Paraguay eliminated Japan from the World Cup on penalty kicks Tuesday. The Paraguayans will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of this afternoon's Spain-Portugal game.Japan Eliminated by Paraguay
Paraguay eliminated Japan from the World Cup on penalty kicks Tuesday. The Paraguayans will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of this afternoon's Spain-Portugal game.How Fabio Capello lost his cool on the World Cup sidelines
England's World Cup hopefuls might claim they don't fear their disciplinarian boss.
But no-nonsense Fabio Capello shows he can make even the toughest of grown men wither after a video on the internet showing what purports to be a series of astonishing touchline displays.
Footage posted on YouTube last night showed assistant Stuart Pearce looking more like Bambi than living up to his Psycho nickname as he danced to the Italian's orders.
Gurning Capello elbows him repeatedly from the dug-out during what is believed to be the 1-0 win over Slovenia as he remonstrates at his players.
The England manager has his right-hand man jumping up and down like a yo-yo as he orders him to sit down one minute and stand up the next.
And Capello also shows he has managed to master English swearwords despite a poor overall command of the language.
Pearce and England physio Gary Lewin look on as Capello lets fly with a string of expletives during a series of anguished displays.
A Spanish TV station which hired a lip-reader to work out what he was saying translated his favourite phrase as 'Press the f****** ball'.
Midfielder Gareth Barry also gets it in the neck with a barrage of insults for not harrying the opposition enough after Jermain Defoe put England in the lead.
Even the fourth official gets a mouthful - this time in Spanish - when Capello lambasted him for a foul awarded by the referee.
Pearce - nervously chewing gum as Capello ranted and raved - looks like he needed a lie-down in a darkened room when the match finished.
FA insiders said the images had been cut together from various England group games during the World Cup and the alleged subtitled 'quotes' from Capello could not be verified.'
'You Tube is very funny but what you see is not what you get,' said a senior FA insider.' The images suggest Fabio saying all sorts of things but we believe this montage has been posted in order to make a contrast with the quieter demeanour of Sven Goran Eriksson.'
READ MORE - How Fabio Capello lost his cool on the World Cup sidelines
But no-nonsense Fabio Capello shows he can make even the toughest of grown men wither after a video on the internet showing what purports to be a series of astonishing touchline displays.
Footage posted on YouTube last night showed assistant Stuart Pearce looking more like Bambi than living up to his Psycho nickname as he danced to the Italian's orders.
Anger management: Fabio Capello was struggling to contain his emotions against Slovenia
Party piece: Capello gestures for Stuart Pearce to sit next to him...
Changing man: Capello seems to tell Pearce that he should start standing up again...
Final push: Pearce is forced back out of the dugout after a little help from Capello
Ready for the fight: Wayne Rooney poses after an England press conference ahead of the Germany match
The England manager has his right-hand man jumping up and down like a yo-yo as he orders him to sit down one minute and stand up the next.
And Capello also shows he has managed to master English swearwords despite a poor overall command of the language.
Pearce and England physio Gary Lewin look on as Capello lets fly with a string of expletives during a series of anguished displays.
A Spanish TV station which hired a lip-reader to work out what he was saying translated his favourite phrase as 'Press the f****** ball'.
Midfielder Gareth Barry also gets it in the neck with a barrage of insults for not harrying the opposition enough after Jermain Defoe put England in the lead.
Even the fourth official gets a mouthful - this time in Spanish - when Capello lambasted him for a foul awarded by the referee.
Pearce - nervously chewing gum as Capello ranted and raved - looks like he needed a lie-down in a darkened room when the match finished.
FA insiders said the images had been cut together from various England group games during the World Cup and the alleged subtitled 'quotes' from Capello could not be verified.'
'You Tube is very funny but what you see is not what you get,' said a senior FA insider.' The images suggest Fabio saying all sorts of things but we believe this montage has been posted in order to make a contrast with the quieter demeanour of Sven Goran Eriksson.'
In good hands: England goalie David James will be hoping he doesn't let the ball slip through his fingers during the game against Germany
Netherlands Eliminates Slovakia From World Cup, 2-1
DURBAN, South Africa — Like clockwork, the Oranje are into the World Cup quarterfinals.
The Netherlands reached the final eight Monday when standouts Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder scored in each half of a 2-1 victory over Slovakia.
The Oranje, who have never won soccer's biggest prize, went ahead in the 18th minute when Robben cut inside from the right wing and found the net with a low, precise shot from 20 yards. Robben sat out the first two group matches with a hamstring injury, but his return has rekindled the crafty Dutch offense.
Sneijder doubled the lead into an empty net in the 84th after a gamble by Slovak goalkeeper Jan Mucha backfired.
READ MORE - Netherlands Eliminates Slovakia From World Cup, 2-1
The Netherlands reached the final eight Monday when standouts Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder scored in each half of a 2-1 victory over Slovakia.
The Oranje, who have never won soccer's biggest prize, went ahead in the 18th minute when Robben cut inside from the right wing and found the net with a low, precise shot from 20 yards. Robben sat out the first two group matches with a hamstring injury, but his return has rekindled the crafty Dutch offense.
Sneijder doubled the lead into an empty net in the 84th after a gamble by Slovak goalkeeper Jan Mucha backfired.
Argentina Defeats Mexico 3-1
JOHANNESBURG — Argentina needed a couple of breaks in its second round World Cup match. It got one from the referee and another from Mexico.
Carlos Tevez scored twice – once on a disputed goal – and Gonzalo Higuain added another as the Albiceleste beat Mexico 3-1 on Sunday to move into the quarterfinals.
"We're not here on vacation, we came here to leave everything so that the Argentines can be proud of us," coach Diego Maradona said.
With Mexico getting the best scoring chances early on, Tevez headed in a pass from Lionel Messi in the 26th minute from close in. One problem: He was clearly offside.
Referee Roberto Rosetti of Italy awarded the goal after consulting with his linesman, the pair surrounded by angrily gesturing Mexican and Argentine players.
READ MORE - Argentina Defeats Mexico 3-1
Carlos Tevez scored twice – once on a disputed goal – and Gonzalo Higuain added another as the Albiceleste beat Mexico 3-1 on Sunday to move into the quarterfinals.
"We're not here on vacation, we came here to leave everything so that the Argentines can be proud of us," coach Diego Maradona said.
With Mexico getting the best scoring chances early on, Tevez headed in a pass from Lionel Messi in the 26th minute from close in. One problem: He was clearly offside.
Referee Roberto Rosetti of Italy awarded the goal after consulting with his linesman, the pair surrounded by angrily gesturing Mexican and Argentine players.
U.S. ELIMINATED From World Cup
After emerging from Group C by the skin of their teeth thanks to Landon Donovan's last minute heroics, the USA now find themselves with as easy a road to the semifinals as they are likely to have in any World Cup. Uruguay awaits in the quarterfinals after beating South Korea, and while they have been playing outstanding so far this tournament, they are not as formidable as Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands or Spain, all of whom the U.S. has mercifully avoided in their bracket.
But first they will have to defeat Ghana, a country that was responsible for sealing the USA's exit from the 2006 World Cup in Germany on a controversial penalty kick. The Black Stars proved difficult to break down at the back in their group games, and they are by far the most strategically disciplined of the African squads. Add in home field advantage and being the only remaining hope for the continent, and you can see why Ghana may prove a major obstacle to the USA's chances of advancing.
At the same time they failed to score a goal in the run of play during their first three games. (Both of their strikes have come from the penalty spot,) And so if Michael Bradley can once again dominate the play through midfield as he so often has this World Cup, and the U.S. attackers can find a way to grab a goal, that could easily be enough to see them through. The one thing to worry about for the U.S. defense is Ghana's speed, given that the US back line is not the quickest. Yet if the U.S. can keep a clean sheet like they finally did against Algeria, there chances of going through without resorting to penalty kicks seem favorable.
READ MORE - U.S. ELIMINATED From World Cup
But first they will have to defeat Ghana, a country that was responsible for sealing the USA's exit from the 2006 World Cup in Germany on a controversial penalty kick. The Black Stars proved difficult to break down at the back in their group games, and they are by far the most strategically disciplined of the African squads. Add in home field advantage and being the only remaining hope for the continent, and you can see why Ghana may prove a major obstacle to the USA's chances of advancing.
At the same time they failed to score a goal in the run of play during their first three games. (Both of their strikes have come from the penalty spot,) And so if Michael Bradley can once again dominate the play through midfield as he so often has this World Cup, and the U.S. attackers can find a way to grab a goal, that could easily be enough to see them through. The one thing to worry about for the U.S. defense is Ghana's speed, given that the US back line is not the quickest. Yet if the U.S. can keep a clean sheet like they finally did against Algeria, there chances of going through without resorting to penalty kicks seem favorable.
World Cup exit: Italian minister slams 'luxury immigrants'
Italy's humiliating first round exit from the World Cup is the fault of scandalously overpaid 'luxury immigrant' footballers who have swamped the country and killed off native footballing talent, a minister said.
'They are paid millions, have legs made of jelly and are short of breath,' railed legislative reforms minister Roberto Calderoli, who is the coordinator of Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League party.
'This defeat brings the torment of our national side to an indecorous and predictable end,' he added, describing Italian national coach Marcello Lippi as arrogant.
'Italy's premature elimination is merely the result of an insane sports policy which has seen the league, the FA Cup and the Champions League being won by teams who do not have a single Italian, including the coach,' he said Thursday.
'Unfortunately for Lippi, luxury immigrants can't play for the national side and today's result is the logical consequence fof this fact.'
