan started with Ishfaq in left half and James Singh on the other flank. East Bengal played well in this half and kept Sangram busy throughout. Vashan had to be replaced by Lalkamal in 10th minute due to injury and Rakesh Masih went to stopper with Marcos falling back as defensive medio. This put some pressure in Bagan defence. East Bengal had appealed for penalty in 5th minute when Yakubu’s shot hit Vashan’s hand but it was completely unintentional and referee rightly gave the decision in favor of Mohun Bagan. Mariners were thrice unlucky in this half when Marcos’ curling free kick and Ishfaq’s head hit post from James corner. In 20th minute, Subrata Pal had fumbled with the ball but Ishfaq failed to push the ball inside goal. East Bengal also came close to scoring few times but Sangram was up to the mark and made two brilliant saves in the first half, once when he came out of charge and saved a Sunil shot and the second time he dived to his right and made a spectacular save. In 40th minute, Soumik missed from close range when he lobbed the ball over cross bar whereas in the very next minute, Ishfaq took a left footer from outside box which grazed the post and went out for a goal kick.

In 2nd half, Mohun Bagan came back strongly in the match with midfield marshalled by Marcos. However, East Bengal scored the first goal in 61st minute, when from a Alvito’s free kick, Masih headed the ball out but it went straight to Sanju who took a right footed shot that beat Sangram and went into goal. Mohun Bagan equalized within 4 minutes. Marcos took a free kick from center of the field that curled and went to Barreto who followed the ball nicely and headed the ball home, Subrata had absolutely no chance to save the ball. In the 70th minute, Ishfaq Ahmed was tackled from behind by Mehraj, a clear case of penalty but seems that the referee did not see the incident. From the very next attack, from James center, Baichung failed to make a connection with the ball missing a very easy chance. In 73rd minute, it was third time unlucky for Bagan when Ishfaq’s shot ricocheted off crossbar for the third time in this match after Baichung’s effort was saved by Subrata Pal. Minutes before final whistle, Marcos took a free kick from outside box which narrowly missed target. The match went to extra time with scoreline reading 1-1.

In 1st minute of extra time, Barreto headed James Singh cross over the crossbar. East Bengal got one golden chance when Sunil’s shot came off post. Baichung got injured and Kareem brought Lalampuia in his place. In 2nd half, Lalampuia’s cross from the left saw Tulunga, who came in for Ishfaq Ahmed minutes earlier, headed it back for Barreto whose shot was well blocked by Saumik Dey. Seeing Sangram out of goalline, Yakubu lobbed the ball which just went over crossbar. Just a minute before final whistle, James center from left saw Lalampuia miss an easy header which sailed over crossbar.

In tie breaker, for Mohun Bagan, Barreto, Marcos, Lalkamal, Lalampuia and James Singh scored while for East Bengal Praveen KUmar, Mehtab, and Jayanta scored while Sunil Chetry’s shot, which was East Bengal’s third shot, was saved by Sangram Mukherjee.

For Mohun Bagan, Sangram, Dipak, Marcos and Barreto had an outstanding game.

The final between Mohun Bagan and Dempo will be played on Sunday, December 21st.

TEAM: Sangram, Mohanraj, Dipak, Vashan (Lalkamal 10), Habibur, Ishfaq (Tulunga 109), Masih, Marcos, James Singh Sr., Baichung (Lalampuia 98), Barreto.

YELLOW CARDS: Barreto (Mohun Bagan). Musah, Jayanta, Nirmal, Sunil (East Bengal)

TIE BREAKER:

Barreto 1-0, right bottom corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but brilliantly executed shot

Parveen Kumar 1-1, left bottom corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but fails to save

Marcos 2-1, left corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but fails to save

Mehtab 2-2, left corner, goalkeeper dived opposite direction

Lalkamal 3-2, right corner, goalkeeper dived opposite side, best shot of the tie breaker

Sunil saved by Sangram diving to his left

Lalampuia 4-2 left, goalkeeper dives same direction but fails to get a touch

Jayanta 4-3, left, comfortable height for goalkeeper to save who touches the ball but ball goes in

James Singh 5-3, same as last shot, goalkeeper touches but ball goes in to put Bagan in finals

 

Mohun Bagan lost to Vasco 1-0 in a Group D match of Federation Cup held today in Barasat Krirangan. Mohun Bagan missed many chances to score and Sangram made a bad mistake to concede the only goal of the match. Mohun Bagan now has 3 points from 2 matches and will play against Air India on December 16th in their last match of the group.

