Novel Ways Of Promotion - Music

The Governor’s Gold Cup has kicked-off and the Sikkim FA has come out with novel ways to attract the crowds by having a theme song for the tournament which is very youthful and appealing. This is certainly a lesson for the people who run the I-League. Are you there?

The north-eastern region is known for its love for football and rock music. Every second fellow on the street would have played football and would be talking of Metallica and Jimi Hendrix.

The media manager for the Governor’s Gold Cup Mr.Shyam Pradhan had this in mind when he asked his sons – Girish and Yogesh to come up with a song.

“I asked Yogesh that can we do something and he composed the music instantly. Girish wrote the lyrics and lent his voice to the song. It was all done in a couple of days,” informs Mr.Pradhan.

The song was released way back in 2003-04 season when the Governor’s Gold Cup returned to the Paljor Stadium which underwent renovation for four years.

Since then, football fans in Sikkim have been humming this song at the stadiums as it has been advertised aggressively on the local TV and radio channels.

“The lyrics are Football my name, football my game, football my pride, football my passion…,” said Yogesh.

And what got the two brothers to come out with this song?

“We are musicians and this was part of our metal band Anarchy,” adds Yogesh, who is an audio engineering student and now is part of another band called ‘Carnage’.

Does the I-League have a song of its own? Not that I have heard of…

Source:Goal.com

Governor's Gold Cup: Striker vs Keeper Once Again!

Chima Okorie will face up to old adversary Rajiv Kumar as both men try to guide their respective sides into the semi finals of the Governor's Gold Cup...

Former bitter adversaries (on the field), Cheema Okeri and Rajiv Kumar will be plotting each other once more as their respective teams New Delhi Heroes and Titanium (Kerala) clash on Monday at Paljor Stadium here for a semifinal berth in the 30th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament.

Cheema is coaching New Delhi Heroes while Kumar is coaching the Kerala side. Speaking to reporters, Kumar recollected how he and Cheema always used to play against each other right from the university level. "I was the goalkeeper for my university and club, Titanium while Cheema used to play against me from Mohan Bagan. We used to compete against each other as players and now we are playing each other as coaches. We have a lot of respect for each other", said Kumar.

Commenting on his team, the Titanium coach said that it's a basically a young side. The odds are pitted against the Kerala side as it is their first match in the tournament. "The climatic conditions here in Sikkim are completely different from Kerala and also it our first match", Kumar said.

Meanwhile, New Delhi Heroes coach Cheema was his usual cool self when asked to comment on tomorrow's game against Titanium. "There are no special preparations whatsoever and we are going to be our normal self for the match against Titanium", he said.

However, Cheema added that his team is very unfamiliar with the Kerala side. "I have no clue what their team looks like. But If we play 30 percent better than our last game, I think we will win. We could not play better football in our previous game as it was our first match here in totally different conditions", Cheema said.

Source:Goal.com

Governor's Gold Cup: Tata Thrash DKKKS Bangladesh

Tata Football Academy entered the semi finals of the Governor's Gold Cup in style, thrashing Bangladesh Club DKKKS 4-0...

In a thumping win, Tata Football Academy (TFA) thrashed a listless Bangladesh club, 4-0 in today's match to storm into the semis of the 30th All India Governor's Gold Cup being played here at Paljor Stadium.

Goals from Jagtar Singh, Gurjindar Kumar, Niroshan Mani and Robin Singh completed the rout. TFA completely dominated the game from the word go and scored early in the 19th minute against DKKKS, the Bangladesh club due to the misadventure on the part of its goalkeeper, Aminur Islam.

The Bangladesh side goalkeeper rushed well outside his box to clear a long ball but was beaten to it by TFA player Jaganath Saha who passed the ball to his striker Jagtar Singh. Even then the goal could have been prevented as Singh's weak shot had been covered by the Bangladesh defender Narayan Paul. However, Paul managed to kick only air when he tried to stop the ball which rolled into the net. The game ended at 1-0 at the interval.

After the break, TFA players continued from where they left the match in the first half and sprayed a flurry of attempts in the Bangladesh goal. They were rewarded in the 66th minute with a fine shot by Gurjindar Singh. Any distant attempts of Bangladesh club coming back to the game was killed in the 74th minute when TFA substitute Nirosh Mani slammed home the third goal on a rebound.

Robin Singh completed the rout when playmaker Subodh Kumar backheeled the ball into his path to poke home the fourth goal of the match for TFA.

With this win, TFA became the second team to clinch a berth in the last 4 along with Army XI.

Source:Goal.com

Governor's Gold Cup: Armymen March On To Semis

Army XI beat the Jammu & Kashmir Bank side today at the Paljor Stadium, in a display that'll send a message to other tournament contenders...