Italy crashed out of the World Cup in South Africa Thursday in a shock 2-3 defeat to Slovakia.
'We need to get our own homegrown lads playing in our clubs,' Calderoli said.
READ MORE - World Cup exit: Italian minister slams 'luxury immigrants'
'They are paid millions, have legs made of jelly and are short of breath,' railed legislative reforms minister Roberto Calderoli, who is the coordinator of Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League party.
'This defeat brings the torment of our national side to an indecorous and predictable end,' he added, describing Italian national coach Marcello Lippi as arrogant.
'Italy's premature elimination is merely the result of an insane sports policy which has seen the league, the FA Cup and the Champions League being won by teams who do not have a single Italian, including the coach,' he said Thursday.
'Unfortunately for Lippi, luxury immigrants can't play for the national side and today's result is the logical consequence fof this fact.'
Italy crashed out of the World Cup in South Africa Thursday in a shock 2-3 defeat to Slovakia.
'We need to get our own homegrown lads playing in our clubs,' Calderoli said.
Japan Eliminates Denmark, Advances At World Cup
RUSTENBERG, South Africa — Take a bow, Japan. Better yet, take two. You've advanced at the World Cup.
Spectacular first-half goals by Keisuke Honda and Yusuhito Endo helped lift the Japanese to a 3-1 win over Denmark on Thursday, sending Japan into the round of 16.
It was an energentic performance by the Japanese, who collected just their second tournament victory on foreign soil.
When the game was over, the happy team bowed like a chorus line before its joyous fans on each side of the field.
"For Japan it's a big win," Honda said. "I'm glad we won but I am not satisfied. The next game is more important. I want to show the Japanese that nothing is impossible."
READ MORE - Japan Eliminates Denmark, Advances At World Cup
Spectacular first-half goals by Keisuke Honda and Yusuhito Endo helped lift the Japanese to a 3-1 win over Denmark on Thursday, sending Japan into the round of 16.
It was an energentic performance by the Japanese, who collected just their second tournament victory on foreign soil.
When the game was over, the happy team bowed like a chorus line before its joyous fans on each side of the field.
"For Japan it's a big win," Honda said. "I'm glad we won but I am not satisfied. The next game is more important. I want to show the Japanese that nothing is impossible."
Football Fields Around Europe
Over the past decade, Dutch photographer Hans van der Meer traveled around Europe to capture photos of different types of football (soccer) fields.
The long list of countries he traveled to include: Greece, Finland, England, France, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, Holland, Slovakia, Sweden, Romania, Denmark, Ireland, Wales, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. In order to avoid the usual scenes, he aimed his camera at the underdogs: lower-league and amateur teams that used only the most basic of ingredients – a scrap of land, two goalposts and 22 players – to ultimately create their own "beautiful game."
READ MORE - Football Fields Around Europe
The long list of countries he traveled to include: Greece, Finland, England, France, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, Holland, Slovakia, Sweden, Romania, Denmark, Ireland, Wales, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. In order to avoid the usual scenes, he aimed his camera at the underdogs: lower-league and amateur teams that used only the most basic of ingredients – a scrap of land, two goalposts and 22 players – to ultimately create their own "beautiful game."
AMFA on the verge of forming Manipur team for Santosh trophy
IMPHAL, June 20 : Altogether 11 player playing in major football club of the country are likely to include in the Manipur team which is to take part in the 64th Santosh Trophy national football championship to be held at Kolkata from July 15.
All Manipur Football Association has invited altogether 14 player who are playing in major football club of the country to be part of the Manipur team for the upcoming national championship. However, till today, 11 player have intimated AMFA about their willingness to be part of the state football team.
Training session for 34 selected player stationed in the state have begun since last week but due to heavy rainfall since the past two weeks and hence wet ground prevented player to have regular practise session.
The state football coach L Nandakumar, licence coach, however informed IFP that player need to practise at whatever condition the training ground has. He also said that player are taking keen interest in joining the practise session with the hope that they could represent the state in the prestigious national football championship.
In the meantime, a reliable source said AMFA has choosen some player playing in major football club of the country to be part of the state team.
The likely player who are to be selected includes one goalkeeper and two defender from Churchill Brothers, one fefender from Sporting De Goa and another defender from CISF.
The other are two midfielders from Churchil Brothers, one midfielder each from Sporting De Goa and Chirag United.
The AMFA is also looking for two striker, one each from Lajong and East Bengal.
The source further said a combined coaching programme for state football player and those playing outside the state is need of the hour for building up the Manipur team which will eventually give good performance.
READ MORE - AMFA on the verge of forming Manipur team for Santosh trophy
All Manipur Football Association has invited altogether 14 player who are playing in major football club of the country to be part of the Manipur team for the upcoming national championship. However, till today, 11 player have intimated AMFA about their willingness to be part of the state football team.
Training session for 34 selected player stationed in the state have begun since last week but due to heavy rainfall since the past two weeks and hence wet ground prevented player to have regular practise session.
The state football coach L Nandakumar, licence coach, however informed IFP that player need to practise at whatever condition the training ground has. He also said that player are taking keen interest in joining the practise session with the hope that they could represent the state in the prestigious national football championship.
In the meantime, a reliable source said AMFA has choosen some player playing in major football club of the country to be part of the state team.
The likely player who are to be selected includes one goalkeeper and two defender from Churchill Brothers, one fefender from Sporting De Goa and another defender from CISF.
The other are two midfielders from Churchil Brothers, one midfielder each from Sporting De Goa and Chirag United.
The AMFA is also looking for two striker, one each from Lajong and East Bengal.
The source further said a combined coaching programme for state football player and those playing outside the state is need of the hour for building up the Manipur team which will eventually give good performance.
Nicolas Anelka SENT HOME After Trashing Coach Raymond Domenech
KNYSNA, South Africa — French star Nicolas Anelka has been thrown off his nation's World Cup team after getting into a heated exchange with coach Raymond Domenech and refusing to apologize.The Chelsea forward reportedly made obscene comments to Domenech at halftime of France's 2-0 loss to Mexico on Thursday. He was asked to make amends by FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes.
"Faced by the refusal of the player to publicly apologize, he (Escalettes) took the decision in total agreement with the coach and the official members of the delegation present in Knysna to exclude Nicolas Anelka from the squad," the FFF said in a statement. "He will leave the French team camp this evening."
Anelka confirmed he had an argument with Domenech – but said that it was meant to stay within the team.
"I indeed had a heated conversation with the coach, but it happened within the confines of the changing rooms, between the coach and me, in front of my teammates and the staff," Anelka told the website of France Soir newspaper. "That should never have come out of the changing rooms. I don't know who can benefit from that, but repeating these kind of things certainly doesn't help (the team)."
The episode is another blow to a French team that made the World Cup finals in 2006 but is on the verge of being eliminated from the 2010 tournament after a listless draw with Uruguay and the Mexico loss.
The FFF said that France captain Patrice Evra was also present with Escalettes when the decision was taken, adding that Anelka's comments are "totally unacceptable for the FFF, French football and the values it defends."
Anelka said he regrets having upset his teammates. Previous reports said he had fallen out with France midfielder Yoann Gourcuff, demanding that Domenech drop Gourcuff from the Mexico game.
"My aim was never to destabilize the French team, an institution I respect. I accept my exclusion from the France team and I wish them good luck," Anelka said. "I have a lot of respect for the France team, I equally have a lot of respect for all of my teammates without exception, I insist on that point."
Evra said a "traitor" among France's World Cup staff must have leaked details of Anelka's rant.
It "came from someone in this group, who wishes the French team harm," Evra said. "The problem isn't Anelka, it's the traitor among us, you have to say it.
"How can this come out?"
Two unconvincing performances in the 0-0 draw with Uruguay and against Mexico had observers like former France defender Bixente Lizarazu furious at Anelka's casual attitude.
"What bothers me is Nicolas Anelka's performance in the first half. I saw a player strolling ... strolling in the World Cup!" Lizarazu said. "He wasn't aggressive, wasn't interested in the game. Domenech took him off at the break, but should have done so before. You shouldn't play in a selfish manner, you have to show you're up for it."
Winner of the Premier League's Golden Boot in 2008-09, Anelka has long been an enigmatic player for France. He scored twice in a stunning performance against England way back in 1999, but then refused to play under coach Jacques Santini. He spent three years off the national team until Domenech called him back up in November 2005.
Six months later, Domenech snubbed him for the 2006 squad. But Anelka seemed to have put that all of that behind him when he scored a deflected goal against Ireland in a World Cup playoff last November.
Anelka's abrupt nature has made him few friends over a topsy-turvy career during which he has always spoken his mind.
But his unselfish attitude for Chelsea this season won him many admirers, and his reputation had greatly improved since the days English soccer fans mockingly nicknamed him "Le Sulk" for his surly attitude.
Denmark Eliminates Cameroon From World Cup
PRETORIA, South Africa — Denmark eliminated Cameroon from the World Cup and sent the Netherlands through to the second round. Yet the Danes could find little to cherish in their 2-1 victory Saturday night.Dennis Rommedahl scored one goal and set up another as Denmark made the Indomitable Lions the first team knocked out of the tournament. In the process, the Dutch became the first nation to advance after they beat Japan 1-0 in Group E, then waited a few hours for the evening result.
And while the result went Denmark's way, it was hardly what the Danes had in mind.
