From Nepal to the Garden City

Here’s the starting line-up of the National football team of Nepal. Nepal had nothing noteworthy to say about in this ongoing Nehru Cup, today they played a losing game against Syria, and finished at the bottom of the points table. 

However, Rohit Chand, the lanky side back standing second from left has given us, the football loving fans of Bangalore, enough reason to rejoice. 

Rohit was brought in from Nepal as an Asian quota player for HAL in the 2010-11 I-League season.  He along with few other players showed enough grit and determination from an otherwise below-par team to stay afloat in the I-League. 

He again joined HAL in the half-way in 2011-12 season, however, his presence in the games could not stop HAL’s relegation from I-League. Thanks to some mindless coaching tactics, he was tried in almost all position except keeping. 

HAL’s departure from I-league has deprived this talented Nepalese player from playing in India. 

One would have hoped that he’ll get picked by some I-League clubs, however, nothing seems to have happened so far. 

Karnataka lifts All India Postal Football Tournament

Image courtesy: Daily Excelsior

Karnataka Postal Department won the All India Postal Football for the third time in a row. In the final, played at the Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar today, Postal, a BDFA Super Division team defeated Kerala Postal team 1–0. Arun Pondey scored the winning goal at the 70th minute of the match. 

The tournament, hosted for the first time by the Department of Posts, Jammu and Kashmir Circle, Srinagar is kick started in Srinagar on August 25.  

Eight Indian Postal teams participated this tournament - Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Orissa, Haryana, and Delhi. 

The tournament was played on a league-cum-knock out basis, where the teams were divided into two groups, and the top two teams from each group qualified for the knockout stage. 

In the league stage, the Karnataka Postal boys defeated West Bengal 3-0 and Haryana 7-0. In the semi-final they defeated Uttar Pradesh 2-0. 

Airtel Rising Stars in the Garden City

Airtel Rising Stars (ARS), India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt will kick off with a bang in Bangalore on Saturday, August 25th, 2012. With more than 2500 talented footballers registering for the three-day auditions to be held at the Bangalore Football Stadium.

ARS, an initiative by Bharti Airtel, in association with Manchester United, one of the best soccer clubs in the world, is a rigorous scouting program that will cover 16 cities across India and choose 12 talented footballers, who will get the chance-of-a-lifetime to attend a week long training camp at Manchester United Soccer Schools. 

• ARS to bring alive young India’s soccer dreams
• ARS is India’s largest under-16 soccer talent 
  
• More than 2500 participants for Bangalore trials
• Giving 12 promising youngsters the chance-of-a-lifetime to train with Manchester United Soccer School and kick-off a career in professional football
• Bangalore Leg starts from August 25th, auditions August 25 and 26, and final announcement on 27th August.

Day 1 and 2 will see in action participants from around 40 invited schools who are expected to send in their best teams of 12 players each through Sports School Association.

In addition to this, on 26th August 2000 players who have registered online www.facebook.come/airtelsoccer for the selection trials will go through the auditions.

The boys who turn up for the auditions will be put through the paces under the guidance of five coaches-cum-selectors, who will then pick 120 of the most talented players to advance to the next phase. These players will be selected according to criteria based on the aspects mentioned in the Manchester United Scouting Guidelines.  These aspects will dwell on the technical and tactical skills, the physical and mental strengths, the social skills, besides focusing on attitude, behavior, communication, discipline, enthusiasm and fair play.

The shortlisted 120 players will be informed of their status as well as the venue and timing of the second phase of selections on completion of the first phase. The best three players will be picked from the 120, who will then join their counterparts from the other 15 centres to participate in the six-day final selection trials, scheduled for September.

The ARS talent hunt will be conducted in 16 cities - Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Kolkata, Bangalore, Calicut, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kochi, Shilong, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Pune, and Jaipur with the support of the respective State and District Football Associations.