In a display of free flowing and fast football, Army XI today brushed past Jammu and Kashmir Bank by 1-0 to storm into the semis of the 30th All India Governor’s Gold football tournament in a match played here at Paljor Stadium.

The victory margin would have been much higher had the armymen capitalized on several opportunities throughout the match. Finally when the game looked to be heading towards extra time, midfielder Thiru blasted a loose ball into the J&K Bank’s net in the 81st minute. The ball had fallen favourably into his stride during a goal mouth melee.

Earlier, Army XI had a goal disallowed in the first half for offside. The army team also saw a shot hit the bar in the 50th minute of the game. Much fitter and skillful, Army XI dominated the game from the word go and created heavy pressure for J&K Bank.

A goal was always in the cards as the Army XI moved ahead with purpose and vision, and only the finishing touches were missing. Credit also goes to J&K Bank defense especially its Nigerian stopper Martins Kolewole for preventing a blood bath.

Army XI now awaits the winners of the third quarterfinal match between Titanium (Kerela) and New Delhi Heroes in the semifinals.

Source:Goal.com

Governor's Gold Cup: Monks Are Footy Mad!

The Governor's Gold Cup is a mega event in Sikkim to say the least, and attracts people from all walks of life to the ground. Strangely, monasteries in the region are mysteriously less crowded during matchdays. Any guesses why?

Their passion for the game was first portrayed in an award winning Hollywood production - The Cup- directed by Khyentse Norbu, a monk himself - but the people in red robes here are really crazy for soccer. This is evident from the large number of monks who make it to the Paljor stadium here to watch teams and players in action on the field vying for the 30th All India Governor’s Gold Cup football tournament every day.

Even if there is less turnout of spectators in some of the intial matches, the tournament has a steady and loyal group of football fans in red robes that come to watch the matches in progress everyday giving their holy rituals at monasteries a miss! Monks from different age groups are a standout feature in the stands of the stadium in the flowing red robes.

A considerable number of monks had turned out yesterday to lend their support and vocals to the Tata Football Academy (TFA) who entered into the quarterfinals by defeating Railways FC in tie-breaker. An ardent soccer fan, Chepel, who is studying at the Chorten monastery here said, “Our favourite team is TFA who will lift the Gold Cup for the second time”.

Chepel was accompanied by several of his monk friends who have utilized the Sunday break to watch today’s game against Army XI and Jammu and Kashmir Bank. “We think that Army XI will win this match as they are much stronger and physically fit”, said Tashi, another monk studying here in a monastery in Gangtok.

But the overall favourite team of the monks religiously following the tournament is TFA. And the ‘red’ numbers are set to swell up on Monday when their favourite team TFA runs into a strong Bangladesh XI for a berth in the last four. The monks in their flowing red and yellow robes dot the hills side gallery and sometimes make it to the galleries on the right side of the stadium. A few of them even managed to find a seat near football icon Cheema Okorie, who is coaching the New Delhi Heroes in this tournament.

However, the monks are missing their two favourite teams-Bhutan and Tibetan National Football Academy. Both these two teams who used to be regular attractions in the Gold Cup here could not attend this 30th edition. Several monks studying here are from Bhutan while there remains a traditional support base for the Tibetan side. Despite the absence of their favourite teams, monks are coming to watch the Gold Cup and their numbers grow as the tournament progresses to the final showdown.

The organizers, Sikkim Football Association acknowledges the steady and loyal turnout of the monks and do not forget to thank the monks every year for their presence when they give the vote of thanks after the final. SFA general secretary Menla Ethenpa said that the association is seriously thinking to hold an inter monastery tournament for the monks studying in various monasteries in Sikkim from next year. “The monks not only come to see the Gold Cup action but also show their presence during all other tournaments including the Gangtok football league”, said Mr. Ethenpa.

With such a loyal fan base in place, a little more visibility for the tournament could do wonders for it, and evnetually make it evolve into an event which is looked forward to by all Indian football lovers, not just the Sikkimese. And if we indeed want the country to progress football-wise, we as fans need to show a lot of spirit, something that we could probably learn from the monks.

Source:Goal.com

Houghton set to continue till 2011

New Delhi: Bob Houghton is all set to continue as the national football coach till Asian Cup final rounds in Doha in 2011.

According to sources, the finance committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which had been asked to review the British coach’s contract, has also approved a salary hike for Houghton.

The 61-year-old is likely to sign the contract in the next few days.

Sources said that though Houghton’s three-year contract with the AIFF was to end next June, he insisted for a renewal before he could start preparing for the Asian Cup final rounds.