"When we finished the game we knew it was a really bad game," Daniel Agger said. "Especially the first half, we gave too many opportunities away. We didn't play like a team. We didn't play like we have to play if we want to progress in this competition. Clearly it wasn't good enough, but if you can win on days like that, it's positive."
Rommedahl charged down the right wing and spun around Jean Makoun before hitting a well-aimed shot past goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou in the 61st minute.
Rommedahl had assisted on the equalizer after Samuel Eto'o put Cameroon ahead in the 10th minute following a mix-up in the Danish defense.
Nicklas Bendtner tied it in the 33rd after receiving a feed from Rommedahl following a superb long pass by Simon Kjaer.
"It was a tough game until the last minute," Rommedahl said. "We had a terrible start. But we created a lot of chances in the second half, when it became a more open game."
Eto'o scored early after a meltdown in the Danish defense.
Christian Poulsen rolled the ball toward fullback Kjaer, but the pass was way too soft and intercepted by Achille Webo. He found Eto'o unguarded in front of the net. Cameroon's top striker easily beat goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen with a powerful low shot.
The Danes replied just after the half-hour mark. Kjaer sent a long diagonal pass from deep inside the Danish half down the right flank to Rommedahl. The winger let the ball bounce off his chest, looked up to find Bendtner rushing toward the goal, and struck a low cross that the Denmark striker poked in with his right foot.
Both teams had a flurry of chances before the break, with Eto'o hitting the post and Achille Emana zigzagging past three defenders but shooting straight at Sorensen.
Cameroon pressed for an equalizer, but Alex Song and Webo shot over the net, and Sorensen protected the Danish lead when he stopped Emana's right-footed shot with a one-hand save in the 77th.
"It is doubtless a serious disappointment for us and the Cameroonian nation as a whole," Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen said, adding he won't resign. The team "will play for the honor of the country" in the final match against the Netherlands, he said.
Karnataka, Uttarakhand win in Junior National Football
Kolkata, June 18 (PTI) Reigning champions Karnataka and Uttarakhand won their respective matches in the quarterfinal league in the Junior National Football Championship for Dr BC Roy Trophy here today.
Karnataka began the proceedings in an aggressive manner with Amos giving the lead in the 11th minute at the Mohun Bagan ground in their 3-0 drubbing over Goa.
Prakash Majumdar made it 2-0 in the 30th minute as the last year's champions enjoyed a comfortable lead at halftime.
Karnataka defence held on without giving their Goan opponents any chance as Nagraj made it 3-0 in the second minute of the injury time.
Uttarakhand registered a 2-1 win over Meghalaya in another match of the quarterfinal league at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan.
Harish (11th) and Manoj (18th) gave Uttarakhand a flying start before Meghalaya pulled one back through M Dennis in the 68th minute.
READ MORE - Karnataka, Uttarakhand win in Junior National Football
Karnataka began the proceedings in an aggressive manner with Amos giving the lead in the 11th minute at the Mohun Bagan ground in their 3-0 drubbing over Goa.
Prakash Majumdar made it 2-0 in the 30th minute as the last year's champions enjoyed a comfortable lead at halftime.
Karnataka defence held on without giving their Goan opponents any chance as Nagraj made it 3-0 in the second minute of the injury time.
Uttarakhand registered a 2-1 win over Meghalaya in another match of the quarterfinal league at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan.
Harish (11th) and Manoj (18th) gave Uttarakhand a flying start before Meghalaya pulled one back through M Dennis in the 68th minute.
The science of soccer stats
Joe Klamar / AFP - Getty Images
Spain's Sergio Ramos and Xavi Hernandez, seen during a match in May, ranked highest in a study that used network analysis to rate soccer players."You could think maybe you're missing the most important piece of information," Luis Amaral, a chemical and biological engineering professor at Northwestern University, admitted during an interview. But it turns out that the ranking system that he and his colleagues came up with closely matched the general consensus from sports writers, coaches, managers and other experts.
The best part is that you should be able to judge for yourself by matching ratings on Amaral's website with actual World Cup results.
The rating system, detailed today in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, was put through a test run using performance data from the 2008 European Cup tournament. During high-profile events like the EuroCup, or the World Cup, the official scorers provide gobs of data about how the players are doing. "They will tell you how many shots a player took, how many were on goal, how many passes they made, who took the passes," Amaral told me.
To judge how different players stack up, soccer-watchers (including fantasy soccer leagues) use a variety of weighted formulas that include starts, goals, saves (for goalkeepers only), assists, penalty cards, shots and misses. But chance and other hard-to-quantify factors play a big role in whether the goal is actually scored, Amaral said. You don't need to look any further than the way the U.S. team got its game-tying goal during last week's World Cup match against England to see how true that is.
"You can count how many goals someone scores, but if a player scores two goals in a match, that's amazing," the professor said in a Northwestern news release. "You can really only divide two or three goals or two or three assists among, potentially, 11 players. Most of the players will have nothing to quantify their performance at the end of the match."
Amaral and his colleagues took a different approach. "What the teams are trying to do is gain possession of the ball, and once they gain possession, they try to keep possession of the ball until they get an opportunity to make a shot and score a goal," he said. So they looked at a soccer team as if it were a computer network.
The researchers set up a computer model using statistics about the flow of passes between different members of each team, as well as information about their ability to take a shot at the goal.
Amaral et al. / PLoS
This diagram looks at soccer players as nodes on a network during the three knockout-phase matches for Spain's team in the 2008 EuroCup tournament.The computer model was designed to give one point to everyone who was involved in a sequence of passes. Then the model was run a million times to see how the average point totals for a given "network" of players stacked up. Finally, the results were normalized so that the average player was given a rating of zero. The good players ended up with positive ratings, and the not-so-good players got negative ratings.
The team results matched the outcome of the EuroCup tournament, with Spain coming out on top. Eight of the top 20 players in the rating system also ended up on the 20-player "best of tournament" team. That's not perfect, but it's much better than what would be predicted by chance. For what it's worth, Spain's Xavi Hernandez scored the highest for an individual match performance (3.0), while his teammate Sergio Ramos turned in the best overall tournament score (2.1).
Amaral, a native of Portugal who spent long hours during his childhood debating which soccer players were the best, said the rating system could be applied to performances in different places or at different times - for example, to back up your point of view in the Pele-vs.-Maradona argument. "I don't know the answer to that one," Amaral told me, but the computer model could tell the tale if anyone was willing to go back and document the passing statistics.
"If you ask people to compare a performance today with a performance from 10 years ago, you start to romanticize performances," Amaral said. "There are always biases, but our algorithm has no biases."
The rating technique could be used in other walks of life as well: For example, businesses could use the method to evaluate the performances of individual employees working on a team project.
So how does the method stack up for the World Cup? When we spoke, Amaral and his colleagues had run the numbers only for the Argentina-Nigeria match. Argentina's Lionel Messi emerging as the top performer.
"The preliminary result that my colleague told me is a 2.5 [for Messi]. That would be in the top five when compared to the EuroCup," Amaral said. "This was a very, very good performance. What we found in the EuroCup is that many of the teams kept a steady level of performance. If the same is true for the World Cup, the first few matches could be a very strong indicator of how these teams are going to be doing."
Check in with the Amaral Lab webpage for World Cup rankings as the tournament continues. Amaral's colleagues in the study published by PLoS ONE, "Quantifying the Performance of Individual Players in a Team Activity," include Jordi Duch and Joshua Waltzman. We'll revisit the topic in a post-Cup posting.
Chandigarh face Manipur in quarter-final
CHANDIGARH: Manipur joined holders Karnataka, Uttrakhand, Goa, Meghalaya, Orissa, Chandigarh and West Bengal in the quarter-final league after completion of preliminary cluster round matches in 12 days in the 47th Junior National Under-17 Football Championship for Dr B C Roy Trophy being played in Kolkata.
In the last cluster VI match, Manipur blanked Tamil Nadu by 8-0 to top their cluster and march into quarter-final league.
Chandigarh, virtually a state-run Chandigarh Football Hockey Academy team, have also given a good account of themselves by qualifying for the quarter-final league for the first time in the Chandigarh football history. They meet Manipur in quarer-final league on June 18.
In an academic match in cluster VI, Madhya Pradesh routed Himachal Pradesh by 6-1.
Holders Karnataka (Cluster I), Uttrakhand (Cluster IV), Goa (Cluster V) and Meghalaya (second best team) have been clubbed in Group A in the quarter-final league phase.
Orissa (Cluster II), Chandigarh (Cluster III), West Bengal (Cluster VII) and Manipur (Cluster VI) made it to quarter-final league and have been placed in group B
On June 17, the first day of the quarter-final league programme, Karnataka will meet formidable Goa and Uttrakhand are pitted against Meghalaya.
Mighty West Bengal cornered glory in the preliminary cluster round matches by scoring maximum number of goals. In their three matches, they remained unbeaten and fired 39 goals. They also have the distinction of registering victory with a highest margin 27-0 against Puddicherry. They did not concede even a single goal.
Defending champions Karnataka pumped in 27 goals and did not concede a goal in the three matches. However, they were held to a goalless draw by Meghalaya in the last Cluster I match. Manipur (23-0), Chandigarh (13-0) and Orissa (9-0) also did not concede a goal in their cluster matches.
As many as 48 matches were played in six preliminary cluster programme and as well as 231 goals were scored.
Fixtures:
Quarter-final league: June 17: Group A: Karnataka Vs Goa; Uttarakhand Vs Meghalaya.
June 19: Goa Vs Uttarakhand; Meghalaya Vs Karnataka.
