FOOTBALL IN DETAIL

Hung Thinh Cup:- India Vs Vietnam Preview   Indian Men's National Football Team will play Vietnam Men's National Football team on Tuesday.  The game will decide the winner of the tournament. The Indian team have one point due to the draw in the match against Singapore. If India can beat Vietnam, they will be the champions. The Vietnam National team has played well in the past couple of years and is growing as one of the best teams in Asia. They are in first place in the group. Even a draw will help them to win this tournament with ease.     https://twitter.com/IndianFootball/status/1573909886508802049  

The name of Stephan Constantine is not new for the Indian football fans. He was the manager of the senior men's team, from 2002-2005 and then 2015-19. Having held the term for good number of years, he saw the Indian football system transition from one system to another. For example, NFL to the I LEAGUE, then I LEAGUE TO ISL. A lot have changed in with the emergence of ISL, certainly the players have better facilities and better wages. What makes him Ideal for the job? 1. Experience. His experience separates him from the rest, having part of each continental teams. He is aware of different sets of systems, from Europe to Africa, he was part of many leagues, teams. He is aware of the challenges and the the ways of overcoming them is known to him. Being the FIFA coach instructor himself, he is very well known to the methods of delivering the progress. The awareness of Indian football, gives him an advantage too. 2. Know the problems Indian football faces. We often accused ...

Investing in the game of football, especially in India is a risky startup. Which goes for years, every year you invest crores, with no return, no profit until you decide to break out from this relationship. High investment but no return! With the emergence of the Indian Super League, running a football club in India became little costlier. To maintain a certain standard, they owners have to invest alot. This certainly improves the overall structure of the clubs and the league but it empties the large chunck of the money. Franchise fee and it's weight on the club is heavy, 15 crores, just to have a permission to play. Then comes the money to build the team, facilities needed to be provided. It almost cost 30-40 crores, if you are building a top team. With no media rights, low support, no own stadium. You are on the losing streak, where you gamble to play more just to save the commitment. It is a harsh truth that no club is profitable in the league currently. BFC owner, Parth Jindal,...

Yes you have heard it right!  As the day progressed, the doubts have emerged over the functioning of the Indian football and also the ban which can be handed over to India. FIFA RULE AGAINST ANY INTERFERENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT AND OF THE  COURTS!  The highest government body of football ij the world doesn't allow any court, government to interfere in the matters of the federations. It sees it against the international law and thus assume it to be a violation of it's order. Thus banning the federation is on the cards !  Ever this happened before? Yes!  - Pakistan football federation was banned due to the third party interference.  - Chadian football federation was banned due to the government interference. (Answers the question of many Indian football fans that "why government is not doing something" ) - Nigeria football federation was suspended due to the government's interference. - Spain football federation and the state interference was not ...

Possibly the future rivalry between ATKMB and GOKULAM FC will be there in present. As blth teams will face each other on the match day 1 of the AFC CUP campaign. This will be mouth watering match and also the test of superiority and quality. The claim of each club will be tested on the field and off the field too. I LEAGUE VS ISL DEBATE!  The conflicts between the two leagues, the supporters, and journalists are always there. Everyone has their say but only the performances can give the real picture. The complex situation where the winner of every league identifies themselves as the champion of India. The test will be there in coming 3 matchdays. I league clubs and the break at the international level. Being away from the AFC competitions, this will be the first assignment of any I league in the AFC cup. The performance here would suffice the opportunity given and also justify the spot reserved fof the I league. Gokulam would try to use it as an experience for the futur...

Yesterday, Bengaluru football club, won the first development league, which was hosted by the Reliance! There were only 7 number of games for the each team!  If we have to improve our players, we have to increase the number of matches!  How we can increase the number of matches? There are different ways !  - Playing them on the same day where ISL senior teams will play. As most of the players do travel with the teams to make up the proper squad, which is of 35 players. Even if take 18 players for the main team, we are left with 17 more players, which can participate in the reserve league. It will cut down the cost of organising, will give another match up for the grabs for the fans. The stadium engagement will grow at the minimal added cost. Clubs will get more players,who are match fit and can use them to better their results. One match around 5 PM and the next 7:30 PM, thus both the reserve teams and the senior teams fighting on the same day! Isn...

The dream of qualifying for the FIFA world cup is ultimate. The feeling is astonishing and the passion comes out in the form of tears. But the reality is very different and it takes a lot more to achieve that target. As India have never qualified for the same, we fans wish to see it happen in coming years. Mirage of 2026 world cup qualification! The mirage is shown very much to the tired and thirsty souls of Indian football supporters. The new coach have said it the multiple times, that we are building a base for 2026 world cup qualification. Ultimately targetting the qualification. 4 years are left for that test, going by the current trend and the history, we will not qualify for that tournament. Should target 2034 and work in the coming decade to complete the process. Reasons we are behind and why we can qualify soon! - League structure. Our league structure is poorly placed. With only 20 matches for a professional footballer and of which not every one gets to...

