14.08.2008:After having won the prestegious AFC Challenge Cup - 2008,the Team India Bengal Members Surkumar Singh (KF East Bengal), Mehrajuddin Wadoo (KF East Bengal), Syed Rahim Nabi(KF East Bengal), Deepak Mondol(M.Mohun Bagan), Subrata Paul (KF East Bengal),Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, and another Member of Team India Sushil Kumar Singh returned to the Football Capital of India "Kolkata". The Two Big Heros, Captain Baichung Bhutia(M.Mohun Bagan) and Sunil Chettri (KF.East bengal) & Tarif Ahmed did not return with theTeam. IFA Secretary Mr. Utpal Kumar Ganguly and other High officials of IFA were present at the airport to receive & felicitate the Bengal Tigers. On Thursday morning, the AIFF president Mr. Priya Ranjan Das Munshi distributed cash incentives of Rs.1,15,217 to all members of the team India's AFC Challenge Cup winning Squad. Coach Bob Houghton was handed over a cheque of Rs one lakh for his outstanding work. AIFF President later told that they will do their best to keep Houghton till 2011. Tem India Captain Baichung Bhutia and Sunil Chettri met sports minister M.S. Gill in the evening.

Premier India Football Academy

14.08.2008:: PIFA-CYFC managed by Premier India Football Academy won its first pre season match 2-0 (Chirag Sheikh & Nagesh Swamy) with its reserve team against Mahindra United U-19 team at the Indepedence Cup (9 a side) at the St Xavier Ground, Parel, Mumbai on 14 August 2008. The tournament is only open to the Elite Division Clubs and will be played on 14 & 15 August 2008. The team will play the quarter finals against Western Railway on 15 August 2008.

East Bengal celebrates its sports day with grandeur

13.08.2008 : Shilarze Saha Roy :The sports day of the east bengal club, celebrated annually in fond memory of their former secretary Late Dipak Das’(more popularly known as Paltuda) birthday, was held with great gradiose and pomp. The day started with the lighting of the ‘Diya’ by the director Tarun Majumdar and it was followed by a friendly match between the ex-players and the filmstars which the former won with a scoreline of 4-2. The winners of this match received Rs. 30000 and the runners-up got a prize money of Rs. 20000. As the event progressed, the East Bengal members forum on behalf of the club presented a brand new Alto car to the great goalkeeper Vaskar Ganguly. Taking the oportunity of this felicitation ceremony, Vaskar Ganguly said that he is highly indebted to football as this sport has given everything to him in his life. In fact, he also said that all his despondence of not getting an Arjuna award in his lifetime was gratified with this felecitation ceremony. Later the club also feted Chitto Chanda with a fiscal amount of Rs. 50000. The promising juniors of the club also received gold rings as well as various coaching camps and centres were also presented with footballs. The club secretary also announced an internet football quiz competition on the club’s website which will be actuated from the 15th of August and will go on till 30th September. The winners of this quiz contest will be announced every week while a mega winner will be declared after every three weeks and there would also be a super mega winner after the competition ends on the 30th September.