June 21: Goa Vs Meghalaya; Karnataka
Vs Uttarakhand.
Group B: June 18: West Bengal vs Orissa, Chandigarh vs Manipur.
June 20: Orissa vs Chandigarh, Manipur vs West Bengal.
June 22: Orissa vs Manipur, West Bengal vs Chandigarh.
READ MORE - Chandigarh face Manipur in quarter-final
In the last cluster VI match, Manipur blanked Tamil Nadu by 8-0 to top their cluster and march into quarter-final league.
Chandigarh, virtually a state-run Chandigarh Football Hockey Academy team, have also given a good account of themselves by qualifying for the quarter-final league for the first time in the Chandigarh football history. They meet Manipur in quarer-final league on June 18.
In an academic match in cluster VI, Madhya Pradesh routed Himachal Pradesh by 6-1.
Holders Karnataka (Cluster I), Uttrakhand (Cluster IV), Goa (Cluster V) and Meghalaya (second best team) have been clubbed in Group A in the quarter-final league phase.
Orissa (Cluster II), Chandigarh (Cluster III), West Bengal (Cluster VII) and Manipur (Cluster VI) made it to quarter-final league and have been placed in group B
On June 17, the first day of the quarter-final league programme, Karnataka will meet formidable Goa and Uttrakhand are pitted against Meghalaya.
Mighty West Bengal cornered glory in the preliminary cluster round matches by scoring maximum number of goals. In their three matches, they remained unbeaten and fired 39 goals. They also have the distinction of registering victory with a highest margin 27-0 against Puddicherry. They did not concede even a single goal.
Defending champions Karnataka pumped in 27 goals and did not concede a goal in the three matches. However, they were held to a goalless draw by Meghalaya in the last Cluster I match. Manipur (23-0), Chandigarh (13-0) and Orissa (9-0) also did not concede a goal in their cluster matches.
As many as 48 matches were played in six preliminary cluster programme and as well as 231 goals were scored.
Fixtures:
Quarter-final league: June 17: Group A: Karnataka Vs Goa; Uttarakhand Vs Meghalaya.
June 19: Goa Vs Uttarakhand; Meghalaya Vs Karnataka.
June 21: Goa Vs Meghalaya; Karnataka
Vs Uttarakhand.
Group B: June 18: West Bengal vs Orissa, Chandigarh vs Manipur.
June 20: Orissa vs Chandigarh, Manipur vs West Bengal.
June 22: Orissa vs Manipur, West Bengal vs Chandigarh.
Uruguay Crushes South Africa 3-0 At World Cup
PRETORIA, South Africa — South African fans blew their vuvuzelas long and loud, hoping to bring their team luck in the World Cup.Uruguay's Diego Forlan had other ideas and brought the party to a crashing halt, scoring two goals in a 3-0 victory Wednesday night that pushed the hosts closer to exiting the first World Cup staged in Africa. That would be a first for a host country in the tournament.
"It will be a disaster for us, the home country, to go out in the first round," star midfielder Steven Pienaar said.
While Forlan greatly improved Uruguay's chances of making the second round, Bafana Bafana almost certainly must beat France in its next game to stay alive.
If South Africa doesn't advance, "obviously all the expectations of the nation will be frustrated," coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "This game was vital for us to at least get a draw."
As disappointing as it would be if South Africa does go out, Pienaar said the nation would not lose interest.
"It won't change the World Cup," he said. "People are having fun."
Forlan scored on a deflected 25-yard shot in the 24th minute, then converted a penalty kick in the 80th minute for a commanding lead. Alvaro Pereira added a goal in stoppage time.
"Obviously, as a forward I like to score goals, but the important thing is to win," Forlan said. "The team is good. We also played well against France. We're very solid."
Parreira called Busacca "the worst referee in this competition so far."
"I hope I don't see his face in any game anymore," he said.
Backup Moneeb Josephs took over in goal as Pienaar exited.
Forlan put the penalty kick over the goalkeeper's outstretched right hand for his second goal, matching his pair for Atletico Madrid against Fulham in last month's Europa League final.
The constant bee-like noise from the vuvuzelas immediately ebbed, and streams of fans started exiting, leaving thousands of empty blue seats by the time Pereira knocked in Suarez's cross.
Uruguay, which opened with a 0-0 draw against France, has four points going into its group-play finale against Mexico on Tuesday. South Africa wasted a second-half lead in a 1-1 tie against Mexico in last week's World Cup opener, and has one point. It plays France on Tuesday in Bloemfontein.
The situation will become a little clearer Thursday when Mexico meets Les Bleus.
"We are convinced that we can win the World Cup," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. "We don't have a lot of room to maneuver. We have to play very well each time. Winning this victory over the home team, the national squad, with all the fans behind them, this was not easy."
South Africa midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi also will be suspended for the France match after getting a yellow card for the second straight game. He received it for fouling Suarez in the 42nd minute.
Fans were on the streets of Pretoria for hours before the match. It was a national holiday, Youth Day, commemorating the 34th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, when students protested an apartheid-era government order to make Afrikaans the main language in secondary schools.
Loftus Versfeld, a rugby stadium on the grounds that's been used for sports in Pretoria since 1906, was filled with shivering fans of Bafana Bafana. On an unseasonably cold night, with a 40-degree temperature, they wore their yellow jerseys over winter jackets and many covered their heads with caps in the colors of the multiracial flag South Africa adopted in 1994.
Uruguay went ahead when Forlan's shot that hit South Africa captain Aaron Mokeona on his shoulder and looped over Khune.
The closest South Africa came to scoring was in the 66th minute, when Katlego Mphela's close-range header off a cross at the near post was off-target, and Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera got the shutout on his 24th birthday.
Asked how he felt about the outcome, South Africa defender Bongani Khamalo replied: "Really bad. You see the final result, it looks horrible.
"As long as there's a chance, we have to believe. There's one more game. Obviously, the result tomorrow will tell a lot."
Manipur thump Tamil Nadu 8-0
Kolkata, Jun 16 (PTI) Manipur walloped Tamil Nadu 8-0 to cruise into the quarterfinal league stage of Junior National Football Championship for Dr B C Roy Trophy at Yuba Bharati Krirangan here today.
B Thanglaawam and G G Taboi scored two goals each, while Dayanand Singh, Bishorjit Singh, Jockey Singh and Sushil Metei netted one each during the match.
Meanwhile, in the last set of preliminary matches, Madhya Pradesh thrashed Himachal Pradesh 6-1, while Manipur emerged cluster VI toppers to make the cut.
MP scored through Ashirbad Dabodia (two goals), Mahendra Chauhan (two), Ashish Silavat and Munnalal in their inconsequential cluster VI match.
Himachal Pradesh reduced the margin through a solitary strike by Tarun.
Meghalaya also advanced into the quarterfinal after finishing best among the runner-up thus completing the final eight line-up.
READ MORE - Manipur thump Tamil Nadu 8-0
B Thanglaawam and G G Taboi scored two goals each, while Dayanand Singh, Bishorjit Singh, Jockey Singh and Sushil Metei netted one each during the match.
Meanwhile, in the last set of preliminary matches, Madhya Pradesh thrashed Himachal Pradesh 6-1, while Manipur emerged cluster VI toppers to make the cut.
MP scored through Ashirbad Dabodia (two goals), Mahendra Chauhan (two), Ashish Silavat and Munnalal in their inconsequential cluster VI match.
Himachal Pradesh reduced the margin through a solitary strike by Tarun.
Meghalaya also advanced into the quarterfinal after finishing best among the runner-up thus completing the final eight line-up.
Duliajan retain title
Zigdung, Waheed excel
C.K. Sarma Trophy
Water resources minister Prithibi Majhi (holding trophy) and Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan (in blue shirt) present the champions’ trophy to Oil India FC in Dibrugarh on Monday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Dibrugarh, June 14: Holders Oil India FC, Duliajan, retained the C.K. Sarma Invitational Football trophy, edging out arch rivals Assam Police 5-4 via tiebreaker in a high voltage final at the Chowkidingee playground, here.
READ MORE - Duliajan retain title
C.K. Sarma Trophy
Water resources minister Prithibi Majhi (holding trophy) and Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan (in blue shirt) present the champions’ trophy to Oil India FC in Dibrugarh on Monday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Dibrugarh, June 14: Holders Oil India FC, Duliajan, retained the C.K. Sarma Invitational Football trophy, edging out arch rivals Assam Police 5-4 via tiebreaker in a high voltage final at the Chowkidingee playground, here.
Assam Police’s prolific striker Robijit Zigdung provided his team with the lead in the 12th minute of the match, scoring from close quarters and dribbling past the two dependable Oil stoppers, skipper Biplob Sonowal and Raju Konwar.
Assam Police lost goalkeeper Kailash Das who engaged in a nasty clash with Oil striker Mintu Boro in the fifth minute of the match.
Das was hospitalised at the Assam Medical College and Hospitals (AMCH) with severe eye and head injuries.
Deben Mahanta substituted him and came up with some spectacular saves, particularly in the second half.
Down by a goal, Oil stepped up its attack and the trio of Manas Manjit Chetia, Nigerian A.O. Waheed and Mintu Boro raided enemy territory constantly.
During one such raid, Waheed scored the equaliser, capitalising upon a well-judged pass from Mintu in the 69th minute.
In the penalty shootout, Zoidin Hmar, Jayanta Basumatary, Mintu Boro and Biplob Sonowal managed to score for Oil India FC while Raju Konwar’s shot was saved by the goalkeeper and Mathew Thongjom shot out.
