Today AIFF launched the final fixture of the 31st Federation Cup to be played at Guwahati and Silchar in Assaam. The Final round of the tournament would be played from 21st December, 2009 to 3rd January, 2010. The qualifying round already started and the two teams from the qualifying round will be qualified for the Final round.

However, Mohun Bagan is in the Group-B, along with a Qualifier team, Mahindra United, Mumbai and Chirag United S.C., Kolkata.Defending champion Mohun Bagan will be played Guwahati. Apart from Group B matches, Group-D matches will also be played at Guwahati and Group A & C matches will be played at Silchar.

In the previous year Mariners defeated Dempo Sports Club in the Final of the tournament in Kolkata by lone goal from Jose Barreto. This year also Mariners will be looking for the trophy without any fail as they are the 13^th times Federation Cup champion. Champion team will be played the prestigious AFC Cup.

Schedule as mentioned below:
Group A:
Dec 22: East Bengal vs Viva Kerala; JCT vs Salgaocar SC
Dec 24: Viva Kerala vs JCT; Salgaocar SC vs East Bengal
Dec 27: East Bengal vs JCT; Viva Kerala vs Salgaocar SC

Group B:
Dec 21: Mohun Bagan vs Qualifier II; Mahindra United vs Chirag United
Dec 23: Chirag United vs Mohun Bagan; Mahindra United vs Qualifier II.
Dec 26: Chirag United vs Qualifier II; Mahindra United vs Mohun Bagan
Group C:
Dec 21: Churchill Brothers vs Qualifier I; Sporting Clube de Goa vs Mumbai FC.
Dec 23: Mumbai FC vs Churchill Brothers; Sporting Clube de Goa vs Qualifier I.
Dec 26: Mumbai FC vs Qualifier I; Churchill Brothers vs Sporting Clube de Goa.
Group D:
Dec 22: Dempo SC vs Pune FC; Air India vs Shillong Lajong
Dec 24: Shillong Lajong vs Dempo SC; Pune FC vs Air India
Dec 27: Shillong Lajong vs Pune FC; Dempo SC vs Air India
Semifinals
30.12.2009 Winner Group C – Winner Group D (17.00 IST)
31.12.2009 Winner Group A – Winner Group B (17.00 IST)
Final
03.01.2010 Winner Semifinal 1 – Winner Semifinal 2 (17.00 IST)
The kick-off time of group matches will be 15.30 and 18.00 IST.

 

Lone goal of Edeh Chidi from penalty in 36th minute of the match brought three points for the mariners against Customs in a Sahara CFL match at Mohun Bagan Ground. This was expected a huge margin victory for Mariners against foreigner less Customs club, but wastage of a lot of easy chances made the match look close one. But it was one way traffic once again at Mohun Bagan Ground, which was dominated by Bagan.

Within 20th minutes of the match Tomba Singh and Edeh Chidi missed a couple of chances to score goals. In the 36th minutes of the match Mohun Bagan was awarded a penalty because Snehasis was trapped down by Customs defender Umesh Beshara and he was booked as well. Chiddi scored from the penalty and bring the lead for his team. This was the only goal in the match. Earlier Tomba netted a ball but referee judged it offside.

After the lemon break Bagan boys were looking to stretch the lead for the team but miss chances could not help them to do that. In the 73^rd and 82^nd minute Chiddi and Tomba respectively missed the golden chances to score the goal. Branco the substitute for Snehasis also wasted the opportunity in the 87^th minute. It was an exhibition of wastage of chances.  Mohun Bagan defender Sagram Mandi was judged as Man of the match because he played an important role in the mariners defence. Japanese recruit of Bagan Sueoka also played well and he was tested as a striker but he should be played in midfield position. That can make difference to the team.Mohun Bagan will play their next match against Peerless on Wednesday, December 9 at Mohun Bagan ground.

Mohun Bagan : Shilton, Sagram , Biswajit, Tomba, Lalramluaha (Subho Kumar), Souvick , Zenith, Azim, Snehashis (Branco), Chidi, Sueoka

 

Bagan today thrashed Kalighat Milan Samity 4-0. Ishfaq drew first blood when he scored off a direct freekick in the first half. After the lemon break, the Mariners stretched their lead to 4-0 when Chiddi completed his third hattrick of the season. It was virtually one way traffic today for 90 minutes. It was an awesome display of attacking football albeit against lowly opposition, but nevertheless a win is a win and it adds an enormous amount of confidence to everyone concerned. Edeh Chiddi got his third hattrick of the season. It looks like this boy is going to go a long way in
shaping the destiny of the club this season. We hope he goes from strength to strength, and just wish that he keeps scoring hattricksall season for us.

