Month: September 2010

Goalkeeper duo excel as Mariners beat Dempo to reach the Final

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the fighting spirit to continue that counts” – perhaps that was the motto of Team Mohun Bagan when they took on Dempo Sports Club today in the semi final of Federation Cup. Amidst much of media attention and general interest to an age old national issue, a determined effort was expected from both the teams and the result was a nail biting finish after 120 minutes of battle followed by the penalty shoot out where Mohun Bagan emerged as the winner!! Kudos to the great game of football and hats off to the players, officials and fans, who fought it out till their last blood!!

If you believe in the proverb ‘morning shows the day’ then today is the day when you are wrong again as Ranty Martin of Dempo found the net within 2 minutes of the opening half before Mohun Bagan defense could consolidate and settle down. This was, indeed, a waking call for the team and the battle started there off. The same eleven, who were in the starting line up in the historic win against Salgaokar SC, came up with vengeance and started putting pressure on Dempo’s defense. However, Bagan failed to take complete control in the mid-field as Diamondstar and Ishfaq were somewhat off-colored today. As a result the ace strikers were not able to crack the defense of Dempo. A change in strategy was inevitable and  Bagan’s coach responded with two changes – Snehasis came in place on Ishfaq (36 mts) and then Chidi came in place of Diamondstar (51 mts). And the ailing patient suddenly got fresh oxygen as Chiddi found the net on 65th minute (1-1). Direct free kick was taken by Chidi from edge of the penalty box and goalkeeper was spectator only as he saw the ball kissed the net.

As the score got leveled, suddenly the body contact game became more physical as the players became more desperate to break the jinx, which resulted couple of warnings for both the teams. As the game progresses, the battle of nerves intensified and Shilton showed his class by saving his team on number of occasions.

Two of India’s best quality teams battled it out till 120 minutes before it went for the match in tie breaker. Just before end of the first half Sangram Mukherjee the tie-breaker specialist came in the field in the place of classic Shilton Pal. Shilton Pal, who was literally "wall of china" under the goal post in the match till 117th minute and saved his team from sure slaughter. Shilton was looked really upset that time and he left the field having a standing ovation from the crowd of Barabati. 

And in the Tie-Breaker Barreto, Chiddi, Gouranga, Snehasis and Muritala scored for Bagan while Ranty Beto and Godwin Franco scored for Dempo but Kalu’s shot was saved by Sangram Mukherjee. Bagan reached to the final of 32nd Federation Cup and will face arch rival Kingfisher East Bengal on Saturday, 2nd October. No doubt that the excellence of two goal keepers lift Bagan to the 32nd Federation Cup Final.

TEAMS

Mohun Bagan: Shilton Paul (Sangram Mukherjee, 119th), Kingshuk Debnath, Sangram Mandi, Sk Azim, R Dhanarajan, Ishfaq Ahmed (Snehasish Chakraborty 35th), Gauranga Dutta, Manish Maithani, Diamondstar (Edeh Chidi, 52nd), Jose Ramirez Barreto, Subair Murithala Ali.

Dempo: Laxmikant Kattimani, Ualeriano Rebello, Debabrata Roy, Dominic Roronha, John Dias,Peter Carualho (Joe Rodrigues, 72nd), Nicolau Borges (Godwin Franco, 92nd), Joaquim Abranches, Ranty Martins, Beto, Ogba Kalu.

Referee: Mohammed Kamil (Delhi).

Today’s Match – Fact Sheet At A Glance
       
Opponent team Dempo Sports Club
Date 30-Sep-10
Stage Semi final
Venue Cuttack
Kick off time 6:00 PM
No. of goal Mohun Bagan scored 6 ( 1 + 5)
Opponent scored 4 (1 + 3)
Number of yellow card shown to MB Players 2 (Shilton, Gouranga)
Number of red cards shown to MB players 0
Average age of 1st 11 25.6 yrs
Average age of the squad (registered for Fed cup) 24.9 yrs
1st half Score  0 – 1
Style of formation  4 – 4 – 2
Substitutions
1 Snehasis in place of Ishfaq (36 mt)
2 Chiddi in place of Diamondstar (51 mt)
3 Sangram in place of Shilton (118 mt)

A victory transformed the team Mohun Bagan

A convincing victory against Salgaocar SC has transformed the entire ambiance. From a tensed and gloomy weekend has suddenly transformed into a bright yet focused weekdays for the team Mohun Bagan – no wonder why the dressing room is now looking like a very happy family.
‘Do-or-die’- has become the motto of the last match in group league stage for Team Mohun Bagan for last three years. Every time they got success in that stage and this year is no exception as they outplayed Salgaocar in the last match by 6-1 to reach to the semifinal of 32nd Federation Cup.