The finance committee, which is headed by the AIFF vice-president Praful Patel, is believed to have given the coach a salary hike of around 50 per cent, the sources added.

Source:Calcutta Telegraph

Crash course for I-League coaches

NEW DELHI: In an effort to bring in some professionalism into Indian football, the Asian Football Confederation has invited 10 I-League club managers
at its general manager seminar scheduled to be held at Kuala Lumpur from October 28 to 29.

The Asian body has long been keen to upgrade football administration in India and, particularly the showpiece I-League, which kicked off this season with the motto of becoming 'a complete professional event'.

But it was only after AFC adopted a tough stand that the clubs began fulfilling some of the AFC's pro-league criteria. According to AFC, a club has to have proper commercial and legal entities before it can be allowed to participate in the AFC Champions League.

"This seminar would definitely be an eye-opener for us. It's important if we want to develop the game in India. We have to understand how to run a club on professional lines," Mumbai FC manager Henry Menezes told TOI on Sunday.

The presence of Paul Barbar, executive director of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, will be an added attraction. Barbar, who had visited India last month and even had talks with AIFF on a possible development programme, will talk on how to manage a pro club.

Besides the Englishman, the AFC pro-league deputy chairman Tokuaki Suzuki will explain the objectives and activities of AFC professional league project and how a general manager should function.

"Definitely, it (seminar) will increase our knowledge on how to work with a pro club," said JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh.

The AFC hopes to raise the level of general managers in Asia and then aims to increase the professionalism of the personnel who are managing the clubs in AFC Champions League scheduled for next year.

Besides India, representatives from Australia, China, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, UAE, Uzbekistan and Vietnam will also be present at the seminar.

The following I-League club managers will attend the seminar:
Henry Menezes (Mumbai FC), R Natarajan (Mahindra United), Cyrus Confectioner (Mohammedan Sporting), Prince Rufus (Mohun Bagan), Kalyan Mazumder (East Bengal), Siddartha Bhattacharyya (United FC), VG Fernandes (Sporting Clube), Sukhwinder Singh (JCT), Francisco D'Souza (Vasco) and Jose Custodio (Dempo).

Source:Timesofindia.com

IRN 2-1 KOR - Iran cowned Asian champions

Victorious Iran skipper Afshin Esmaeilzadeh holds aloft the AFC U-16 Championship trophy.

TASHKENT – Mohsen Talebat and tournament top scorer Kaveh Rezaei netted as Iran claimed a maiden AFC U-16 Championship title with a 2-1 win over 10-man Korea Republic at Pakhtakor Stadium on Saturday.

After Kim Dae-kwang was dismissed for picking up two yellow cards in 32 first-half minutes, Talebat’s piece of individual brilliance seven minutes before the break broke the deadlock to set Iran on their way.

And two minutes after the hour mark Rezaei claimed his sixth goal of the tournament to hand Iran a first U-16 title after losing the 2000 final to Oman before Lee Chang netted a stoppage time consolation for Korea.

The win also ensured Iran progressed through the entire competition from the qualifying stage with a 100% record after winning all 10 games, scoring 31 goals and conceding just three after keeping seven clean sheets.

On an overcast day in the Uzbekistan capital, Korea goalkeeper Kim Tae-sung - making just his second appearance of the tournament in place of Kwon Tae-ahn - saved Mehrdad Yeganeh’s 25-yard snapshot after five minutes.

Iran were nearly handed the breakthrough after 29 minutes as a long ball forward caught the Korean defence flat-footed but, after nipping in behind the backline, Rezaei could only lift the ball over a stranded Kim Tae-sung and the crossbar.

Korea were reduced to 10 men 13 minutes before the break as Kim Dae-kwang, who was making his first start of the tournament, collected a second yellow card from Uzbekistan referee Valentin Kovalenko after picking up the first after just nine minutes.

And Iran capitalised on their advantage six minutes later as Talebat picked up the ball just inside the Korea half, flicked it past Lee Dong-nych, before surging into the area and slotting under an advancing Kim Tae-sung.

Korea coach Lee Kwang-jong introduced Son Heung-min, who has scored two of his four goals at the finals off the bench, shortly after the break and the move almost paid off as Lee Jong-ho met his cross a minute before the hour mark but watched as his glancing header drifted past the post with Iran goalkeeper Iman Sadeghi rooted to the spot.

But with Korea pressing for an equaliser, Iran doubled their lead three minutes later as Rezaei ran at Korea captain Rim Chang-woo, skipped past the centre-back’s challenge before calmly finishing past an exposed Kim Tae-sung.

Iran continued their dominance in the closing stages, but in the last minute of stoppage time Lee Chang fired under Iman Sadeghi from close range.

Source:The AFC.com