The match started with Mohun Bagan’s new Japanese recruit Ryuji Sueoka sitting in the reserve bench, somewhat to the disappointment of the thousands of supporters in the stands, and to those many thousands watching it on TV or following the game in our live up-dates all over the world. The players in the starting eleven piled on the pressure right from the start. Within 10 minutes, Ishfaq, Chiddi and Mickey all had shots at goal, but missed narrowly. A few corner were forced, but with some resolute defending and a bit of luck, Kalighat MS survived.

Thereafter the game drifted a bit, and the next bit of drama was in the 23rd minute, when Chiddi chased down a lobbed pass form midfield. The Kalighat goalkeeper rushed out of his penalty area and handled the ball deliberately to foil the Nigerian. It was a foul that warranted an automatic expulsion, but the referee showed him a yellow card only. The resultant free-kick was fruitless.

Three minutes later came the first goal. Ishfaq floated in a free-kick from the left into the goalmouth, there was some frantic activity in the box where quite a few players were jostling for position, Chiddi the most visible amongst them, and the ball somehow eluded everyone and bounced into the goal! (1-0) Three minutes later Zenith made a wonderful run down the right and put the ball through for Chiddi in a platter, so to speak, but Chiddi shot wide from close. It reminded people of Chiddi’s remarkable array of misses in the previous KPL match!

All this while Shilton was almost idle in the Mohun Bagan goal. The defence was holding the feeble Kalighat MS attacks at bay with elan, with Azim and Mandi both looking quite solid. One mistake from the left back Biswajit did allow a ball to be crossed dangerously in front of Shilton’s goal, there weren’t any Kalighat players at hand to convert.

On the other end, Mohun Bagan continued pressing. With young Souvik ably marshalling the midfield, there were a string of attacks, though most came to nought in the final third. Biswajit and Ishfaq did try a couple of long rangers but those were saved by the keeper, and the teams went into half-time with Mohun Bagan leading 1-0.

After the lemon break, Mohun Bagan started with renewed vigour. Tomba was more active on the right, ably supported by Zenith. Then just 3 minutes into the half a concerted move ended with Souvik’s firm cross, which was handled by a Kalighat MS defender in the box. Chiddi calmly stroked in the resultant penalty. (2-0) Further pressure followed, and the reward came soon, for Bagan and for Chiddi. Again it was Souvik who ran in with the ball and lobbed it into the box. The ball was partially parried by the keeper and it fell to Chiddi, who turned and placed it in. (3-0) Then came the moment many were waiting for. Nearly 15 minutes into the half Branco, who has been rather quiet for most of the game, was replaced by the Japanese Sueoka, amidst tremendous applause. Immediately he got into action – unleashing a pass for Ishfaq, who just failed to connect properly. Soon afterwards a ball was floated in from the left by Biswajit and Sueoka went for a flamboyant back volley, but missed!

Halfway into the half, Tomba ran in delightfully from the right but instead of passing to the unmarked Japanese, tried a shot himself and hit the side netting. Sueoka himself moved in from the right and sent in a measured pass for Chiddi, who failed to control the ball properly. Then Sueoka released Tomba on the right with a superb through, Tomba ran and centred beautifully, buit somehow Sueoka failed to trap the ball and the danger was averted.

Snehasish came in for Ishfaq and almost immediately ran strongly down the left to sent in a wonderful centre, but it fell just in front of an onrushing Sueoka. With about 15 minutes to go the Kalighat MS keeper made two good saves, first to deny a brilliant effort from Tomba with his left hand, and then reacted swiftly to get his right fingertips to a splendid try from Snehasish.

Mickey was then replaced by Suraj Mondal, who went up to take his place beside Chiddi, allowing Sueoka to drop back in midfield. This finally resulted in the last Bagan goal in the 89th minute as the Japanese controlled a loose ball in the midfield and then put Chiddi through. The strong Nigerian barged his way through a couple of defenders and then deftly dribbled past the keeper to place the ball in an empty net. (4-0) .

Young Souvik Chakraborty was named Man of the Match for his sterling display. His midfield snatching was almost flawless throughout the match, and his work-rate was admirable. Here seems to be a young man with a bright future.