Mohun Bagan lost 1-0 to Vasco Sports Club and face a daunting task in their last match against Air India to qualify for Semi Finals of Federation Cup. In their last match against Air India, not only will they have to defeat Air India but also will have to hope that Vasco does not beat Oil India by more goals. Mohun Bagan’s goal average now stands at 2-2 while Vasco’s at 1-1, so if Vasco wins the match by 2 goals, then Mariners will also have to win the match by 2 goals and then they will reach semi finals having scored more goals. All these equations would not have been required had Mohun Bagan did not waste at least 3 sitters to score, on the other hand Sangram made a horrendous mistake and conceded one silly goal. Sangram is responsible for both the goals that Mohun Bagan has conceded in this year’s Fed cup. In the earlier match today, Air India drew 1-1 with Oil India and so if Mohun Bagan had won this match, they would have almost reached semi finals.

Mohun Bagan played attacking football in first half but as time progressed, flare disappeared from their game and especially in 2nd half after Kareem moved to 4-3-3 Vasco got more space in midfield and attacked more. Mohun Bagan started the game in 4-4-2 formation with Baichung and Lalampuia in forward and Barreto not in first team because of injury problem but during the end of the session, Kareem put Ishfaq in forward and moved rightly to 4-3-3 but today unfortunately the three midfielders could not play to their potential in 2nd half, Masih in particular was completely off color today. Kareem brought in Barreto, Kartick and Tulunga in 2nd half. Barreto and Kartick tried a lot but the luck was not in favor of Mariners. In defence, other than Deepak all looked very shaky.

In 1st half, Baichung scored off his left foot, a brilliant shot indeed but he was just offside. Ishfaq in one instance ran nicely down left flank and then he cut inside and took a shot from edge of box but narrowly missed target. In 2nd half, just after Barreto replaced Lalampuia, he gave a delightful through pass to Marcos who had just goalkeeper to beat, but he shot straight into goalkeeper, easiest chance of the match missed. Kartick put a cross from right flank to Barreto who completely miscued the shot and missed another golden chance to score. Just few minutes before final whistle, Kartick gave a pass to Baichung who positioned himself nicely in the box but from the right side he took a wayward shot.

The moment that Habibur would not forget in long time was when due to his silly mistake, a goal of Baichung was disallowed. Mohun Bagan got a direct free kick from outside box. Marcos bended it like Beckham and it hit the post with goalkeeper having no chance to move. From return ball, Baichung and Vasco goalkeeper leaped together but Baichung won the ball and his head beat goalkeeper and was entering goal and Habibur was standing in goalline at that time. Instead of moving away from goalline, he pushed the ball inside goal and was rightly judged offside by linesman. If Habibur had not touched the ball, he would not have been ruled offside and Mohun Bagan would have been 1-0 up.

The goal which Bagan conceded in 80th minute, Angelo lobbed from right side and Sangram completely missed the flight and ball went into far corner. Sangram did not even try to get the ball, he thought the ball was going over post, it was a case of terrible judgment.

Mohun Bagan and Vasco now has 3 points from 2 matches while Air India has 4 points from 2 matches. Oil India has 1 point from 2 matches.

TEAM:  Sangram, Habibur, Dipak, Vashan, Mohanraj, James Singh Sr. (Kartick 58), Rakesh Masih, Marcos Perreira, Ishfaq Ahmed (Lalkamal 76), Baichung Bhutia, Lalampuia (Jose Barreto 58).

YELLOW CARD: James Singh Sr.

Mohun Bagan beat Oil India 2-1 in their first match of Federation Cup. Barreto scored both goals for Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan will next play against Vasco on 14th at 5:30 pm.

