Spanish giant Real Madrid showed it’s cheapness & mean mentality to the organizers of the Copa-Del-Ray tournament

Spanish giant Real Madrid showed it’s cheapness & mean mentality to the organizers of the Copa-Del-Ray tournament. The current Real president Florentino Pérez denied the organiser committee of Copa-Del-Ray to provide their stadium Santiago Bernabéu for the final of the tournament. The arch rival of Real Madrid, Barelona will play in the final of the tournament against Athletic Bilbao & the Real officials can’t swallow that Barca will lift the trophy in their homeground. It seems they can’t swallow the defeat yet against their arch-rival Barca in the 1st leg of Copa-Del-Ray semifinal in Santiago Bernabéu. Actually it seems the Real officials are very strict on that matter that they don’t let Barca play in their homeground Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid.
Is it the true way to show their rivallary ?? It’s complete beyond the spirit of the game.

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UEFA Europa League

Lastnight both the teams from Manchester clinched a clear win against their opponents in UEFA Europa League. Manchester United won their away match in a clean 2 goals margin against the Dutch team AFC Ajax. In the other hand Manchester City also won their away match in Estádio do Dragã against the Portugesse side FC porto in a 2-1 margin. The Portugesse side took the lead in the 1st half, but the visitors equalized form a suicide goal scored by a Defender of the homeside, they visitors took the led in the 82th minute, City won the match in 2-1 margin.
Finally Thierry Henry left Arsenal with a bitter experience in his last match, this is the Arsenal’s worst loose ever in UEFA champions league. Gunners were nowhere in the match against Milan. It looked like they were suffering form inferiority complex against their superior competitor. So many questions have been arisen regarding the strategy of the Gunner’s coach Arsene Wenger, now it’s time to see if the gunners can produce a better performance in return leg or not. Whatever Thierry Henry left for the Major League in USA he will represent the New York Red Bulls.

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UEFA champions league Pre-quarter finals first leg.

AC Milan thrashed the mighty Arsenal in a decent margin of 4-0in their home match of the 1^st leg of the UEFA champions league at San-Siro in Milan, Italy .It was the last match for the Arsenal star Thierry Henry for his side but unfortunately it couldn’t be a fairytale finish for him rather it would remain a nightmare for Thierry Henry before joining his new club New York Red Bulls. 7 times European Champion AC Milan dominated the entire match in front of their home crowd, they utilized their entire home advantage from the beginning minutes of the game.

Kevin Prince Boetang opened the account for Milan with a magnificant volley from the right side of the penalty box in just 15^th minutes of the game, Robinho doubled the lead for the homeside in 38^th minute with a brilliant header by a accurate lob form Zatan Ibrahimovic. Robinho scored the 2^nd & the 3^rd for his side with a sizzling sitter from the top of the box in just 49^th minutes of the game. It looked the homeside was desperate to increase their margin once again for reaching the quarters of the tournament, even they couldn’t reach in the quarter since 2007. But for the visitors Arsene Wenger brought Thierry Henry in the field in the 2^nd half of the game, he tried a lot to decrease the margin, he was looking really dangerous in his last match but Van-Persie spoilted all those opportunities created by Henry. The entire Brisitsh side looked they are here to succumb themselves against the Italians, just an example the Milan goalkeeper Abiatti saved his first ball in the 65^th minute of the game. Homeside started to penetrate more for increasing the margin, they got the fruit in the 78^th minute, the Swedish star Zatan Ibrahimovic fouled inside the penalty box by Johan Djoru of Arsenal, referee blew his whistle & indicated towards the spot, Zadtan didn’t make any mistake to convert it in a goal & gave his side a 4-0 margin. Robhinho replaced by Alexandro Pato in the 84^th minute of the game, Pato also got a chance in the dying moments of the game but he targeted the Arsenal goalkeeper only .

In an another match of the champions league Russian side Zenith beat the Portugesse side Benfica in a 3-2 margin.

Tonight Manchester United will take on the Dutch side AIF Ajax in the EUROPA LEAGUE.