For Assam Police, Munna Bhai Limbu, Robijit Zigdung, Madhusudhan Hazarika managed to score while Oil custodian Jitu Chetry saved the shots of Monoj Boro and M. Mangthai Singh. Ghanakanta Rajbongshi shot out.
Robijit Zigdung and Waheed were declared the Best Players of the Tournament.
Moran Town Club bagged the Fair Play trophy.
Water resources minister Prithibi Majhi and Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukon gave away the champion’s trophy, while the runners-up trophy was handed over by Dibrugarh District Sports Association President Munindra Nath Saikia.
How to increase your chances of scoring a penalty shot
It takes more than luck to score a penalty kick. According to a new study, the best way to do it is to completely ignore the goalkeeper and focus only on where you want to kick the ball. The idea behind this is that anxiety affects players. This is natural; we’re used to zoning in on things in our environment that we find threatening. But research suggests the best odds lie within the control of the kicker.
Full story at Reuters.
Punjab held goalless by Assam, split points
CHANDIGARH: Punjab suffered a minor jolt as they played a goalless draw with Assam and split points in Cluster V of the 47th Junior National Under-19 Football Championship for Dr B C Roy Trophy in Kolkata today. With this draw, Punjab have so far earned four points. In their first match Punjab beat Uttar Pradesh by 5-1.
The deciding match in this cluster will be played between Goa and Punjab on June 15.
In Cluster VII, Tripura gave a football lesson to Pudicherry whom they handed out a 15-0 drubbing in a one-sided encounter. It was Tripura’s first triumph and have secured three points from two outings.
Hosts West Bengal are virtually poised to secure a berth in quarter-final league after recording their second successive win in Cluster VII by beating Delhi by 4-0.
The hosts had registered a cakewalk victory against Puddicherry by 27-0 in their opening encounter. West Bengal are now pitted against Tripura in the last preliminary cluster round match on June 15.
Delhi have one win and one defeat to their credit and they complete their Cluster programme on June 15 when they cross swords with Pudicherry on June 15.
In another Cluster V fixture, Goa collected full points at the expense of Uttar Pradesh by 7-1. It was Goa’s second victory from two matches they have played so far. Earlier, they had beaten Assam by 3-1.
READ MORE - Punjab held goalless by Assam, split points
The deciding match in this cluster will be played between Goa and Punjab on June 15.
In Cluster VII, Tripura gave a football lesson to Pudicherry whom they handed out a 15-0 drubbing in a one-sided encounter. It was Tripura’s first triumph and have secured three points from two outings.
Hosts West Bengal are virtually poised to secure a berth in quarter-final league after recording their second successive win in Cluster VII by beating Delhi by 4-0.
The hosts had registered a cakewalk victory against Puddicherry by 27-0 in their opening encounter. West Bengal are now pitted against Tripura in the last preliminary cluster round match on June 15.
Delhi have one win and one defeat to their credit and they complete their Cluster programme on June 15 when they cross swords with Pudicherry on June 15.
In another Cluster V fixture, Goa collected full points at the expense of Uttar Pradesh by 7-1. It was Goa’s second victory from two matches they have played so far. Earlier, they had beaten Assam by 3-1.
Green blunder pegs England back
Rustenburg: England's hopes of a winning start to their World Cup campaign were shattered by an extraordinary blunder by goalkeeper Robert Green that gifted the United States their equaliser in a 1-1 draw here on Saturday.
England captain Steven Gerrard gave his side a dream start to their Group C campaign with a fourth minute strike at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
But Fabio Capello's men were sent back to square one when Green let in Clint Dempsey's tame, 25-yard shot five minutes from half-time.
England had gone ahead from their first foray into opposition territory.
Picking up a Glen Johnson throw-in from the right, Frank Lampard threaded a pass that was flicked on by Wayne Rooney to Emile Heskey on the edge of the area.
The Aston Villa striker got in front of Jay DeMerit and his first-time ball anticipated an untracked run by Gerrard, who prodded the ball past Tim Howard with the outside of his boot.
That might have precipitated a collapse from less resilient sides but the Americans were soon creating problems, particularly down the right.
England had a significant let-off when Jozy Altidore headed Landon Donovan's chip wide after outjumping Ledley King but they generally looked in control of the match until Green's 40th-minute blunder.
Gerrard was partly culpable, having allowed Dempsey to twist away from him on the edge of the area but still there seemed no danger as the West Ham goalkeeper knelt to gather a shot directed straight at him.
Somehow the man Capello had selected ahead of the more experienced David James allowed the ball to spin off his right glove and over the line.
England hit back through Glen Johnson, who tested Tim Howard after a mazy run to the edge of the area, but they were unable to restore their advantage before the interval.
Heskey should have done so soon after the restart, when Aaron Lennon's first-time pass sent him clear of a flat-footed American defence. But the striker's shot was unleashed too early and straight at Howard.
England's frustration was clear as Jamie Carragher, on as a second half substitute for King, and Gerrard picked up bookings in quick succession for late challenges.
Lampard made his presence felt with a left-foot drive that Howard had to touch over at full stretch.
But it was the Americans who enjoyed the clearest chance of a winner, Donovan releasing Altidore whose close range strike was touched on to the post by Green.
England's best chance of the second period fell to Shaun Wright-Phillips, but Howard was able to comfortably beat away the Manchester City winger's poorly directed shot from the left of the goalmouth and it was the Americans who finished the match pressing for a winner.
READ MORE - Green blunder pegs England back
England captain Steven Gerrard gave his side a dream start to their Group C campaign with a fourth minute strike at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
But Fabio Capello's men were sent back to square one when Green let in Clint Dempsey's tame, 25-yard shot five minutes from half-time.
England had gone ahead from their first foray into opposition territory.
Picking up a Glen Johnson throw-in from the right, Frank Lampard threaded a pass that was flicked on by Wayne Rooney to Emile Heskey on the edge of the area.
The Aston Villa striker got in front of Jay DeMerit and his first-time ball anticipated an untracked run by Gerrard, who prodded the ball past Tim Howard with the outside of his boot.
That might have precipitated a collapse from less resilient sides but the Americans were soon creating problems, particularly down the right.
England had a significant let-off when Jozy Altidore headed Landon Donovan's chip wide after outjumping Ledley King but they generally looked in control of the match until Green's 40th-minute blunder.
Gerrard was partly culpable, having allowed Dempsey to twist away from him on the edge of the area but still there seemed no danger as the West Ham goalkeeper knelt to gather a shot directed straight at him.
Somehow the man Capello had selected ahead of the more experienced David James allowed the ball to spin off his right glove and over the line.
England hit back through Glen Johnson, who tested Tim Howard after a mazy run to the edge of the area, but they were unable to restore their advantage before the interval.
Heskey should have done so soon after the restart, when Aaron Lennon's first-time pass sent him clear of a flat-footed American defence. But the striker's shot was unleashed too early and straight at Howard.
England's frustration was clear as Jamie Carragher, on as a second half substitute for King, and Gerrard picked up bookings in quick succession for late challenges.
Lampard made his presence felt with a left-foot drive that Howard had to touch over at full stretch.
But it was the Americans who enjoyed the clearest chance of a winner, Donovan releasing Altidore whose close range strike was touched on to the post by Green.
England's best chance of the second period fell to Shaun Wright-Phillips, but Howard was able to comfortably beat away the Manchester City winger's poorly directed shot from the left of the goalmouth and it was the Americans who finished the match pressing for a winner.
Assam Police win
Cops book semis berth
- Zigdung charms spectators
C.K. Sarma soccer
A Moran Town Club player (in white) attempts to block his Assam Police opponent in Dibrugarh on Thursday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Dibrugarh, June 11 : Assam Police today blanked Moran Town Club 5-0 in the last quarter-final match of the C.K. Sarma Invitation Football Tournament at Chowkidingee playground here.
READ MORE - Assam Police win
- Zigdung charms spectators
C.K. Sarma soccer
A Moran Town Club player (in white) attempts to block his Assam Police opponent in Dibrugarh on Thursday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Dibrugarh, June 11 : Assam Police today blanked Moran Town Club 5-0 in the last quarter-final match of the C.K. Sarma Invitation Football Tournament at Chowkidingee playground here.
With today’s match, the semi-final line-up for the tournament has been drawn up. Oil India FC will take on Morning Star Club, Diphu, tomorrow in the first semi-final, while Assam Police will face Green Valley Sports Club, Guwahati the day after in the second semi-final.
Robijit Zigdung today fired in the first two goals in the 7th and 15th minutes for Assam Police.
His first one was achieved through solo effort while the second one came from a near-perfect half volley which he took capitalising on an accurate pass from the right flank by Anuj Gogoi.
Assam Police led 2-0 till half time. Then on, Munna Limbu (68th minute), S. Singha (71st minute) and Tapan Das (76th minute) scored the three remaining goals for Assam Police to seal the fate of Moran Town Club.
Moran Town Club could do very little before the well-organised Assam Police team, which displayed some good teamwork today.
“Although the result was totally one sided, it was a very good match to watch. It was really a delight to watch Robijit Zigdung when he is in full flow,” Sameer Ghosh, a spectator said.
Chandigarh qualify for maiden quarter-finals appearance
Chandigarh qualified for quarter-final league on the basis of superior goal difference in the 47th Junior National Under-19 Football Championship for Dr B C Roy Trophy being played in Kolkata on Wednesday. Chandigarh topped Cluster III after playing a goalless draw against Mizoram. Chandigarh pipped Mizoram to the second place on the basis of superior goal difference.