AFC Challenge Cup Final Delhi

10.08.2008:KUALA LUMPUR - AFC Press release: The AFC Challenge Cup final and third-place playoff matches will be played at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday. After inspecting the stadium in the Indian capital on Sunday, AFC decided to shift both the matches to Ambedkar Stadium. Now, the final between hosts India and defending champions Tajikistan will be played at 19.00 hours, preceded by the third-place playoff between DPR Korea and Myanmar at 16.00 hours. The shift in the venue was necessitated after incessant rains in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad turned the ground unplayable

AFC Challenge Cup Final at Hyderabad Postponed due to rain

09.08.2008:Hyderabad has been ruled out for playing Final Match between Inia and Tajikistan tomorrow and an AFC delegation will inspect the Ambedkar Satdium in Delhi tomorrow morning and take a decision in the afternoon whether to hold the final there. The date for the final and third place play-off will be decided after inspection in Delhi but the match will be held within a week," AFC media officer Steve Tae Kim told. Heavy rains which lashed the city for the past eight days made Gachibowli and Lal Bahadur stadiums unsuitable for the final match of the eight-nation tournament, whose winners would automatically qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup. The delegation will decide the date of the match which the organisers said would be within a week.All India Football Federation General Secretary Alberto Colaco will also accompany the AFC delegation to the Capital. Today AFC tournament organising committee Members Along with Local Organisng Committe Membes inspected both Gachibowli and Lal Bahadur stadium and later issued a media release reading that "the matches on August 10 have been postponed and the amended schedule will be announced tomorrow." "The ground at Gachibowli was also unplayable and with the kind of rain here, it will be worse tomorrow. The match then will not be decided by football skills. Playing within a week in another place seems to be the best option, but it will be more expensive to AFC to transport more than 60 people players of both teams and television crew to another city" India Chief Coach Bob Houghton said. Fluminense Crowned NIKE MUPC World Champions 2008 PIC Courtesy :www.premiercupmedia.com 07.08.2008:It was a clash of the Titans at Old Trafford today when Brazilian favourites Fluminense took on Mexico’s FC Atlas and became Manchester United Premier Cup World Champions for the second time. This fixture was the eagerly anticipated Final of the Nike sponsored tournament which brings together the twenty best under-15 teams in the world. The match was played out on the hallowed turf of Old Trafford as the curtain-raiser to the Manchester United v Juventus friendly. On the pitch, there were flashes of brilliance from both sides, but ultimately only Fluminense were able to convert. A goal just before half-time and a second halfway through the second half left FC Atlas trailing and the Brazilians in dominant form. Despite their best efforts, FC Atlas could not maintain control of the ball leaving Fluminense to take the match, and the title, in a comfortable 2-0 win. Bryan Robson and Gary Neville presented runners-up Atlas and third place Eintracht Frankfurt with their medals before Fluminense went up onto the pitch to receive the MUPC trophy in front of a crowd of 69,872. Over the past twelve months 9,400 teams from forty-two countries have participated in local, national and regional tournaments to earn a place in Manchester and to play on the pitch at Old Trafford in the MUPC final. Earlier in the day the bronze match took place at Carrington to determine third and fourth position. In the closely contested match between FC Basel and Eintracht Frankfurt, the frustration with the 1-1 score line was clear. Penalties decided their fate and it was Frankfurt who held their nerve after yesterday’s bitter semi final disappointment and ended up taking the match 4:2 on penalties. Eintracht Frankfurt Coach Samad el Messaoudi commented, ‘We finished third in a very strong field and that proves what we’re doing is right. Our style, our training and our style of play is moving us forward for the future.” The Awards and Closing Ceremony were held at Manchester University’s Armitage Centre. All teams were awarded medals and MUPC World Champions Fluminense received the coveted trophy by General Manager of Manchester United Merchandising David Tucker. Trophies also went to Willem II who took the Fair Play Award with only one yellow card whilst Fluminenses’ W. De Silva received awards for both Tournament MVP and highest Goal Scorer. David Tucker noted in his closing