Team Mohun Bagan had a swimming session today at Cuttack Swimming Club. The players have enjoyed every moment of the session in the blue water of swimming pool. Stanley Rozario told that a very good team never been failed for so long and Mohun Bagan got the much needed momentum in the last match and thrashed Salgaocar, despite a lot of criticism from media and opponent coach Kareem Bencherifa.

Another practice session has been scheduled tomorrow and going by the early indication, Edeh Chidi might not be in first-XI once again. Diamondstar will be played as defensive medio. Infact in the last match he was really impressive in that position. However the final strategy will be uncovered only on 30th Sept afternoon. Bagan is very much cofident to face I League champion Dempo. This will be clash of Titans. In 2008, Mohun Bagan lifted Federation Cup by beating Dempo by 1-0, socred by Barreto.

Will the history repeat once again?

Bagan 0-0 Mumbai FC

A win could have helped Bagan gain the top spot of the group.
But a goal less draw now makes it absolutely necessary to win the last match against Salgaokar FC – scheduled this Sunday 26th September.

An excellent game in the Federation Cup this year. No goals, but tremendous entertainment and some interesting tactical elements too.

Bagan lined up with three stoppers, one side back, one side half, one central  midfielder and four strikers against Mumbai Fc here today.

Stanley Rosario opted for Ishfaq Ahmed in a position he is not familier with, while Gouranga Dutta, the genuine right half had to wait for 70 minutes to get into the ground.

Sagram Mandi was at the left back position while Biswajit Saha – the regular in the Kolkata League was there in the bench.

Diamondstar – the team’s think tank yet to know his actual playing position replaced Jose Barreto with less than 5 minutes reamining for the game while Jayanta Sen missed out!

The key to the game was all about who could control the tempo. The two sides had completely different approaches – Bagan played quick balls to the wingers who looked to run at the Mumbai FC full-backs, and they played at an incredibly high tempo as they dominated the opening period.

Bagan had a host of efforts on goal in the first 15 minutes but found Peter Siddique in excellent form – he made multiple outstanding saves to deny Bagan.

Mumbai Fc struggled to maintain possession of the ball early on, despite their three central midfielders, and therefore were unable to slow the pace of the game. Henry hit a couple of hopeless long balls too easy for Shilton.

Mumbai FC were defending with two solid banks of four, but Bagan rarely looked to get their midfielders or full-backs into attacking positions early on, so they were often faced with a 3 v 8 situation when trying to break down the Mumbai FC defence.

Eventually Bagan had to drop the pressure slightly after their frantic opening to the game, and Mumbai Fc gradually grew into the contest – the more they had possession, the more their shape had an interesting look to it.

Mohun Bagan : Shilton Pal, Sagram Mandi, Karan Atwal, Sk. Azim, Dhanarajan R, Ishfaq Ahmed (Gouranga Dutta 72), Manish Maithani , Barreto (Diamondstar 86), Snehasish Chakrabarty (Ashim Biswas 90), Chidi Edeh , Muritala Ali.

Mumbai FC: Ishant Debnath, Evans Quao, Peter Siddiqui, Goutam Debnath, Nishant Mehra, Bungo Singh (Noel Wilson, 51st), Dene Pereira, Pradeep Mohanraj (PC Lalwmpuia, 92nd), Hiralal Chetri (C Malasawm Kima, 75th), Nicolas Rodrigues, Nna Ezeh Henry.

Referee: C R Srikrishna (Tamil Nadu)

 

Today’s Match – Fact Sheet At A Glance
       
Opponent  team Mumbai FC
Date 24-Sep-10
Stage Group
Venue Cuttack
Kick off time 6:45 PM
No. of goal Mohun Bagan scored 0
Opponent scored 0
Number of yellow card shown to MB Players 1(Dhanarajan)
Number of red cards shown to MB players 0
Average age of 1st 11 24.8yrs
Average age of the squad (registered for Fed cup) 24.9 yrs
1st half Score  0 – 0
Style of formation  4 – 4 – 2
Substitutions
1 Gauranga in place of Isfaq (72 mt)
2 Diamondstar in place of Barreto (88 mt)
3 Ashim in place of Snehasis (89 mt)

 

Now Mumbai FC

Mohun Bagan will play against Mumbai FC tomorrow in their second match of 32nd AIFF Federation Cup. Barabati Stadium is the concern of the every team now because of its nature of not rolling the ball in due to water clogging. But Mohun Bagan coach Stanly Rozario has more thought in his mind, that is how to get a big win against Mumbai FC get advantage in the group.