Mohun Bagan played brilliant football in 2nd half to beat Oil India 2-1 in a Group D match held in Barasat Krirangan today. Mohun Bagan started the match in 4-4-2 formation with Baichung Barreto upfront and Vashan and Dipak Mandal in stopper in absence of Odafe and Manju and Mohanraj played as left back. In the 1st minute itself, Mariners combined well. Marcos lobbed the ball towards Mohanraj who gave a pass to Barreto who in turn gave the ball to Lalkamal in left flank but unfortunately Lalkamal’s center was well intercepted by Oil India defence and Mariners got a corner. In 4th minute, Durga Boro, who was impressive throughout the match, ran past Habibur and took a shot which was saved by Sangram. Mohun Bagan went ahead in 9th minute. Marcos took a direct free kick which goalkeeper failed to collect and Baichung pounced on the ball and gave a back pass to Lalkamal who sent a high cross that Barreto leaped high and headed the ball into goal. In 13th minute, a Baichung-Mohanraj combination resulted in a pass to Barreto inside box but he fumbled a little with ball and missed a chance. Being a debutant team, Oil India surprised all by their good performance, especially in 1st half. After conceding an early goal, they came back strongly and caused panic time and again in Bagan defence. In 16th minute, Jyotish took a shot after going past Habibur but Dipak timely cleared the ball for safety. In 27th minute, a Habibur center almost resulted in an own goal off Biplab’s foot. In 32nd minute, Mohanraj received yellow card for a dangerous tackle. Oil India equalized in 37th minute when Durga Boro capitalized on a misunderstanding between Habibur and Sangram and lobbed the ball inside goal. In 43rd minute, from a Lalkamal pass, Barreto’s shot was saved by onrushing keeper. In first half, Oil India got 6 corners and Mariners got 2 corners.

Coach Kareem made double substitution after lemon break bringing on Ishfaq and Lalampuia in place of Lalkamal and Tulunga respectively. Tulunga should have been replaced much earlier. Mohun Bagan went from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 with Lalampuia added as extra forward. This change of strategy worked wonders as Mariners played inspiring football in 2nd half. In 51st minute, from a Habibur long throw, Ishfaq took a shot and off deflection, Baichung got a loose ball in box but his shot was slightly out of target but Oil India defence failed to clear the ball properly and Marcos got the ball with only goalkeeper to beat but his shot went straight to goalkeeper. In 55th minute, Barreto scored the winning goal for Mohun Bagan. Baichung took a back volley from Marcos corner which hit hand of Jyotish in goalline and off rebound Barreto pushed the ball in goal but referee instead of playing advantage and allowing the goal gave penalty in favor of Mohun Bagan. However, Barreto, as cool as a cucumber, scored from the penalty. In 59th minute, from a Marcos corner, Baichung back headed the ball which Masih took a head but it went straight to goalkeeper. In 63rd minute, Mariners again combined well when Baichung passed the ball to Lalampuia in left flank, Lalam ran down the flank and from his center, Barreto chest passed the ball to Baichung but his shot was well intercepted by Oil India defence. In 71st minute, Baichung missed the easiest chance of the match when from a Ishfaq through pass he could not push the ball inside goal with only goalkeeper to beat. In 77th minute, Marcos lobbed the ball towards Lalam who again ran past Oil India defence and gave a nice pass to Barreto who positioned himself nicely and took a shot from outside box which narrowly missed target. In 81st minute, it was Lalam in action again when he gave a cross to Baichung but he fumbled with the ball and Oil India defence cleared the ball. Minutes before the end of match, Vashan got injured. It is not certain whether he will be able to play in the next match or not. Mohun Bagan thus won the match 2-1 and got 3 points. In another match of the group, Air India defeated Vasco 1-0.

It is now to be seen which strategy Kareem will prefer in the next match, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. Kareem has to be given credit as it has been proved again that his match reading is good and he changes strategy nicely according to the requirement of the team. Mohun Bagan will next play against Vasco on 14th at 5.30 pm.

TEAM: Sangram, Habibur, Vashan, Dipak, Mohanraj, Lalkamal (Ishfaq 46), Masih, Marcos, Tulunga (Lalampuia 46), Baichung, Barreto

YELLOW CARD: Mohanraj

Mohun Bagan has registered its 20 players for Federation Cup. Manju has been left out due to injury. Marcos and Barreto has been selected as the two foreigners for Fed Cup. The team for the Fed Cup is as follows: Sangram, Shilton, Chirodeep, Mohanraj, Habibur, Dipak Mandal, Anand Vashan, Karan Atwal, Rahul Kumar, James Singh Jr., James Singh Sr., Lalkamal, Ishfaq, Marcos, Rakesh Masih, Tulunga, Kartick Kisku, Barreto, Baichung, Lalampuia.

Mohun Bagan will play the first match on 12th December against Oil India, Assam to be played at 5:45 pm. They will play the other two matche on 14th and 16th against Vasco and Air India, both matches will start at 5:45 pm.