speech how “157 goals were scored over the course of the tournament, and that clearly indicates just how hard all the teams worked, and the standard of football you produced. It has been an incredible tournament and you should all be very proud of yourselves”. Day 1 Fluminense (1 - 0) Eintracht Frankfurt Day 1 - GB04 : Fluminense (7 - 0) Shizuoka Gakuen Jr. High School Day 2 : Fluminense (3 - 0) Zhejiang Lucheng FC Day 2 : Fluminense (4 - 1) FC Honka Day 3 : Fluminense (2 - 0) Manchester United Day 3 : Fluminense (4 - 1) FC Basel 1893 Day 4 : Fluminense (2 - 0) FC Atlas MUPC 2008 Final Standings 1 Fluminense (BRAZIL) 2 FC Atlas 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 4 FC Basel 1893 5th Right to Dream 6th Manchester United 7th Juventus 8th Paris Saint Germain 9th Middlesbrough 10th Real Madrid 11th FC Honka 12th Ansan Boogok 13th Willem II 14th Audax Italiano 15th SuperSport Tottenham 16th Green Town FC 17th Central United 18th Villa 2000 19th San Diego Surf 20th Shizuoka Gakuen 121st OSIAN’S DURAND CUP 2008 :QUALIFYING ROUND : 8th August - 19th August GROUP I 09.08.2008: MEG, Bangalore 2 - 0 Indian National FC MEG : Ajay Raj, 2', Gebriet, 91' 12.08.2008 : Assam Regiment Vs Winner of Match Date 08.08.2008 13.08.2008 : ASC Center Bangalore Vs Amity United 14.08.2008 : Punjab Police Vs Assam Rifels 15.08.2008 : PSEB Punjab Vs J & K Bank 17.08.2008 : (QF I) :Winner of Match Day 12.08.2008 Vs Winner of Match Day 14.08.2008 18.08.2008 : (QF II) :Winner of Match Day 13.08.2008 Vs Winner of Match Day 15.08.2008 GROUP II 09.08.2008 :11 GR, Lucknow 5 - 1 Ahbab FC ,Delhi GR: Gurung,20',Bijoy, 21', 48' Rakesh,29', 34' :: AF : Yadav 10' 10.08.2008 :BEG, Roorkee 1 - 1, 3 - 4 (Pen) Indian Navy BEG :Manirul Islam 13' :::: IN :Mukesh Kumar 63' 11.08.2008 : Tarun Sngha Delhi Vs BSF 12.08.2008 : Winner of Match Day 9.08.2008 Vs Indian Air Force XI 16.08.2008 : ONGC - Mumbai Vs Pune F.C 16.08.2008 : (QF I) :Winner of Match Day 12.08.2008 Vs Winner of Match Day 11.08.2008 19.08.2008 : (QF II) :Winner of Match Day 10.08.2008 Vs Winner of Match Day 16.08.2008 FINAL ROUND 21 - 28th August ::: Pre Quarter Final 28th August ::: 1st Quarter Final 4th September ::: 1st Demi Final 5th September ::: 2nd Semi Final 7th September ::: F I N A L Satyam Kicks off National Campus Football Challenge 05.08.2008:New Delhi Press Release : Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (NYSE: SAY), a leading global consulting and information technology services provider, announced today that it has initiated a national football tournament in India. The Satyam Football Challenge is a first-of-its-kind contest featuring as many as 4,000 college teams that will compete for the Satyam Cup. The program kicks off in Kolkata today. Participating teams come from the national capital territory of Delhi and nine states: Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala , Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The tourney sponsorship reflects Satyam’s efforts to increase its role in football around the world. It is the official IT Services Provider to the FIFA World Cups in 2010 (Johannesburg) and in 2014 (Brazil). “We are very excited about the Satyam Football Challenge,” said Sri Priyaranjan Das Munshi, India’s Honorable Minister of Information and Broadcasting and President of the All India Football Federation. “An intercollegiate competition will help grow the talent pool for the game in India. I am confident that India has a glorious future in this global game, and Satyam’s role will strengthen our ability to achieve this objective.” Teams from colleges throughout the aforementioned states are eligible to compete in the Challenge. Winning teams from each state will then square off against one another to determine the national champion. The tournament reflects Satyam’s commitment to leveraging sports to enhance society. The organization has committed to organize the competition for at least 10 years, enough time to realize tangible benefits in the sport’s development within India. Puia extinguishes East Bengal flame 05.07.2008 :Shilarze Saha Roy: The season’s first encounter of the Royal Bengal derby between Kingfisher East Bengal and Mc Dowell Mohun Bagan ended with the latter getting the better off their arch rivals for the sixth time, on the trot, in Yuva Bharati Krirangan.. Salt lake stadium. With over 70000 spectators, all rooting for their respective clubs, Mohun Bagan kicked off the match.Kingfisher East Bengal drew the first blood with a brilliance from the veteran midfielder Alvito da Counha. As the match progressed Mohun Bagan equalized with a Lalam Puia header. Puia striked again on the 83rd minute giving Bagan the crucial lead as they went on to win the match with this goal. Henceforth the mariners won