Mohun Bagan captain Baichung Bhutia yesterday got Mother Teresa International Award for his success while representing India. “All India Minority Forum and Weaker Section” selects celebrity from different fields for this award. Baichung is the first footballer to receive this award. Baichung said, “The award has the name of Mother Teresa in it, I am very much honored to get this.” Meanwhile, team will resume practice tomorrow at 8.30 am in morning. Mohun Bagan will play against Vasco on April 2nd at Barasat Stadium.

Mohun Bagan lost 2 vital points today against JCT and the match ended 1-1. Manju converted a Marcos corner to a goal in the 10th Min but an unfortunate mishap in the form of Rahul Kumar own goal at 80th min made it 1-1. This means Bagan will not only have to win their 3 matches in a row but will also have to wait for Mohammedan to take 2 points from Churchill in their last match.

Manju had a great game having scored one goal and made one goal line save. Ishfaq missed a very easy chance. Rakesh Masih centered from right, which Baichung foxed one JCT player and ball went to Ishfaq in open who shot wide from close distance. He chose to shot the ball in first post, but it would have been better if he chose the far corner of the post.

Mohun Bagan missed few easy chances to score, Baichung, Barreto and Ishfaq missed the chances. Rahul Kumar played very well in right half but unfortunately he was involved in the goal that Mariners conceded. Mohun Bagan went ahead in 10th minute when from a Marcos short corner, Tulunga crossed the ball in box and the ball deflected off a JCT player to Manju who capitalized on the chance and scored via his left foot, a brilliant opportunistic goal. JCT also got their chances but one attempt of Edu hit the bar post and Manju made a goal line save. In the fag end of the match, Barreto’s head hit bar post and Baichung’s head was cleared from goal line. Ishfaq was adjudged Man of the Match.

Mohun Bagan conceded the goal in late 2nd half, the right half of JCT went past Dipak and centered the ball which deflected off Rahul and went inside goal. Rahul was marking the JCT striker and in order to clear the ball went for a slide but unfortunately the ball hit him and went inside goal.

After match Karim said, "I am disappointed that Mohun Bagan lost the match. My anguish increased after getting to know that Churchill has lost 2 points. The match was a 50-50 match, any team could have won the match. Both of the teams created chances and could not score. It is hard luck that at the last moment our effort came off post. About Rahul, I can say that he had a great game but very unfortunately he was involved with the only goal that Mariners conceded."

SQUAD: Sangram, Rahul, Odafe, Manju, Dipak (Mohanraj), Tulunga (James Singh Sr.), Masih (Branco), Marcos, Ishfaq, Bhaichung and  Barreto.

COURTESY: HARIDAS GHOSH

Mohun Bagan will play against JCT tomorrow in an important I league match to be held in Ludhiana from 3.30 pm. This is a must win situation for Mohun Bagan. Odafe will be back in the team after missing Chirag match as he was suspended due to receiving double yellow card.

The 18 member team that will be going to Ludhiana is as follows: Sangram, Habibur, Dipak, Manju, Odafe, Barreto, Ishfaq, Bhaichung, Tulunga, Rakesh, Mohanraj, Marcos, Branco, James Singh Jr., Rahul, Lalramluaha, Shilton and Lalkamal Bhowmick.

Expected first team is Sangram, Habibur, Odafe, Manju, Dipak, James Sr., Rakesh, Marcos, Ishfaq, Baichung, Barreto. JCT midfielder Baljit Sahni will miss tomorrow’s match due to double yellow suspension.

Dipak will be back to left back position as Mohanraj did not play well in last match. Lalampuia did not accompany team to Ludhiana due to hamstring injury. Before leaving Kolkata, Karim said, "JCT is a good team. I league is in a crucial juncture now, few times are fighting for championship and at the bottom of the table few teams are fighting relegation. Still upsets can happen. We are concentrating on our game and will try our best and then see what happens. We have four matches left, we will have to win all the matches."

Meanwhile, in an important match in Mumbai, Churchill Brothers will play against Air India. Mohun Bagan will hope that Air India manage to end the good run of Churchill tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s match will not be telecast live by Zee sports, you can see live update here in www.mohunbaganclub.com