Colaco: Players are gelling well

Indian football coach Armando Colaco on Friday said he is happy to see the players gelling well together and playing as a team.

Colaco was, however, quick to add that injuries to striker Sunil Chhetri and Baljeet Sahni is a matter of concern ahead of World Cup qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The first leg (away game) of the World Cup qualifiers against UAE is on July 23 while the return leg is on July 28 at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.

To prepare the team for the match, Colaco again fielded the senior team with the under-23 side that ended in a 1-1 draw.

While Snehahish Chakraborty put the U-23 team in the lead in the first half, Anthony Barbossa pulled it back for the Seniors in the second half.

"I wanted to have a look at as many players as possible," Colaco justified later, referring to him fielding two entirely different starting XIs in the two halves.

"It is getting better day by day and I am happy with the progress. The new players (U-23) are adjusting to my style," he added.

Meanwhile, national team goalkeeper Subrata Pal lauded Armando for running the show in a planned manner.

"The set-up is new. The coach is making the Players understand his style of play and the entire squad had been supportive of his plan," said Pal.

The good news stays that Subrata, by his own confession is "totally fit."

"I started practicing a couple of days back. I had a bit of niggle in my right hand but it is over," Subrata concluded.

Indian Olympic team’s camp from tomorrow

India’s 25 probable players for the pre-Olympic qualifier against Qatar’s football team will assemble in Pune tomorrow, for a short camp ahead of the match later this month.

Desmond Bulpin’s side play the West Asian country on June 19 before meeting them in a return-leg match four days later, at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.

All members of the 18-member squad that played against Myanmar in Yangon on March 9 - except for Subodh Kumar, Malswamfela and Robin Singh - are among the probable players.

The team leaves for Qatar on June 16.

Meanwhile, sources in the All India Football federation (AIFF) confirmed that the senior team’s camp will be held at the Ambedkar Stadium here from June 15, despite confusion over availability of the ground, which is owned by the Muncipal Corporation of Delhi.

In a welcome news for sports lovers, Delhi Soccer Association (DSA) officials have informed that the MCD is likely to bring down the booking amount of the ground from Rs 5000 to 500 in a meeting on June 13.

The matter, which was discussed in the standing committee meeting today, is set to be approved by the house on June 13.

“The standing committee that had, in September last year, passed a resolution to hike the fee, also has the power to reduce it,” said DSA vice-president NK Bhatia.

Churchill Brothers to appoint Manuel Gomes as chief coach

Portuguese coach Manuel Goncalves Gomes is all set to be entrusted with the responsibility of steering Churchill Brothers to the top of Indian football for the coming season.

The former Maldives national coach is understood to have agreed to a one-year deal with the club although the formalities will be completed next week, said patron of Churchill Brothers club, Churchill Alemao.

Gomes was set to be the head coach of East Bengal last summer before the deal fell out only to see Trevor Morgan come into the picture and successfully lead the Red and Gold’s to win two trophies.

Gomes, known as ‘Neca’, is best remembered for his stint as part of the coaching staff of Portugal in the 2002 World Cup where Seleccao could not progress into the knockout rounds.

The Portuguese was also the assistant coach at Benfica for two seasons and is said to have guided Estoril-Praia Sad, a Portuguese second division club, to beat his former club’s B side 4-3 in, the final of the south finals of the Liga Intercalar, a reserve league where the junior players are handed an opportunity to excel.

The 59-year-old has about 30 years of experience in coaching and is a certified UEFA Pro-license coach and has worked in Asia with Maldives where he steered the Islanders to some remarkable results in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Maldives beating Mongolia 12-0 is one of their biggest victories till date and then they held World Cuppers South Korea to memorable draw at home.

The coach was formerly associated with Angola, whom it took to the 1998 African Nations Cup finals in Burkina Faso.

Gomes, formerly assistant coach to the Portuguese national team, will be the seventh coach at Churchill Brothers since the departure of coach Drago Mamic who got the boot after Churchill finished fourth in the I-League, their poorest result since 2006.