The first-XI of yesterday’s game had a  swimming session at Cuttack Club under team manager and doctor and rest of the eam had their practice session in the local police ground under Coaches. In the swimming pool session there was a swimming competition between the players and Shilton Paul emerged as a winner in the competition. The competition was arranged by Jose Barreto for test of the fitness. Shilton proved once again that he is in good condition here in the swimming pool as well.

The whole team is now focused and they want to beat Mumbai FC by a healthy margin. Salgaokar will be played against Air India and their coach Kareem Bencherifa must be looking for a big win against Air India also to be in the better place in the group before meet Mohun Bagan on Sunday 26th. Mohun Bagan will play later tomorrow in the evening while Salgaokar vs Air India will be held at after-noon session. So before coming to the ground Mariners will fix their target of margin, However ,victory is must and now the goal difference is the key factor also as well because Salgaokar is already up ahead due to vitcory by 2-0 against Mumbai FC in the last match.

Edeh Chidi may not be in the first team due to his injury. It has been cured almost 90%. But Edeh Chidi himself expressed that he doesn’t want to play tomorrow’s match because of wet and heavy ground, it may harm more to the injury . He also told that match against Salgaokar is more important, so he wants to play from that match.

Stanly Rozario indicated today that the team may be played in 3-5-2 combination because Kingshuk Debnath, the right back will not be available for today’s match due to his red card, so Dhanrajan, Karan Atawaland Sagram Mandi will be the three central defender and in the midfield their may be inclusion of Jayanta Sen.  If Azim can play in the right back then it can be 4-4-2 as well. Everything depends upon situation of the game.

The match will start from 6.45pm (IST) at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. The live update will be available in this website from the start to end of the match.

 

 

Picture courtesy: ABP

Bagan starts Fed Cup with victory

Mohun Bagan defeated Shilong Lajong by 1-0 in their first encounter of 32nd Fed Cup at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack Muritala Ali scored the only goal in the 21st minute of the match. Kingshuk Debnath was shown red card due to double booking. Shilton Paul was brilliant under the goal as he foiled several Lajong attacks and ensured the victory for his team. Sagram Mandi and Dhanrajan have also played well.

The ground of Barabati Stadium was not conducive for good football due to heavy rain and regular matches. The ball was not rolling properly due to water clogging. Bagan started off with two strikers Barreto and Muritala. Chidi was not fit for the match due to his injury.  Diamondstar, was in a new role – played as defensive medio. Sagram Mandi and Karan Atwal were in the central defence, Dhanrajan and Kingshuk Debnath was in the starting line up as side backs. Snehasis, Manish and Ishfaq were in the midfield along with Diamondstar.

From the begining of the match Bagan was in the attacking mode. In the 3rd minute of the match Muritala Ali reached to the penalty box of Lajong, but missed the target. After that several Bagan attacks were initiated by Snehasis, Ishfaq, Barreto and Muritala but nothing changed the scoresheet in favour of Mohun Bagan. Finally in the 20th minute of the match Bagan got a corner and Snehasis took the corner, while Muritala scored it from a header. It was 1-0.

After that Lajong changed the gear and started to create pressure in Mohun Bagan’s defence. Shilton displayed his class and rescued his team number of  occasions. In the 36th minute of the match Bagan’s Kingshuk Debnath was shown yellow card due to wasting the time, and, after a minute later he was shown second yellow as he committed a foul on Lajong player. Bagan was down to 10 men army as Kingsuk had to leave the ground. Just before the halftime Diamondstar passed the ball to Ishfaq and Ishfaq made it for Barreto for final assault, but Lajong defender cleared the ball before reaching it to Barreto.

In the second half Bagan again started in attacking mode but didn’t found goal. This time Ishfaq was playing in right back position, whereas Barreto was operating from little deeper and Muritala was the lone striker . Bagan was playing with 10 men, so Coach Stanley Rozario had to make that adjustment in the team.