the first leg of the CFL Royal Bengal derby.with a scoreline of 2-1. VISIT CURRENT LEAGUE TABLE Mohun Bagan came close to score a goal in the 3rd minute when the enigmatic Barreto created the first opportunity of the match but he placed the ball over the cross bar. Mohun Bagan tried again when Ram Luaha shot a volley wide in the 8th minute. East Bengal’s real attack came when Edmilson picked up a ball outside the mohun bagan penalty box and let it fly off his right boot, which was acrobatically saved by Sangram Mukherjee. With slight nudges here and there the first yellow card was shown to East Bengal’s Nirmal Chettri when he tackled Barreto from behind in the 11th minute. In the 13th minute, Bagan’s Mama and EB’s Soumik Dey got engaged in a brawl when the latter elbowed the former and mama lost his temper.Referee Mrinangsu Bhattacharya, showed yellow cards to both the players. But the real moment of the match came at 18th Minuteswhen the veteran midfielder of East Bengal, Alvito da Counha scored a scorcher of a goal with a magnificient strike courtesy his left boot ( 1 - 0 ). The cross came from Nirmal Chettri,who after dodging Mohan Raj, passed the ball to Alvito who took a perfect position to jump in the air to score a perfect goal. The Mohun Bagan defence was stranded, as was the goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee who didn’t have much to do with that strike of brilliance. Mohun Bagan tried hard to equalize in the first half with Habibur Rehman shooting a volley wide in the 28th minute and L. James Singh shooting a ball over the cross bar in the 45th minute but all in vain,. The first half ended with the East Bengal goalkeeper Arnab Das Sharma receiving a yellow card from the refree. With the cheering East Bengal fans and the jeering Mohun Bagan fans the 2nd half began. Barreto misses a one-on-one chance and couldn’t keep the ball within the three sticks. The Bagan forward Puia got a yellow card when he nudged Anupam Sarkar. The East Bengal coach replaced their hero Alvito by K.Jibon Singh in the 69th minute. Lal Kamal Bhowmick replaced L.James Singh in the 61st minute. This move by the Mohun Bagan coach, Karim Bencherifa turned as the masterstroke of the match as the Bagan players who were till now playing long balls suddenly changed their game and played short passes between them and changed their strategy to 4-3-3 from 4-4-2. East Bengal, on the other hand, was using their flanks very tactfully but with the substitution of Alvito the left wing became useless.Sangram got a yellow card in the 66th when he ran towards the referee to protest against the East Bengal striker, Edmilson, when the Brazilian striker pushesd Mohun bagan defender Mohan Raj in order to meet a header of a Ashim Biswas cross. Mohun Bagan struck gold in the 72nd minute with a Lalam Puia header from a Lal Kamal Bhowmick corner courtesy a major mistake from Arnab Das Sharma, who went to grip the ball instead of fisting it( 1 - 1 ). Puia was there to complete the unfinished business with a free header. In the 75th minute Parveen Kumar replaced Edmilson. The next goal for the mariners came at the 83rd minute from the same man Puia who is currently the highest goal getter in this edition of CFL Premier Division with a total tally of 6 goals ( 2 - 1 ). This goal also came from another corner of Lal Kamal as the East Bengal defenders stood in a line with utter confusion. The ball deflected of Jayanta Sen’s feet and Puia ran for glory as he placed it behind the EB goalkeeper.Mohun Bagan retained their top spot in the League table by winning this match. Mc Dowell Mohun Bagan: 1-Sangram Mukherjee ,5-Habibur Rehman Mondal, 14-Peter Odafe, 29- Anandavasan, 26-N Mohanraj; 19- Tulunga, 20-Rakesh Masih, 16-James Singh (Lalkamal Bhowmick), 23-Lalramluaha, 9- Lalam Puia (Tapan Maity), 10-Barreto. Kingfisher East Bengal: 31-Arnab Das Sharma; 3-Nirmal Chetri, 4-Suley Musah, 12-Anupam Sarkar, 29-Soumik Dey; 14-Mehtab Hussain, 7-Jayanta Sen, 9-Alvito D'Cunha (Jeevan Singh), 28- Malswamkima, 10-Ashim Biswas, 30-Edmilson (Parveen Kumar). Yellow Card:Tulunga, Lalampuia,Sangram Mukherjee (MMB 14',54', 84') & Nirmal Chettri , Soumik Dey,Arnab Das Sharma (KEB 10',14',45') THE ROYAL BENGAL DERBY 04.07.2008 :Abhishek Bhattacharyya: Bengal has always been popular for its football culture and the two teams that made their mark in the Indian Football History are from Bengal and they are none other than East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.The Red and Yellow Brigade and the Mariners are talk of the town now as these two arch rivals are going to clash against each other at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan, (Salt Lake Stadium) tommorow. Mohun Bagan leads the table with 13 points from 6 matches followed