Team:

Mohun Bagan :Shilton,Zenith,Azim,Sagram,Biswajit,Tomba,Mickey (Suraj 83′),Souvik,Isfaq( Snehasish 70′) ,Chidi, Branco( Sueoka 59′)

Picture Courtesy : Bartaman

Mohun Bagan will resume their Sahara KPL campaign against Kalighat M.S. on 25th November, 2009 at Mohun Bagan Ground. In absence of the National players Mariners will play with their reserve force along with Edeh Chiddi, the only foreigner. Barreto may not play the match due to his late recovery of injury. But he is trying hard to make him 100% fit. Sk. Azim, Anand Vasan the two injured defender are now fit for match. They may be used by Mariners Coach Kareem Bencherifa. Meanwhile our Asian recruit the Japanese midfielder Ryuji Sueoka from Bangkok United signed today for Mohun Bagan.

Mohun Bagan launched its second academy in the North Bengal district town of Japaiguri. The academy was inaugurated on November 21. It will begin with 40 residential and non-residential trainees falling within the 16-19 age group. The academy is named as P. C. Mittal Mohun Bagan Football Academy. The facilities include a gymnasium and a swimming pool.With its first academy in partnership with SAIL running successfully in Durgapur, Mohun Bagan has tied up with the P.C. Mittal Group to nurture talents from the north eastern part of the country.

Ryuji Sueoka , the Japanese attacking medio came to trial for Mohun Bagan under Asian Quota and he passed with good marks in his first day of practice. The thai defender Sangsak Chaisamak has been released by Mohun Bagan officials after trial. He was not up to the mark and 100% fit as well.

 In a practice match against Peerless in Mohun Bagan ground Ryuji Sueoka scored two goals and played some good football by showing his wing play.However, coaches, officials are happy to to see his performance in the first appearance.

Ryuji Sueoka was in the trial in Sporting Clube de Goa, but due to some reason Sporting management did not recruit him and Mohun Bagan officials called him and gave chance to show his excellence. The Japanese player did show his excellence and most of supporters, who were in the gallery to see the practice match have praised him for his good performance. The Mohun Bagan officials have already applied for his international transfer and clearance.

The brief careergraph of Ryuji Sueoka a is given below:-

Full name	Ryuji Sueoka
Date of birth	May 22, 1979 (1979-05-22) (age 30)
Place of birth	Yamaguchi, Japan
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder

 

Club information
Current club	Bangkok United
Number	30

Youth career
	Hikari High School

Senior career
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002-2005 2004 2006 2007 2008-	Albirex Niigata →Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) (loan) Geylang United Balestier Bangkok United	22 00(1) 27 0(12) 29 00(4) 32 00(9) 22 00(0)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 December 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Information courtesy: WIKIPEDIA.COM

Chiddi’s second hattrick, this time against Pune FC This was Mohun Bagan’s second successive away match, coming on the back of a disappointing home loss to Mumbai FC and a 2-2 draw in Goa against Sporting Clube de Goa. With injuries to quite a few key players, the pressure was truly on for the National Club of India. Could the Mariners draw on their team spirit glorious heritage to produce a much awaited win? For the hitherto winless Pune FC this was an important match too. With a packed house with supporters cheering for both sides, it was all set for a fantastic encounter despite the poor weather earlier this week which had rendered the ground heavy and slushy. The interest of the people of Pune is at its height and Pune FC needs to win some encounters in a hurry if they are to keep pulling people to the ground.

Mohun Bagan started on a cautious note, going for a 4-5-1 combination. The whole idea was to consolidate the midfield and then to go for counter attack. For the first ten minutes or so the home team dominated somewhat, but the Bagan defence, led by an inspired Dipak Mondal, held firm. Shilton looked assured right from the start. As the game unfolded, the Snehasish-Marcos-Tomba-Chiddi combination gradually began to stamp their authority on the park. In the 13th minute Snehasish was brought down just outside the Pune FC box, but Marcos hit the resultant free-kick straight at the goalkeeper.

Pune were back in the attack after that, and the game was still wide open. On the half-hour mark Tomba and Manish combined gracefully to open things up for Snehasish, but his effort went just over the bar. Pune counterattacked almost immediately, but Edmar shot wide. This was end-to-end football at its best!

And then came the breakthrough for Mohun Bagan, when Chiddi scored in style in the 38th minute! (1-0). Within minutes the Nigerian, after getting the ball from James, sublimely dribbled past three opponents before shooting just wide! Then Pune counter-attacked, and had the ball in Bagan’s net just before half-time, but the goal was disallowed for some infringement. Then Pune’s goalkeeper Subrata Paul collided with Chiddi, resulting in some heat! It was a hectic end to a fascinating first half, and Mohun Bagan were in 1-0 ahead.