Meanwhile Shillong Lajong was attacking more than Mohun Bagan and Shilton was unquestionable under the goal. What a match it was for him!!

In the 70th minute Snehasis was replaced by Gouranga Dutta.

In the 88th minute of the match Barreto got the ball from Muritala and his grounder shot passed the goal narrowly. It was the most easiest chance of the match so far because goalkeeper was lying on the ground that time.

Mohun Bagan may get edeh Chidi but miss Kingshuk Debnath in the next match against Mumbai FC. Next match will be held on 24th September from 6.45 pm onwards.

Mohun Bagan line up: Shilton, Kinsgshuk, Sagram Mandi, Karan Atwal, Dhanrajan, Ishfaq, Diamondstar, Manish, Snehasis (Gouranga 70′), Barreto, Muritala.

 Today’s Match – Fact Sheet At A Glance

Opponent team Lajong FC
Date 22-Sep-10
Stage Group
Venue Cuttack
Kick off time 4:00 PM
No. of goal Mohun Bagan scored 1
Opponent scored 0
Number of yellow card shown to MB Players 0
Number of red cards shown to MB players 1(Kingsuk)
Average age of 1st 11 24.9yrs
Average age of the squad (registered for Fed cup) 24.9 yrs
1st half Score  1 – 0
Style of formation  4 – 4 – 2
Substitution
1 Gauranga in place of Snehasis (70 mt)

 

Team Mohun Bagan in cuttack, starts practice

Mohun Bagan arrived at Cuttack today morning and they started practice at local police ground in the after-noon session. Edeh Chidi the injured striker of Mariners had a gym session but he still is not feeling well as per fitness is concerned. He will miss the first match and may miss the second match too. Coach Stanley Rozario doesn’t want to take any risk.

Meanwhile Mohun Bagan team management decided that Diamondstar will play as a defensive blocker at the midfield. If Mohun Bagan shines in Federation Cup Diamondstar has to play well. Coach Stanley Rozario told that their upfornt is best of all but the team has to defend its goal, otherwise it will be so tough to do better in the tournament.

Meanwhile Lajong FC team also arrived in the city at night, they will meet Mohun Bagan in  the first match Group D on 22nd September, Wednesday.

The Chairman of Federation Cup Akrur Dutta announced that Champion Team will  get prize money of Rs. 12,00,000 and Runners will get Rs. 7,00,000 prize money as well.

Fed Cup: Mariners to depart on Monday ; Team announced

Mariners are preparing for 32nd Federation Cup will be held at Cuttack. Mariners will depart from Kolkata on Monday by air for Cuttack. They will meet the Qualifying team of Group A of Qualifying round. There had a practice match against Kalighat Club at the club ground yesterday, where Mohun Bagan got victory by a goal scored by Snehasis.

For the preparation of Federation Cup mariners are practicing hard and Jose Barreto told that they will get result of the hard practice at Fed Cup. .

Meanwhile Edeh Chidi, the dependable Bagan striker  will be missed the opening match due to his injury, he may be in the team from the second match.

Today after practice session in the morning the team of 20 players for 32nd Federation Cup has been announced.

The team is like that: Sangram Mukherjee, Shilton Paul, Pralay Dutta. Dhanrajan R, Kinshuk Debnath, Karan Atwal, Okwy Diamondstar, Rahul Kumar, Sagram Mandi, Sk. Azim, Gouranga Dutta, Ishfaq Ahmed (captain), Manish Maithani, Jayanta Sen, Snehasish Chakraborty, Souvik Chakraborty, Ashim Biswas, Jose Barreto, Chidi Edeh, Subair Muritala Ali.

 

Here is the list of matches will be played by Mohun Bagan in the group league stage at Cuttack mentioned below:

September 22: Mohun Bagan A.C. vs Lajong FC

September 24: Mohun Bagan A.C. vs Mumbai F.C.

September 26: Mohun Bagan A.C. vs Salgaokar S.C.

All the matches of Cuttack and Semifinals, Final will be held at Barabati Stadium. The dates of Semifinals are 29th and 30th September, Final will be played on 2nd October, 2010.

MOHUNBAGANCLUB.COM wishes the team a grand success for the forthcoming tournament.