The year 2013, became the benchmark for the corporates entering in to the sports setup, especially football in India. As the Jindal group started a new club from Bengalore, named as the Bengaluru football club. The key player and also the first player to be signed by the club was non other than Sunil Chhetri. Club's success and continuous upward trend. 6 trophies in 6 years, remarkable. The draught was countered with the success,not only at the national level but at the International level too. 2016 AFC Cup final, one goal loss was too harsh but the valuable points gained by the club in that tournament and in succession, made possible for us to have a team in the champions league. But, let's keep everything aside and talk about the future model of the club! The academy, age group teams and the best out of the players. This is the real model which most of the clubs have failed to replicate successfully. The academics are irregular and non usef...

The milestone breacher, our own Sunil Chhettri , did exactly that last night. He became the first person to score 50 goals in the top tier league, ISL! The mark is spectacular as he was without the goals for first 10 matches, his critics to his admirers, everyone was aware that he will strike back. He is now at 4 goals, in last 6 matches. But the point is, why only 50 and not 100 ? This raises the question on number of matches he only got to play in the league. Compare it with top players around the world, many have scored such number of goals in the single season. This shows the starking difference between us and them. Only 16 on average, half of the players from other leagues. This automatically reduces the chances of contribution.  This also shows how much we have lost of  him, and of the other players due to the  short league. Had the league was longer, matches he got to play were more, this could have been his 100th goal in the league itself. ...

Every sport, whether it's football, cricket or basketball where the role of fan groups is important, involve conflicts. The basic human nature is to deny everything which is of different opinion, on emotional issues mind is sidelined by the heart. This can be seen, on match days especially in the game of football. This conflict can increase on certain levels, as we have seen that matches got abandoned due to the  fights and lose of lives. This is all due to the passion which is necessary but when it's over, things get scary. In the aspect of the Indian football, this rivalry is very much there. Especially when it came to the hubs of football, Kolkata and Goa. Mohun Bagan A.C. and East Bengal FC were the flag bearers of this. Thousands of people in the stadiums showing contrasting emotions on every goal scored, is joy to watch. The atmosphere is astonishing. With the advent of the technology, the engagement of fan groups have increased on the social media...

The newspaper industry in India is one of the important contributing industries in the Indian Economy. With around 250 million daily circulation, it's reach among the masses is splendid and undeniable. Imagine, how far it spread the information and how strong the impact on the society. From students, working individuals, retired, homemakers,poor, rich somehow everyone have connection with the newspaper. They read regularly and know about the daily happenings. But, why Indian football is not included in this information? I always thought, why so much discrimination is faced by the Indian football over the other sports. As you all know that yesterday, Indian football federation released the names of 23 women's national team players for the AFC Asian Cup. Many Indian newspapers with high readership and which are published in different languages, zones and cities failed to even mention that. Shocking, isn't it ? This condition is after the competition is...

The formation 4-3-3 is very much used by Bengaluru FC, which requires a lot of press, fast and aggressive game play to make it a success. But it is not effective as it looks like. Bengaluru Fc struggled to reap good results with this formation against the teams who have a low block or don't play aggressively. Only exception came last night with 3-0 win against Mumbai City Fc ! Reasons for the success. - Mumbai hold ball in their half alot with passing from the defense, it is easy to press and use the space. - Mumbai was missing key players like Ahmad to control the midfield from the defense, so counter the press. - Low confidence of the team and changes by the coach made unsettled 11, which haven't played much together. - Now using long balls as an option effectively by Mumbai to counter the press, whenever they did,it was effective. Reasons why it didn't worked on occasions for Bengaluru ! Non performence of the striking force, Sunil missed the penalty thus giv...

Nivia Astra, the magic ball ! The quality of football is the most important part if you want to make the sport better. Thus FIFA recommends certain quality check and  approve them. Now, the highest quality of  FIFA approved football ball is FIFA Pro. Highest quality ball is used in the most of the leagues and which is a good step. Nivia being the official ball partner of the Indian Super League, provide the ball for the league. Nivia Astra is the ball which is in use in the league. Now from where the magic comes ? As we have seen that there is something different in this ball. It curls well, dips alot and certainly causing problems for the goalkeepers. If you have any doubt, please  ask Dheeraj. Let's see the factors involved in this. In 2013 MIT conducted experiments regarding the quality of ball and it's movement in different environments. They found that the surface of the ball is one of the important factor in the ball movement with...