Karnataka also advanced on the superior goal difference after they were held goalless by Meghalaya in crucial cluster I match. Chandigarh have 13 goals in favour (seven against Gujarat and six against Kerala) while Mizoram scored nine goals and conceded one in two matches. With a well-earned draw, Chandigarh emerged Cluster III leaders and qualified for Group B quarter-final league. Chandigarh will be joined by winners of clusters II, VI and VII in the quarter-final league. Chandigarh are pitted against winners of Cluster VI on June 18 and face Cluster II winners on June 20. Their last quarter-final league match is slated against cluster VII winners. Expressing satisfaction over the performances of his players, coach Tejinder Kumar said, "It was a well contested match against Mizoram. Our prime object was to seal a berth in quarter-final and the boys did it well and they have now gained more confidence since it was their maiden entry into the quarter-final league in the Under-19 Nationals." Both teams have their chances to score which they muffed. In the 17 th minute, Chandigarh striker Rajinder had one against one opportunity which he frittered away. Captain Gagandeep too wasted a chance in the 25 th minute. Shenaj's two good shots were slightly out of range. In the first half, Mozoram had their best chance to score when they got a free kick on the top of the box. It was partially saved by the goalkeeper but the Mizoram forwards failed to capitalize on the rebound.
READ MORE - Chandigarh qualify for maiden quarter-finals appearance
Karnataka also advanced on the superior goal difference after they were held goalless by Meghalaya in crucial cluster I match. Chandigarh have 13 goals in favour (seven against Gujarat and six against Kerala) while Mizoram scored nine goals and conceded one in two matches. With a well-earned draw, Chandigarh emerged Cluster III leaders and qualified for Group B quarter-final league. Chandigarh will be joined by winners of clusters II, VI and VII in the quarter-final league. Chandigarh are pitted against winners of Cluster VI on June 18 and face Cluster II winners on June 20. Their last quarter-final league match is slated against cluster VII winners. Expressing satisfaction over the performances of his players, coach Tejinder Kumar said, "It was a well contested match against Mizoram. Our prime object was to seal a berth in quarter-final and the boys did it well and they have now gained more confidence since it was their maiden entry into the quarter-final league in the Under-19 Nationals." Both teams have their chances to score which they muffed. In the 17 th minute, Chandigarh striker Rajinder had one against one opportunity which he frittered away. Captain Gagandeep too wasted a chance in the 25 th minute. Shenaj's two good shots were slightly out of range. In the first half, Mozoram had their best chance to score when they got a free kick on the top of the box. It was partially saved by the goalkeeper but the Mizoram forwards failed to capitalize on the rebound.
Fans pick World Cup teams most likely to cheat
Faking injury and diving in the penalty area are two forms of cheating on the pitch that football fans hate most, according to a recent survey of 500 fans following teams scheduled to compete in the upcoming World Cup hosted in South Africa. The survey also found that Argentina and Italy are considered by fans to be the worst culprits for cheating in the international game.University of Sheffield researchers developed the survey in an effort to investigate fans' commitment to soccer, their attitudes towards a number of different types of behavior often considered as gamesmanship, and whether they would disapprove of these actions by players from their team or from the opposition. The survey is part of a wider study, which will record instances of cheating throughout the World Cup and determine the extent to which the tendency to cheat is a result of personal attitudes, team traits, or a consequence of a specific match situation.
Full story at Futurity.
Karnataka, Chandigarh qualify for National Junior football quarters
Kolkata, Jun 9 (PTI)
Reigning champions Karnataka and Chandigarh qualified for the quarterfinal league of the National Junior Football Championship for Dr B C Roy Trophy here on Wednesday.
Meghalaya held in-form Karnataka to a goalless draw at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan (YBK) in Salt Lake to see both the teams top cluster I with seven points.However, Karnataka edged out Meghalaya on a better goal difference to make the cut from cluster I.
In another cluster I match, Chhatisgarh rode on a solitary goal by Ashish Gota in the 60th minute to pip Rajasthan 1-0 at the East Bengal ground.From cluster III, Chandigarh qualified after edging out Mizoram on goal difference after both the teams had failed to find the net in their match at YBK.
In another match, Kerala registered their first victory, a 3-0 win over 10-man Gujarat at Mohun Bagan ground but it came little late as both the teams made an exit with Chandigarh making the cut from their cluster.
Ajmal Ali VT gave Kerala the lead in the 19th minute while Jude James made the scoreline 2-0 in the 33rd minute as Gujarat's forward lacked steam. Gujarat's misery compounded when their captain Rameez Shaikh was sent off in the injury time of first-half.
Kerala completed the rout with Akhil K Joseph scoring in the 66th minute.
The Under-19 age group tournament has 28 teams and they are divided into seven clusters in the preliminary round.The cluster champions and one best performing runners-up side would make the quarters.
The eight quarterfinalists will then be divided into two groups with two teams from each group progressing to the semifinal knock-out stage.The semifinals will be held on June 24 and 25 with the final on June 27.This is for the first time Kolkata is hosting the tournament. It was previously held only once in West Bengal when Midnapore hosted in the 1995-96 season.
READ MORE - Karnataka, Chandigarh qualify for National Junior football quarters
Reigning champions Karnataka and Chandigarh qualified for the quarterfinal league of the National Junior Football Championship for Dr B C Roy Trophy here on Wednesday.
Meghalaya held in-form Karnataka to a goalless draw at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan (YBK) in Salt Lake to see both the teams top cluster I with seven points.However, Karnataka edged out Meghalaya on a better goal difference to make the cut from cluster I.
In another cluster I match, Chhatisgarh rode on a solitary goal by Ashish Gota in the 60th minute to pip Rajasthan 1-0 at the East Bengal ground.From cluster III, Chandigarh qualified after edging out Mizoram on goal difference after both the teams had failed to find the net in their match at YBK.
In another match, Kerala registered their first victory, a 3-0 win over 10-man Gujarat at Mohun Bagan ground but it came little late as both the teams made an exit with Chandigarh making the cut from their cluster.
Ajmal Ali VT gave Kerala the lead in the 19th minute while Jude James made the scoreline 2-0 in the 33rd minute as Gujarat's forward lacked steam. Gujarat's misery compounded when their captain Rameez Shaikh was sent off in the injury time of first-half.
Kerala completed the rout with Akhil K Joseph scoring in the 66th minute.
The Under-19 age group tournament has 28 teams and they are divided into seven clusters in the preliminary round.The cluster champions and one best performing runners-up side would make the quarters.
The eight quarterfinalists will then be divided into two groups with two teams from each group progressing to the semifinal knock-out stage.The semifinals will be held on June 24 and 25 with the final on June 27.This is for the first time Kolkata is hosting the tournament. It was previously held only once in West Bengal when Midnapore hosted in the 1995-96 season.
Karnataka drubs Rajasthan
KOLKATA: Defending champion Karnataka swamped Rajasthan 13-0 here in a cluster I league encounter of the National junior football for the Dr. B.C. Roy Trophy here at the East Bengal ground on Monday.
Lokesh scored five goals while Prakash Majumdar struck thrice to figure prominently in Karnataka's goal riot. Sridhar (two goals), Rajkiran, S. Shankar and Mathen were the other scorers.
Karnataka, having scored 27 goals in two matches, needs just a draw against Meghalaya, which beat Chhattisgarh 4-1, in the concluding group league match to ensure a quarterfinal berth.
In cluster III, Mizoram beat Gujarat 5-1 to brighten its quarterfinal chances. In another match of the same cluster, Chandigarh thrashed Kerala 6-0 to remain close on the heels of Mizoram.
The results:
Cluster I: Karnataka 13 (Lokesh 5, Prakash Majumdar 3, Sridhar 2, Rajkiran, S. Shankar & Mathen) bt Rajasthan 0; Meghalaya 4 (Freddy Thaba, Shailong Hong, P. Nongkhash & S. Kharbyngar) bt Chhattisgarh 1 (Subham Sahu).
Cluster III: Mizoram 5 (Lalrammawia 2, Rochingpuia, Zoremtluanga, Lalmungchanga) bt Gujarat 1 (Khalifa Pervez); Chandigarh 6 (Gagandeep Singh 5 & Rajender Kumar) bt Kerala 0.
Cluster IV: Uttarakhand 5 (Balbir Kashyap 2, Rajesh Rawat, Satnam Bala & Manoj Manjhla) bt Jammu & Kashmir 0 .
READ MORE - Karnataka drubs Rajasthan
Lokesh scored five goals while Prakash Majumdar struck thrice to figure prominently in Karnataka's goal riot. Sridhar (two goals), Rajkiran, S. Shankar and Mathen were the other scorers.
Karnataka, having scored 27 goals in two matches, needs just a draw against Meghalaya, which beat Chhattisgarh 4-1, in the concluding group league match to ensure a quarterfinal berth.
In cluster III, Mizoram beat Gujarat 5-1 to brighten its quarterfinal chances. In another match of the same cluster, Chandigarh thrashed Kerala 6-0 to remain close on the heels of Mizoram.
The results:
Cluster I: Karnataka 13 (Lokesh 5, Prakash Majumdar 3, Sridhar 2, Rajkiran, S. Shankar & Mathen) bt Rajasthan 0; Meghalaya 4 (Freddy Thaba, Shailong Hong, P. Nongkhash & S. Kharbyngar) bt Chhattisgarh 1 (Subham Sahu).