No more league matches for Mariners before Fed Cup

IFA has accepted the proposal of Mohun Bagan that not to play in Salt Lake Stadium the next league match against George Telegraph. It was scheduled earlier that Mohun Bagan vs George Telegraph match will be held at YBK instead of MB ground on 15th September. But in the match against Chirag, Edeh Chidi was injured and he had to leave the ground. As per MB officials it has happened due to artificial turf of Salt Lake Stadium and they will not play any match at this ground before Federation Cup. They wanted to play at their own ground. But due to some unavoidable circumstances the match has been postponed and it will be held after Fed Cup.

Meanwhile another match which was scheduled for Mohun Bagan  to play on 18th September  against Railway Football Club, it has been postponed already due to preparation of the team for Fed Cup.

As we know Federation Cup is the most favourite trophy for Mariners over the year. Out of 31st time Mohun Bagan got the champions trophy 13th time and reached to the final 17th time. It has been most prestigious soccer tournament of India after I-League.

Last year mariners fall short of target as they are beaten by arch rival Kingfisher East Bengal in the semifinal.

However, Mohun Bagan will strat their Fed Cup campaign against Qualifying team (Group A) of Fed Cup on 22nd September, 2010 at Cuttack. The knock-out phase will also been played at Cuttack.

Mohun Bagan 2-2 Chirag United

A weekend of 2-2 draw between Bagan and Chirag United ended with a reminder that the Sahara Kolkata Premier League is still a place of gripping struggle.

Chirag seized a 2-2 draw when the left-half Munna Mallick and mideo Denson Devadas equalised a Muritala and a Barreto netter as Chidi failed to convert  a penalty to a goal. Chidi himself had got injured and was replaced by Jayanta. But it was Somnath who went beyond his capacities and stopped Bagan from scoring. Add to it – Subrata Bhattacharya’s strategy of players play-acting of injuries and stealing time saved the day for Chirag. 

But Bagan defense allowed Chirag to reach to the goal post almost everytime Chirag attacked. With Federation Cup knocking on the doors the fans and supporters might continue having nightmares with this sort of defense. 
 

Teams

Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee, Kinshuk Debnath, Sheikh Azim, Karan Atwal, Snehasish Chakraborty, Ishfaq Ahmed (Gouranga Dutta, 80th), Manish Maithani, Jose Barreto, Surabuddin Mallick, Edeh Chidi (Jayanta Sen, 40th), Subair Murithala Ali

Chirag United: Somnath Khara, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Arnab Mondal (Safar Sardar, 80th), Chika Wali, Sukhen Dey, Jerry Zirsanga (Gouranga Biswas, 54th), Denson Devadas, Asif K, Munna Mallick (Sheikh Sabir Ali, 90+5th), Joshimar, Junior Elija

Referee: Rathin Mukherjee

Opponent team Chirag United
No. of goal Mohun Bagan scored 2
Opponent scored 2
Number of yellow card shown to MB Players 2
Number of red cards shown to MB players 0
Average age of 1st 11 24.6yrs
Average age of the squad (registered for CFL till now) 23.3 yrs
1st half Score  1 – 1
Style of formation  4 – 3 – 3
Substitutions

1

Jayanta in place of Chiddi

2

Gauranga in place of Ishfaq

 

 
Man of the match Munna Mollick (Chirag)

MBSFA to meet IFA Academy at Chandigarh today

The under 17 squad of MBSFA reached the final of 8th All India Administrator’s Challenge Cup at Chandigarh. MBSFA have made their way to Final against IFA Academy in this under-17 age group tournament. This tournament is organized by Govt. of Punjab and 19 teams participated in this tournament. On the road to the final MBSFA beat Mahilpur Football Academy by 5-0 in the Semifinal.

MBSFA was in the group along with Chandigarh Public School, Rurka Kalna Football Academy, Jalandhar and Sambalpur Football Academy. In the group league matches MBSFA defeated Chandigarh Public School by 1-0, drew with Rurka Kalna Football Academy and then defeated Sambalpur Football Academy by 2-1. Being group champion MBSFA qualified for Semifinal, where they beat Mahilpur Football Academy, Punjab by 5-1. They will meet IFA Academy in the final today.

MBSFA needs to participate this type of tournament more based on the specific age group. mohunbaganclub.com wishes all the very best to team MBSFA for today’s grand final. Hope they will be the champion in this tournament as well.