Mohun Bagan today beat CCFC 6-0 in a practice match held in Mohun Bagan ground. Chibu scored 2 goals (both from penalty), Tapan Maity, Manish, Lalampuia, Kartick scored one goal each. Mohun Bagan could have scored at least 6 more goals but few easy chances were missed. Mohun Bagan will catch tomorrow’s flight for Jordan to play their AFC Cup match against Al Wihdat on May 5th.

Coach Karim gave chance to all the players in both half.

Two players who are in trial, Chibu and Manish both played one half each. Chibu has been recommended by Chima. Manish plays in Indian National, a team in New Delhi whose coach is Bernard and the latter has brought Manish for trial. After practice Bernard who was accompanied by his two sons today said, "I owe a lot to Mohun Bagan, I have played 3 years here and I got my first coaching experience in Mohun Bagan only. Accordingly to me, Manish did not play very well today, he has potential to play much better football." Manish said, "It is a great honor to get an opportunity for trial in Mohun Bagan. Bernard Sir brought me here."

In the practice match today, the first two goals came from penalty which were both taken by Chibu and he scored the goals comfortably via his left foot. Tapan Maity made the scoreline 3-0 before halftime. After half time, Manish scored the 4th goal from a Lalkamal through pass, the finish was good. Lalampuia increased the tally within 2 minutes. The best goal was the last one scored by Kartick, though he missed quite a few easy chances today. Kartick played a 1:1 with Jr. James and the latter’s shot was saved by goalkeeper, the rebound went to Kartick who from an acute angle took a shot that hit the top of the net. Meanwhile Mohun Bagan has recruited Subhojit Majumdar from TFA (Under-19) player who plays in side half, both right and left.

 

Regarding the two players in trial, coach said, "Mohun Bagan is a big team. The players have to be of very good standard. We are still looking for few players." About his next opponent, he commented, "Al Wihdat is an extremely experienced team. They have won almost all tournaments in Jordan over the last three years. We will be missing few key players but we will try our best and hope for a positive result." He also added, "Habibur’s father passed away yesterday night, this is a very unfortunate incident. He had been rejecting offer for playing outside Kolkata mainly due to his father." He is a little worried about the fatigue factor. "We have already had a long season and players are really tired. However, in Super Cup also we did overcome this factor and had a good match and won the tournament."

The team that is going to Jordan to play against Al Wihdat is: Bhaichung (captain), Shilton, Chirodeep, Mohanraj, Dipak, Manju, Vashan, Rino Anto, Ishfaq, Rakesh, Marcos, Tulunga, James Singh Sr., Branco, Lalramluah, Tapan Maity, Lalkamal, Rahul.

Today Mohun Bagan resumed practice for AFC Cup after having two days rest. Today all the players were present in practice today including Sangram, Habibur, Odafe and Barreto who skipped practice session due to injury and will not be part of the team that will travel to Jordan. Coach has not yet decided on their replacement yet. Tommorow practice session will resume at 7.45 a.m. and there will be a practice match that is scheduled to start from 8.30 a.m. Team will take Saturday’s flight to go to Jordan.

Habibur has slight hamstring injury and so has been rested for this match, today during the practice he was seen exercising in the gym. Speaking exclusively to us, he said, "I am happy with the performance of Mohun Bagan this year, we have missed out on one trophy this year. I am hopeful that next year we will make it 4 out of 4. I have 2 years contract and I am very much happy in Mohun Bagan with my coach, coplayers and officials." Goalkeeper Sangram who suffered a leg injury in Kuwait said that likely he will not be able to play the last match of Mohun Bagan this year that will be held on May 19th. He is hopeful that he will be fit by 1 month.

Today in practice there were two new players, Manish, a midfielder from New Delhi and a foreigner, both of them have been recommended by Chima Okerie. Coach Karim after practice said, "Team is extremely tired after a tiring season and there are few injuries but still we will try our level best to perform well in the last 2 AFC Cup matches."

 

 

 

 

After practice, there was a group photo session held in club lawn with all the three trophies that Mohun Bagan won this year. Added to this, all the players individually posed with the three trophies. On behalf of Mohun Bagan club, all the players will be given two photographs (one group photo and his individual one) as a memento to keep with them for this year’s successful performance. This is really a unique thing which has been done by club officials and coach. Also Rs. 15000 has been given to all the players who were part of Super Cup team and Rs. 5000 has been given to the reserve players and supporting staff.

Captain Bhaichung said, "The season has been a very successful one. We just missed on the I league, perhaps we should have done better in the first few matches. Coach Karim has done a great job and you can see that the result shows how good he was."

The prospect of playing the Asian Cup two years from now lights up Baichung Bhutia’s eyes, but when it comes to discussing the future of Indian football, he hesitates and stumbles. His has been a case of been-there-done-that, but 17 years into his close association with Indian football, Baichung shudders to think that the game is actually going backwards in this country, thanks to poor infrastructure and an aimless system. Any unfulfilled dream? Baichung paused for a while before saying: “It was not possible this season. But I really want to win the I-League for Mohun Bagan.” “I don’t think we have been serious enough in improving basic needs for the game to grow. The quality has gone up with the introduction of I-League, but the worst part is that infrastructure has remained the same. We are talking about taking a forward stride, but lack of infrastructure is actually taking Indian football backwards,” the Indian captain told a gathering during CII’s Young Indians programme on Wednesday. No wonder then that he urges the national federation to have a long-term plan in place. An icon for the youth, Baichung delved into several aspects of the game and life during the interactive session. He wants the young voters to choose their candidate properly, without being driven by political ideologies. The Mohun Bagan skipper, who has just finished reading Booker Prize winner Arvind Adiga’s The White Tiger, borrowed a line from the book, saying: “Most voters in the country are half-baked and there are other half-cooked ideas in their head.”

    

Mohun Bagan team today returned to Kolkata with Super Cup trophy. Jose Barreto, who was injured after scoring the winning goal, today had plastic surgery in his tongue in a city nursing home and then was soon discharged after the operation. Marcos said, “Mohun Bagan is the best team of the country as we had beaten I league champions Churchill twice this year. Our performance this year was very consistent.” Manju who has made a habit of scoring goals said, “I am happy in Mohun Bagan, if I get good offer, I will stay here only. We are very satisfied by beating Churchill and winning Super Cup.” Mohun Bagan team will have their next practice session on Thursday morning at 8.30 am.