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Barca dominated Bayern Leverkusen

In the 1st leg of the pre-quarter final of UEFA champions league the home ground of the German team Bayern Leverkusen Barca dominated the entire match from the beginning, it looks the visitors are well determined for the win only. In comparison to Barca Bayern Leverkusen is really a minnows. But in their home ground they tried to put a desperate fight against the much superior side. The Chilie international Alexis Sanchez gave the lead to the visitors in 41st minute of the game. In the beginning minutes of the 2nd half the home team equalized & returned back stormly into the game. But again in the 55th minute Barca took the lead through Alexis Sanchez, Lionel Messi secured the victoy for the visitors by scoring another goal in the 88th minute of the match. The final result is 3-1 in Barca’s fore. The second leg of that match would be played in Barca’s home ground Nu-Camp on 7th March.
There is another big clash of UEFA champions league pre-quarter final tonight, where AC Milan will take on Arsenal in their home ground San-Siro in the first leg. This could be the Theory Henry’s last appearance for Arsenal.
Carlos Tevez finally returned from Argentina, Man City is in in the championship fight in EPL now, so it will give them a boost, it looks like all the problems between the Manchester City coach Roberto Manchini & Carlos Tevez are finally ressolved.
Good news for Indian Football our FIFA ranking is developed 4 steps, now we became 154 from our last ranking 158. Indian team started for Dubai today for the training camp of AFC Challengers, which would be played in Kathmandu, Nepal. Savio Medera the Indian coach is hoping the best for that tournament, in a press meet he told that training in Dubai will help Indian team to perform better in the upcoming tournament.
Churchill Brothers is still hoping for the best in I-League, they appointed Subhas Bowmik as a technical director & Carlos Roberto Perrera as a coach in the place of Manuel Gomes.

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African Nations Cup Final

Maiden victory for Zambia against a really hardcore opponent Ivory-Coast in the African Nations cup final in 8-7 in penalty shootout following a goalless draw in 120 minutes at Friendship Stadium in Libreville, Gabon. This is 7th time only African Nations cup final was decided through penalty shoot-out. From the beginning of the tournament Ivory Coast was the real hot favourites in the another hand Zambians were the underdogs.Throughout the entire match the African icon Didider Drogba looked a fair bit of inactive, even he missed a penalty in the 70th minute of the game too which could have been a decider in fore of Ivory Coast & Drogba could have been the hero also. It looked like the ghost of 2006 African Nations cup final against Egypt is still following Drogba, where Drogba did the same & Egypt became the champion. Two of the other EPL players Kolo Tore & Gervinho missed kicks in the shootout although Drogba converted his kick in shootout. Stoppila Sunzu of Zambia scored the decissive penalty after a long 18th kicks in shootout.
It looks like the problems regarding Premiere League Soccer are ressolved. In an emergency meeting in New Delhi AIFF gave the approval to IFA, it ended the uncertainty over the kick-off of this tournament in West Bengal.
Tonight defending champion Barcelona is going to take German side Bayern Leverkusen in pre-quarter final of UEFA champions league in Leverkusen. That is the testing time for Bara now, they are almost out of the La-Liga championship, their arch-rival Real Madrid almost grabbed the La-Liga crown. Apart from that they lost in their last La-Liga match against Osasuna in Madrid in the other hand Real Madrid won their match against Real Down Levante convincingly. Its time to see what can Indian origin coach Robin Dutt do against superior side Barcelona in UEFA Champions league pre-quarter.
NO PLACE FOR OLD KAKA...The Brazil squad for their friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina has been announced leaving Kaka out of the list... Ronaldinho has been included; Santos duo Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso were also named--but no mention of Kaka

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There were 4 matches of I-League 20th round today.

There were 4 matches of I-League 20th round today. Defending champion Dempo beat 10 men Pailan Arrows at Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata in 2-0 margin. Naveen Kumar the Pailan goalkeeper got a marching order in the first half. Ranti Martins for Dempo scored both the goals in the 54th & 83rd minute of the match. Dempo reached in the top place of the I-league table with 43 points in 20 matches.
In another match of I-league Air India lost to Chirag kerala in Pune in 1-3 margin. Sandesh Gadkari has given the lead to Air India in just 5 minutes of the game but they couldn’t hold it in their home ground. Charles Dsizah of Chirag Kearla equalized from a penalty in 31st minute. Sukhwinder Singh put Chirag in the lead in the 65th minute & David Sunday scored the third goal for Chirag in the 87th minute. Air India remain in 27 points in 20 matches.
In Goan Derby of the I-League today Salgaocar SC beat Sporting Clube de Goa in 2- 1 margin in Margau. Beevan De Mello of Salgaocar scored the first goal in 24th minute of the game, Tomba singh doubled the lead in 64th minute. Kalu Ogba scored the only goal for Sporting Club in 66th minute. Salgaicar reached in 36 points in 20 matches & they obtained the 3rd place in I-League table in the another hand Sporting Club remain in 30 points in 20 matches.
In another match in Pune Pune F.C beat Prayag United of Kolkata in 2-1 margin. Yusuf Yakubu put Pyarag in the lead in the 41st minute. Keita Mandjou makes it 1all in the 47th minute of the game, Karma Teswang scored the decider for Pune FC in the 72nd minute of the game. Pune F.C reached in a very good position in I-Leage table with 34 points in 20 matches whether Prayag United reamin 32 points in 20 matches.
There is a long gap for I-League participant teams now, because the matches of 21st round of I-League will start from 25th March, Hope all teams will re-schedule themselves on that time.