Cluster III: Mizoram 5 (Lalrammawia 2, Rochingpuia, Zoremtluanga, Lalmungchanga) bt Gujarat 1 (Khalifa Pervez); Chandigarh 6 (Gagandeep Singh 5 & Rajender Kumar) bt Kerala 0.
Cluster IV: Uttarakhand 5 (Balbir Kashyap 2, Rajesh Rawat, Satnam Bala & Manoj Manjhla) bt Jammu & Kashmir 0 .
Manipur team leaves for Bengal
Imphal, June 9 : The Manipur team will be a force to reckon with but may face tough competition from Tamil Nadu in the 47th Junior National Football Championship Dr BC Roy Trophy in Calcutta, said coach T. Ibomcha Singh at Mapal Kangjeibung today.
Manipur are a part of Cluster VI featuring Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Ibomcha said the boys had 20 days of extensive training, besides the routine exercises. He added that the championship was being held in the Under-17 format this year.
Manipur play their first match against Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. The coach said he had great confidence in the boys.
Team: N. Ingo Singh, M. Romesh, M. Ashok, T. Bipin, M. Anilkumar, O. Surjit, Md Sohail, Y. Jacky, Y. Jetlee, K. Rocky, H. Dayananda, N. Sushil, Kh. Bishwajit, K. Kiran, Barjohn Thanglalawm, G. Golmei Kabui, Ksh. Satish and K. Naobi Singh. Manager: O. Guneshwar Meitei.
Santosh Trophy
Altogether 29 players will represent Manipur in the 64th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy in Calcutta.
Goalkeepers: S. Narakanta, S. Basanta, N. Thoi, L. Premkumar, Kh. Deben. Defenders: H. Devan, W. Ngouba, Th. Surjit, Y. Hemanta, T. Ajitkumar, K. Regan, L. Ratan, Suresh Rai, K. Priyokumar. Midfielders: L. Ibotomba, Ksh. Kanta, L. Nabachandra, L. Gouro, Md Sahidur Rehman, E. Abocha, Th. Itomba, L. Dewan, M. Bidyasagar, W. Denial. Forwards: I. Nilakumar, N. Jimmy, Kh. Naoton, Ksh. Malemnganba and L. Herojit. Coach: L. Nandakumar.
FIFA book: AMFA president A. Santoshkumar Singh released a 200-page compilation on the 2010 FIFA World Cup by Jadavchandra Haobam, a AIFF referee instructor, at the All Manipur Sports Association hall today.
The book features World Cup history and India’s default qualification in the 1950 Brazil World Cup.
Haryana suffer second successive defeat
CHANDIGARH: Haryana suffered their second successive defeat as they went down fighting to Orissa in Cluster II match of the 47th Junior National Under-19 Football Championship for Dr BC Roy Trophy at the Mohun Bagan Ground in Kolkata today.
Orissa registered their second victory running.
Uttrakhand continued their winning streak after beating Jharkhand by 3-1 at the East Bengal Ground. Uttrakhand had earlier beaten J and K by 5-0 in their opening encounter. Jharkhand have one win and one defeat to their credit from their two outings in cluster IV.
Jammu and Kashmir lost their second match as Arunachal Pradesh scored a 5-1 verdict in cluster IV outing at Salt Lake Stadium.
At the same venue, Maharashtra defeated Andhra Pradesh by 2-0 in cluster II programme. Maharashtra's registered their second successive win while AP have lost both their matches they have played so far.
Tomorrow, in their quest to clear their Cluster III and qualify for quarter-final league, Chandigarh will cross swords with Mizoram. Both teams have won both their matches. However, a draw will see Chandigarh through to quarter-final on the basis of better goal average. In two matches, Chandigarh have netted 13 goals and did not concede even a single goal. Mizoram have nine goals in favour and one against. Otherwise any team winning the match will qualify for quarter-final.
READ MORE - Haryana suffer second successive defeat
Orissa registered their second victory running.
Uttrakhand continued their winning streak after beating Jharkhand by 3-1 at the East Bengal Ground. Uttrakhand had earlier beaten J and K by 5-0 in their opening encounter. Jharkhand have one win and one defeat to their credit from their two outings in cluster IV.
Jammu and Kashmir lost their second match as Arunachal Pradesh scored a 5-1 verdict in cluster IV outing at Salt Lake Stadium.
At the same venue, Maharashtra defeated Andhra Pradesh by 2-0 in cluster II programme. Maharashtra's registered their second successive win while AP have lost both their matches they have played so far.
Tomorrow, in their quest to clear their Cluster III and qualify for quarter-final league, Chandigarh will cross swords with Mizoram. Both teams have won both their matches. However, a draw will see Chandigarh through to quarter-final on the basis of better goal average. In two matches, Chandigarh have netted 13 goals and did not concede even a single goal. Mizoram have nine goals in favour and one against. Otherwise any team winning the match will qualify for quarter-final.
Spellbound: Ashley Cole 'tamed by white witch' lapdancer Sarah Purnell...while Derek Hough is ready to move in with Cheryl
Special talents: Sarah Purnell, a mother of one, claims to be able to cure wayward men with her white witch skills
Mother-of-one Sarah Purnell, 23, says she can cast spells to tame her men and even claims to have reunited a friend with her ex-boyfriend simply by taking a lock of his hair.
Before jetting off to South Africa for the World Cup, things between Ashley, 29, and Miss Purnell had apparently been 'heating up', according to one of her friends.
They apparently arranged a special farewell before he left for the tournament, the 23-year-old from Birmingham visited him at his London flat last Tuesday, his neighbours reported.
Then, as she left at approximately 2am, he is alleged to have shouted after her, 'See you later sexy bum!'
As of yet it is unclear whether she has told Ashley of her secret life as a white witch, a female who casts good spells, or whether she used her 'powers' to snare the footballer.
Sarah, from Halesowen, West Midlands, claimed she once plucked a hair from the head of a friend's ex-boyfriend to create a magic potion to reunite them.
In a January interview she explained: 'Over the years, I assisted my friends in fi nding love.
'She’d split with her man a few months ago but still loved him and was desperate to get him back.
'We’d followed him and I’d gone into a bar to steal his hair.
'Back at the house, the girls sat in a circle as I mixed up his locks with rose petals and peppermint essence. The spell was cast.
Big earner: Sarah Purnell can pick up around £600 a night lapdancing at the Spearmint Rhino club
'I might not look like a witch – I don’t have a black cat, big nose or warts. And I drive a car instead of using a broomstick.'
Sarah, who used to earn £600 a night as a lapdancer, explained how she ground the hair and ingredients into a paste and after casting her spell her friend got back together with the ex.
Sarah added: 'I'd always been interested in magic and spells. Growing up, I was enthralled by the good witches in fairytales and, when older, I bought spell books, learned chants.
'But I can be found winding round another pole sometimes. I work part-time in a lap-dancing club.'
No inhibitions: Sarah Purnell met Cole in a decadent nightclub in Notting Hill when she caught his eye in a lurid outfit
And Purnell's friend says she is 'absolutely over he moon' about her romance with the footballer.
The friend is alleged to have told the News of The World: 'She spent the first night at his and it was all very romantic. Ashley was a perfect gentleman and treated her like a princess.
They added: 'She hasn't got a bad word to say about him and has defended him when people have tried to have a go about Cheryl or the end of his marriage.'
Purnell met Cole in May at Swanky Sundays - a decandent fancy-dress models party held at the Supper Club in Notting Hill, west London.
Wearing a skin-tight pink and black dress, the dancer - who has earned up to £600 a night working in London's Spearmint Rhino - caught Ashley's eye.
But initially, Purnell was dismissive of him and the group of Chelsea reserves he was partying with.
'Sarah is not the type to get star-struck and when her mate first pointed out Ashley Cole being there she hardly seemed to care at all,' her friend said.
Incidentally, the hedonistic club night was same place where Ashley was alleged to have chatted up a pretty blonde in the toilets.
Living the dream: England star Ashley Cole shares a joke with Rio Ferdinand in training before the captain became injured last week
In May it was claimed that he tried it on with Lucy Phillips in a toilet cubicle.
She told The Mirror: 'I was walking past the guys’ toilets when I saw a big group of blokes gathered round. I looked in and saw Ashley Cole holding court, and I went in.'
Lucy claimed that Cole tried to kiss her but she 'laughed it off'and didn't even lock lips with the star.
Not to be deterred, Lucy alleged that Ashley gave it one more shot later in the evening.
She said: 'A few minutes after I saw him in the toilets I was with my best friend and we walked past Ashley and his mates.
'They saw us and called us over. I sat on the arm of Ashley’s chair and we chatted. After about 10 minutes we decided to leave and enjoy the rest of our night.'
She added: 'I definitely didn’t kiss him – I would remember if I had. I’m not like that at all.'
The ex-wife: Cheryl Cole on stage yesterdazay during the Capital FM Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium
The friend says Sarah was cool with Ashley at first and that it was he who had to do the running, with the former lapdancer unimpressed by his wealth.
Since meeting, Ashley has been quite open about the reason behind his attraction - the dancer looks like his ex-wife.
'He even told her she looks the spitting image of Cheryl but Sarah is definitely her own person,' the friend said. 'She's no wannabe.'
According to her Twitter page, she is frequently compared to the Girls Aloud star.
And Ashley is not the only celebrity she has become friends with. She was also tweeting Calum Best in March saying: 'Hurry home you!!!xx'
However, in the end she did not attend the trials, despite being an aspiring singer.
As well as dancing, Purnell has modelled for glossy magazines and was interviewed by Love It! magazine earlier this year about casting love spells.