by Mohammaden Sporting who are at par with them on the points table, but second due to goal differences. East Bengal are lying 3rd on the table and need to pull up their socks if they want to reach the pinnacle of the league table.Both the teams have confronted each other for 142 times in CFL premier Division were East Bengal have won 46 times followed by the Mariners who have won against them for 41 times and 56 matches have been drawn.The Mariners have been the better team in the recent past as they have beaten East Bengal for the last 5 times in a row in Salt Lake Stadium. East Bengal will be depending heavily on youngsters like Sanju Pradhan & Co. However, Ashim Biswas, Jayanta Sen and veteran medio Alvito D'Counha will surely rally their troops with a proper mind-set so as to beat their arch rivals. Karim Bencherifa’s men are now enjoying a good time at the top but they also need to be very cautious as Sabbir Ali’s mens are breathing near their shoulder.Karim has been a revelation as a coach for the kolkata based club with his ice cool personality. Bagan Will expect its key players like Captain Lal Kamal Bhowmick, N.S.Manju, Mama,Lalampuia,Ishfaq Ahmed and last but not the leastJose Ramirez Barretto to perform on the pitch.Supporters will also expect youngsters like BrancoVincent Cardozo and co to give their best in a match that mattered the most for them. So who will win the clash tommorow??Will it be the national club of India-Mohun Bagan or will it be Monaranjan Bhattacharjee’s men.Be there in right time and right place to catch the action because it’s a big match as the two ferocious royal Bengal tiger take on each other in the ROYAL BENGAL DERBY. Jadavpur University goes wild with Soccer fever 04.07.2008 :Abhishek Bhattacharyya: Jadavpur University, ranked among the top 5 Universities of Asia started its Inter-Departmental Football Tournament 2008 in style, on Monday 4th August. The tournament organized by Arts Forum Student’s Union(AFSU) kicked started at University’s main ground with the Bengali Dept. beating History Dept. 2-1 in the opening match.This tournament is being played since the inception of the University. When it comes to sports, football has been of utmost importance as the University has won many laurels at the Inter-college level. There are 10 teams comprising Arts Faculties along with enthusiastic students participating in this 11-a side football tournament.The teams are divided into 2 groups with Bengali,History,Physical Education,English & Film Studies in Group-A and Philosophy, International Relations, Comparative Literature,Economics and holders Sanskrit in Group-B. Only 2 teams will qualify from each group for Semi-final clash.The Final will be played on 22nd August. According to Souro Patranabis - Head of the Organizing Committee, the tournament is organized for students' recreation, so that the students can engage themselves in some extra-curricular activities. Fair play is the ultimate motto for the Organizing committee.The students Union is also providing boots to the students who are participating in this event. The opening day ended with defending champions Sanskrit deptt. thrashing Comparative Literature 5-0.Day 2 will commence with International Relations Dept. clashing against Economics Deptt. NIKE MUPC - 2008 Final Draw of top 20 Teams 02.08.2008 : : The Twenty final teams gathered at the Opening Ceremony & Draw of the Manchester United Premier Cup at Carrington this evening. Real Madrid and host club Manchester United were both drawn in Group A and will meet in the group stages in the competition sponsored by Nike. The group matches are to take place at United’s Carrington Training Facility 3-6 August and the final two teams, from over 9,400 participants, will face each other at Old Trafford in a curtain raiser to the Manchester United –v- Juventus friendly on Wednesday 6 August. The Draw Group A  : Manchester United (Host-England) Villa 2000 (Indonesia) Audax Italiano (Chilie) Real Madrid(Spain) Paris Saint Germain (France) Group B  : Greentown FC (China) Shizuoka Gakuen(Japan) Fluminense(brazil) Eintracht Frankfurt(Germany) FC Honka(Finland) Group C  : Middlesbrough(England) Central United(New Zeland) F.C Atlas(Mexico) JuventusF.C (Italy) Supersport Tottenham United (South Africa) Group D  : Ansan Boogok Middle School(S.Korea) San Diego Surf(USA) Willem II(Holland) FC Basel 1893(Switzerland) Right to Dream(Ghana) MUPC World Champions Manchester 2007, FC Barcelona Manchester 2006, Chivas Guadalajara Hong Kong 2005, Fluminense Manchester 2004, Manchester City Portland USA 2003, Corinthians Lisbon 2002, Sao Paulo Berlin 2001, FC Vitoria Amsterdam 2000, Sport Club Internacional Barcelona 1999, FC Barcelona Paris 1998, Athletic Club Bilbao Capetown 1997, Platense