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Odafa Okolie became the savour for Mohun Bagan once again.

Mixed day for Kolkata giants in 20th round of I-League today. Mohun Bagan won their home match in 2-1 margin against Mumbai F.C at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata, East Bengal lost their away match in 1-2 margin against Shillong Lajong F.C at the JN Stadium in Imphal. Churchill Brothers made an 1 all draw against HAL at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda in their 19th round encounter.
In Kolkata Mumbai F.C took the lead against superior Mohun Bagan in 23rd minute only, in 73rd minute of the match Odafa Okoli of Mohun Bagan equalized from a penalty & in 77 minute Odafa scored the decider of the match once again. Mohun Bagan secured the 2nd position in I-League table with 37 points in 20 matches.
In Imphal East Bengal took the lead against Shillong Lajong F.C through Tolgay Ozbe in the 4th minute of the game, Lajong F.C equalized in 12th minute & scored the decider in 16th minute. East Bengal couldn’t improve themselves in the point table, they remain 35 points after 20 matches.
In Fatorda HAL took the lead very early but they couldn’t hold it till the end, Churchill Brothers equalized in the dying moments of the game & secured 1 point, now Churchill Brothers reached in 4th position with 34points in 19 matches.

In English Premier League Manchester United won their home match against Liverpool in 2-1 margin in Old Trafford, Rooney scored twice for Manchester, Luis Suarez scored the only goal for Liverpool. Manchester remain in the top of the EPL.

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All about Football

Fabio Capolo resigned as a coach, he couldn't consider d decission of removing John Terry from the captaincy of England national team. Harry Rednap might take the responsibility of British Football team now.

Didier Drogba's Ivory Coast will take on Zambia in African Nations cup final tomorrow.

I-League 19th round, both the Kolkata giants have match tomorrow, Mohun Bagan will take on Mumbai F.C in Kolkata, East Bengal will take on Shillong Lajong FC in Shillong. Acid test for Mohun Bagan technical director Subrata Bhattacharya this time, he is not getting 3 of his key players due to injury in the other hand East Bengal have to play in high altitude, can they adopt with that situation or not, what would be the strategy of East Bengal coach Morgan tomorrrow ??

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Match Report of Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal I-League 19th round clash.

Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal the Kolkata giants & eternal & universal arch-rival took each other in the 19th round of the I-league in Salt Lake stadium, Kolkata. It is not all about a game for the peoples of Kolkata & West Bengal, its’s all about the feelings, centiments of all the Bengali peoples, even their heart beats with the result of that particular match. This time stadium might not be fullhosue but almost 75 thousansd peoples were in the ground to eyewitness the result of their favourite team. It was the battle between the tactics of Morgan & Subrata Bhattacharya, in last two meetings of this season Mohun Bagan snatched the win then it was East Bengal’s turn to do something special.
In first half both the teams started to play cautiously rather attacking they were trying to measure each other’s strength. Few attacks came in between but those attacks are not well committed for the goal. After 30 minutes both the team realized they need the goal ultimately for winning the game & keeping the hope of championship alive, they started to increase the pace of the game, Sunil Chhetri missed a sitter for Mohun Bagan just from the top of the 18 yard box, just after that incident Robin Singh of East Bengal scored the first goal of the game against the complete run of the play, the goal was scored in a clear offside but unfortunately the assistant referee Saji Courian couldn’t notice that, East Bengal took the lead just in the 35 minutes of the game, Mohun Bagan also got a few chances after that but they couldn’t converted those into goal.
From the beginning of the second half Mohun Bagan started in very heavy pace & regarding that they got the fruit just after two minutes of the half time, Odafa Okolie the black panther of Mohun Bagan took a sitter from the top of the 18 yard box, East Bengal defence didn’t have any answer for that, whatever Mohun Bagan equalized the game just in the 47th minute of the game. Just after that goal the most reliable general of the Mohun Bagan team Jose Ramirez Barreto appeared in the ground in the place of Daniel Zeleni, the equalizer & the appearance of Jose Ramirez Barreto inspired Mohun Bagan team & supporters a lot, then Mohun Bagan took the entire control of the midfield started to thrash in East Bengal defence. Lots of attacks were stormed into East Bengal defence then but the entire attacks of Green & Maroon brigrade were defended by the most dependable Opara of Red & Gold brigrade. Opara was like a reliable piller in East Bengal defence & it was very hard to penetrate against him, single handedly he was giving security in the Red & Gold fort.
East Bengal also got few chances in counter attack after 60 minutes, but all those attacks became in-vain in front of the the banyan tree in Green & Maroon defence Kingshug Debnath, Anwar Ali also supported Kingshuk a lot. In between Jose Ramirez Barreto got injured once again & had to leave the ground permanently, Red & Gold brigade got another lifeline from that, they got another goal in 76th minutes of the game with the combination of Tolgay Ozbe & Paine but this time assistant referee rejected that goal regarding a clear offside. Just after that incident Hudson Lima of Green & Maroon brigade got injured & had to leave the ground permanently, Mohun Bagan took all the 3 changes before so they didn’t have any replacement left, they had to play with 10 men only in the last few minutes of the game, it forced them to defend rather attacking more. Although they got few chances even in the dying moments of the game Sunil Chhetri got an open net, he gifted that ball into the hand of the East Bengal goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh. In the other hand East Bengal also got few positive chances through some good counter attacks, they became in-vain to convert them into goal.
The match finished in 1 all draw, Mohun Bagan remain unbeaten this season against their arch-rival & East Bengal could retain their prestige also, atleast that could be a consolation for them that they couldn’t lost against their arch-rival this time. Both the teams got 1 point each from that match.
Today Dempo lost to Pune FC, Arata Izumi of Pune FC scored the decider in 19th minute of the match, it will help a lot to the Kolkata giants to establish their place in I-league once again. Also I-League got open & attractive ahead.

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Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal I-League 2nd leg derby

It’s shivering cold in Kolkata right now but the entire heat wave is coming from the upcoming I-League derby of 4th February, in one word it can be described as an Indian version of EL-CLASSICO. Two Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan & East Bengal are ready to take each other in the last time of this season. Entire Kolkata even entire families are divided into two parts regarding this derby. Green & Maroon & Red & Gold flags are started to wave everywhere in the streets of Kolkata, arguments going everywhere who is going to win seasons last derby ??
In last two meetings of this season Mohun Bagan became the winner , this time East Bengal is desperately ready to win that match, rather gaining top spot in the I-league table it’s also an eternal prestige fight for the Bengalis too. It’s now time to see that if Mohun Bagan can retain their all win record in Kolkata derby this season or not ??? Overall it’s a pressure cooker situation for Morgan & co they have lost their last match miraculously against Prayag United in the other hand Subrata Bhattacharjee & co in a little bit of relaxed mood after all they got 3 points from their last away match against Chirag Kerala.
It seems Green & Maroon brigrade will go positive & allout from the beginning, they will put their entire effort to snatch 3 points, they will start in 4-4-2 combination, Odafa & Sunil would be in the upfront & Barreto will play as a schemer, the entire attacks would be organized from Hudson Lima & Barreto in the midfield, it’s time to see if East Bengal have enough potential to defend against such kind of attack or not ?? Most probably East Bengal will start with a lone striker Tolgay in the upfront, Paine will play as a schemer, Mehtab will lead in the midfield, Red & Gold brigade might start with 4-3-2-1 formation, Opara will lead in the central defence.
In last two derbies we saw that killer strategy of Mohun Bagan Technical Director Subrata Bhatterjee finished East Bengal, this time East Bengal coach is die-heart to prove him. The real thing is nobody cares in Kolkata what you did throughout the entire season if you couldn’t win a derby atleast. Rather wining a major tournament win in a derby worths a lot in Kolkata.
Even result will also matter a lot in I-league table, if East Bengal win they will reach in 37 & if Mohun Bagan they will in 36. It would be a few personal battles between Odafa & Tolgay, Barreto & Paine etc. Everybody will try to prove their superiority in that match. For all those live actions we have to keep our eyes on 4th February 2-00pm IST from Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.

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