The dancer describes herself as 'part white witch' and said: 'Whether I’m in my witchy role or dancing sexily, I’m a real charmer.'
Perhaps she has cast a spell over Ashley - because according to her friend, the footballer is smitten.
'Ever since the first night Ashley's been asking her to visit him but she lives a three-hour drive away and is determined to keep him at a distance while they find out more about each other.
'It's hard because he's going to be away for quite a while.
'Sarah knows how much the World Cup means to Ashley and would never do anything to jeopardise his chances of playing a starring role for England in South Africa.'
According to the friend, he wants to whisk her away somewhere special when he returns from South Africa.
'They've mentioned going away on a romantic holiday to get out of the spotlight because Ashley has had a really hard year.
'He is facing the prospect of this divorce and Sarah knows he is still hurting about that.'
If Purnell is being cautious, perhaps dancer Derek Hough should follow her lead.
But according to his stepfather Aaron Nelson he is 'head over heels in love' with 26-year-old Cheryl.
The close friend of the star has been a dependable presence throughout her difficult split with Ashley.
And now divorce proceedings have began, he is apparently desperate to be the new man in Cheryl's life
Nelson claimed in the Sunday Mirror: 'For Derek, this is true love. There is no doubt about it He is totally in love with her.
'And it's easy to see why, she's one hell of a girl. Very talented and incredibly beautiful.'
'She is the girl of his dreams and he is desperate to be with her. He would follow her to the ends of the earth.'
'He wants to be in a stable relationship. And I think he might have finally found the right girl.'
Chandigarh start with a bang in Dr Roy Trophy
CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh began their campaign on a whirlwind fashion by handing out a
7-0 drubbing to Gujarat in their opening Cluster III encounter in the 47th Dr B C Roy Under-19 Trophy Football Tournament at the Mohun Bagan ground in Kolkata on Saturday.
Virtually a state-run academy -- Chandigarh Football Academy -- team, Chandigarh completely enjoyed territorial supremacy throughout the match. CFA trainee Rajinder truned out a brilliant performance by netting three times. Other Chandigarh Football Academy trainees Ramanjot Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Sehnaj Singh and Akashdeep contributed one goal each.
Trained by former India captain Tejinder Kumar, a senior football coach of the Chandigarh Sports Department, Chandigarh will tomorrow face Kerala and on June 9 they will meet Mizoram.
In the samd clubster Mizoram defeated Kerala by 4-0.
At the Mohun Bagan ground, Maharashtra secured full points by prevailing over plucky Haryana by 2-1 in Cluster II fixture. In the same cluster, Orissa beat Andhra Pradesh by 4-0.
At the Salt Lake Stadium, Jharkhand beat Arunachal Pradesh by 4-2.
READ MORE - Chandigarh start with a bang in Dr Roy Trophy
7-0 drubbing to Gujarat in their opening Cluster III encounter in the 47th Dr B C Roy Under-19 Trophy Football Tournament at the Mohun Bagan ground in Kolkata on Saturday.
Virtually a state-run academy -- Chandigarh Football Academy -- team, Chandigarh completely enjoyed territorial supremacy throughout the match. CFA trainee Rajinder truned out a brilliant performance by netting three times. Other Chandigarh Football Academy trainees Ramanjot Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Sehnaj Singh and Akashdeep contributed one goal each.
Trained by former India captain Tejinder Kumar, a senior football coach of the Chandigarh Sports Department, Chandigarh will tomorrow face Kerala and on June 9 they will meet Mizoram.
In the samd clubster Mizoram defeated Kerala by 4-0.
At the Mohun Bagan ground, Maharashtra secured full points by prevailing over plucky Haryana by 2-1 in Cluster II fixture. In the same cluster, Orissa beat Andhra Pradesh by 4-0.
At the Salt Lake Stadium, Jharkhand beat Arunachal Pradesh by 4-2.
The Global Game: How Soccer Took Over the World
All the news, analysis, photos, videos and reports on South Africa's festival of football: the 2010 World Cup
The Global Game
Children play football on the streets in Douala, Cameroon May 22, 2010.
Ed Ou / Reportage by Getty Images for TIME
Italy, the reigning world champion by dint of its victory in the 2006 World Cup, takes soccer deadly seriously. The nation abounds with legendary clubs owned by extravagantly rich magnates who have spent the last 50 years luring the world's finest players with offers they cannot refuse. So where is today's highest-paid player in Italy from? Not from Brazil or Argentina, the planet's most prolific footballing factories; nor from France, Germany or Spain. Neither, for that matter, is he Italian. The player with the highest salary in Italy is a Cameroonian called Samuel Eto'o, the spearhead of an African contingent that has taken Europe's soccer citadel by storm.
Unlike many in the money-mad soccer world, or in banking, Eto'o has earned every penny. Three times African player of the year, Eto'o goes into the first World Cup on African soil as captain, and uncrowned king, of Cameroon, armed with a statistic that he alone owns: Eto'o is the first player ever to have won the treble of National League, National Cup and European Champions League — soccer's royal flush — with two different teams. And he has done it (the odds have to be mightily long on this happening again anytime soon) in successive seasons, the first with Barcelona and the second, in May, with Inter Milan.
Now Eto'o will get a chance to perform on the biggest stage the world has ever seen. Soccer is the great secular religion. Some 30% of the world's people declare themselves Christian; 20%, Muslim. But people's devotion to soccer transcends all creeds, races, tongues. The World Cup in South Africa will generate more intense planetary babble — will be dissected, tweeted, Facebooked, Googled, SMSed and scrutinized by billions on 400 TV channels in 208 countries — than any other event in human history. The 2006 World Cup in Germany had a total cumulative TV audience of more than 26 billion, according to official FIFA figures. The big-smiling, boyish Eto'o, whose country brought African soccer to the world's attention when it reached the quarterfinals of the 1990 Cup, will loom large in the conversation. How he got there — how he managed his ascent to the pantheon of humanity's most popular divinities alongside other African players such as Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and Michael Essien of Ghana — is an unbeatable tale of rags to riches. It's little wonder that during the hour we spoke recently, Eto'o used the word dream 14 times. As in, "My whole life is a dream, a dream come true, a dream I'll only wake up from the day I stop playing football."
The Game You Can Play Anywhere
How did the World Cup become the species' favorite pastime? Why do more people spend more time watching or playing soccer than they do engaging in any other social activity, with the possible exception of eating and drinking? Why are those who play it best venerated for their skill and adopted as warriors, or armies, in tribal causes — be they national or local? Here's one reason: the game is just so accessible. You can play anywhere: on grass; on cement; on dusty, stony ground; or even (as pained mothers the world over will attest) inside the house. The basic rules are simple, and you don't need any kit or equipment beyond a round — or even roundish — object of not necessarily fixed size. It can come manufactured (a tennis ball often does the job) or may be fashioned out of animal bladders, stones, socks or plastic bags.
Soccer is uniquely democratic among team sports. It doesn't matter whether you are tall or short, whether you are a skinny African kid or a large Dutchman, whether you are black or white or brown. Take a look at any successful team: short of the conspicuously overweight, everybody gets a look in. The best player in the world, Argentina's Lionel Messi, is barely 5 ft. 7 in. (174 cm), and he made it to that height only after jabbing himself daily in the thigh with growth-hormone medication during his early adolescence.
"If there is a god in soccer today, it is Messi," says Eto'o, who played alongside the Argentine star at Barcelona and, like him, offers convincing proof of the game's democratic accessibility. We spoke at the garden of the Bulgari Hotel, a black-and-white marble construction set in a stately precinct of Milan, where a suite of the type in which he has lived for most of the past year costs more for one night than the average annual income in Cameroon. Eto'o, 29, was raised in the seaside city of Douala, where he lived with his parents and five brothers and sisters in what he describes as "very, very humble" conditions. Although, he is quick to say, many neighbors had it worse. "I went to primary school, and while we couldn't choose our food, we did eat." The cramped home, where the children slept several to a bed, had one enviable mark of distinction: "The rainwater did not come in through the ceiling."
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Two Chandigarh Football Academy trainees among 24 AIFF probables
Balbir Singh
Wednesday, 02 June 2010
Chandigarh Football Academy midfielder Bikramjit Singh and defender Deepak Devrani are trainees of former India captain Tejinder Kumar who is a senior coach in the Chandigarh Sports Department.
According to a communication received here from AIFF general secretary Alberto Colaco, among the probables are three from Punjab. Two of them – Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Jagroop Singh -- are goalkeepers Inderpreet is defender.
Probables: Defenders: Vishal Kumar Ravinder Kumar (Karnataka), Abhishek Das (West Bengal), Inderpreet Singh (Punjab), Deepak Devrani (Chandigarh), Raju Eknath Gaikwad (WIFA), Souvik Ghosh (West Bengal), Lalrozama Fanai (Mizoram), Prathmesh Premnath Maulingkar (Goa).
Midfielders: Akshay Vimal Kumar Mall (Gujarat), Subodh Kumar (Jharkhand), O Milan Singh (Jharkhand), Shilton D’Silva (WIFA), Jewel Raja Sheikh (IFA), Bikramjit Singh (Chandigarh), Lalrindika Ralte (Mizoram), Tirthankar Sarkar (West Bengal), Kh Jibon Singh (Manipur).
Forwards: Mandeep (Haryana), Jagtar Singh (Punjab), Malsawmfela (Mizoram).
Goalkeepers: Ravi Kumar (TFA), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Punjab) and Jagroop Singh (Punjab).
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