The second half started with Mohun Bagan on the attack. Five minutes into the half a Chiddi sent in a stiff shot off a Snehasish cross, but Subrata punched it away. Within a couple of minutes Chiddi turned his marker beautifully, but his shot went just over. Thereafter Pune tried to get back into the game, but Bagan’s midfield and defence kept their nerve admirably. Then, twenty minutes into the second half Chiddi showed his class again when his powerful shot from the edge of the Pune box was too hot for India’s number one goalkeeper to handle! (2-0).

Pune FC still came at Bagan, but the defence held firm. And then half an hour into the second half  it was Pune’s defence which wilted again. A mis-pass was latched onto by Tomba, whose measured through found Chiddi. Chiddi calmly stroked it home and completed his hat trick. (3-0) Chiddi was on fire and so was Mohun Bagan! Chiddi was replaced by Branco Cardozo in the 92^nd minute and almost unbelievably, he went off to a standing ovation. This was spectator behaviour at its best.

The dying moments of the game had a small twist, Surkumar brought down Arata Izumi inside the Bagan box and the refree obliged by pointing to the spot and booking Surkumar. Douhou converted the resulting spotkick (3-1) and Pune FC had pulled one back. But the clock was up and refree blew for the final time.

Teams:

Mohun Bagan: Shilton, Surkumar, Dipak,Rakesh, Mohanraj, James, Manish, Tomba (Zenith 84), Marcos, Snehasish (Ishfaq 78), Chiddi (Branco 92)

Pune FC:Subrata, Sunil Kumar (Manoj 86), Caitano, Selwyn, Tokov, Godwin, Kuttymani (Asim Hassan 74), Djidjia, Venkatesh, Arata, Edmar (Vignesh 66)

Picture courtesy:  Sangbad Pratidin

 

Football fraternity was shocked and appalled on 10th November 2009 when Germany’s goalkeeper Robert Enke died after being hit by a train. He was 32.Robert Enke played for the German club Hannover. Team president Martin Kind confirmed his death after been fatally struck by a train Tuesday night.

Enke first represented his country in 1998–99 in the German Under-21 side. His performances found him a berth in the National squad for the 1999 Confederations Cup, although he did not feature in any games.

He came back to the National squad after being chosen for a friendly against Georgia, and, after first choice Jens Lehmann caught the flu, again against Cyprus.

He finally made his senior international debut for Germany in a 0–1 friendly defeat to Denmark in Duisburg on 28 March 2007. After further games, he was selected for their Euro 2008 squad which would compete in Austria and Switzerland. Enke was an unused substitute during the tournament that saw Germany finish as runners-up. With the international retirement of previous number one Jens Lehmann at Euro 2008, Enke was poised to make the position his own and played in several World Cup 2010 qualifiers. However, in October 2008, he broke the scaphoid of his left hand while training with the national team for a qualifier against Russia. After undergoing surgery, he was sidelined for two months. Upon his return in January 2009, he again became the number one keeper in the national team. In Autumn 2009, Enke had to pause again because of an infection with campylobacter. Due to only recently recovering from this he was not selected for a friendly against Chile that the national team was preparing for when he died. He died having won eight full international caps. His final international appearance came on 12 August 2009 when he kept a clean sheet against Azerbaijan.

Mohunbaganclub.com joins the football fraternity and offers condolences to the members of the bereaved family.

 

Team Mohun Bagan reached last evening at Pune. Team is put up in Hotel Sadanand. Few of players went out to see the Pune FC- Lajong FC. Coach Kareem Bencherifa did not come with the team. He stayed at Goa to see the match of Dempo vs Churchill. Yesterday morning the team has gone to swimming pool to overcome the tiredness of the last match against Sporting Clube de Goa.

Mohun Bagan drew the match at Saturday evening and showed some miserable football especially in second half. However, our team is hopeful that one victory can change the situation and they are confident enough to bring victory for the team after two worst results consecutively against Mumbai FC and Sporting Goa. The match against Pune FC at Pune is the last match before the break of I League. Next phase of I-League will start at January, 2010.

 

Mohun Bagan’s Head Coach Karim Bencharifa is hopeful team Mohun Bagan will get 3 vital points against Sporting Clube de Goa today. Veteran Marcos and young Chiddi are poised to earn 3 points for the team. Coach Karim Bencharifa exclaimed that the team never got the regular defenders this season. For the first time Deepak and Masih along with Mohanraj and Surkumar will start for Mohun Bagan.