The unique format of ARS program will ensure that every player gets an equal opportunity to showcase his skills and playing acumen through a series of selection criteria, overseen by renowned and officially certified coaches in each centre. The best three players from each city will then be picked to attend final six-day camp-cum-selection trials by coaches from Manchester United. The 48 players will be divided into four teams of 12 each and will be tested on all parameters, including physical attributes, individual skills, match situations and their performances in actual matches, before 12 of the best players are chosen to travel to Manchester United for a week and to train alongside the Manchester United Academy team.

In 2009, Bharti Airtel had announced its tie-up with Manchester United to bring a variety of benefits for Airtel’s football loving customers in India.

[Video] 1984 Nehru Cup India Vs Argentina

That famous match in the winter of Calcutta displayed by the indomitable Ćirić Milovan's boys, where we almost pulled out the match. 79', and Ricardo Gareca scored the only goal in an otherwise well fought game.

 

Nehru Cup - then and now

Okay, a lot has been told, reported, revealed, posted, and tweeted about Nehru Cup. However, looks like we’ve forgot the glorious past of this tourney, which was once touted as the best football tournament in Asia!

Can you actually tell which edition of Nehru Cup is starting today? Well, 15th it is for the statistically inclined folks.

Jorge Burruchaga and Nery Pumpido members of FIFA World Cup winning team have blessed Nehru Cup. Off-course Carlos Bilardo, Argentine, the great coach, World Cup winner! Who can forget the skills of other world cuppers Francescoli, Rinat Dasayev, and László Kiss. 

Nehru Cup has definitely lost its sheen, especially of the early years, the 80’s, but then while playing as a host, who doesn’t want to take a chance to improve FIFA rankings. 

And this time, the defending champion is the lowest ranked amongst the participating teams.

Cameroon (59), Syria (147), Maldives (161), Nepal (162), India (168)
 

Best of luck, India, go for it!

[The following article originally written for IndianFootball.Com during the 2009 edition]

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Drama revolving around Nehru Cup

As India gets ready to defend their title for the Nehru cup, the tournament has now reduced to a mere 5-team competition.

At first, it was Thailand who expressed their inability to send their senior team and requested the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to include their under-19 team for the tournament. However, AIFF rejected the idea, and roped in Palestine as the sixth team.

Now there was more twist in the tale - Palestine Football Association Association had different ideas, rather than fielding their full strength national squad they decided to field a club team. Quite understandably, AIFF dropped the Palestine team from the tournament.

This is an absolute insult to the tournament, which was once regarded as the best football tournament in Asia and ranked 18th in the World.

Nehru Cup was launched in 1982 with much fanfare. In the 80s, Nehru Cup truly lived up to its potential. Football lovers in India got a chance to see quality football from Argentina, Uruguay, Russia (erstwhile USSR), Poland, and Hungary.

World Cuppers like Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay, 1982), Jorge Luis Burruchaga (Argentina, 1984), Neri Pompidou (Argentina, 1984), Laszlo Kiss (Hungary, 1984), Rinat Dasayev (Russia) displayed their football skills in India.

India, though, most of the time was in the receiving end, but played some exemplary football against the tough opponents - against Uruguay in 1983, Argentina in 1984, and Poland in 1988.

Under the tutelage of great Yugoslav coach Ciric Milovan, India perhaps played the best ever football against Argentina in 1984. India was successful in defending the Argentine attack till the 79th minute. World Cup winning coach, Carlos Bilardo, coached the Argentine team. Apparently, it was the same team that formed the nucleus of the successful World Cup campaign in 1986. The Argentina team in the 1984 Nehru Cup had World Cuppers like Jorge Luis Burruchaga, Neri Pompidou, and Sergio Batista.

Another unforgettable match was against the mighty Poland team in 1988. Amal Dutta's team was dominating the proceedings and was leading by a goal in the first half. Poland somehow managed to level score at the later part of second half.

In the 90s, Nehru Cup started loosing its sheen as AIFF settled for relatively lesser known teams. Nehru Cup was an annual event till 1989, later it became a biennial event due to scarcity of funds. The tournament was shelved after 1997 owing to lack of sponsorship and other matters. The tournament resurfaced in 2007 as ONGC Nehru Cup.

It was our current national coach Bob Houghton’s influence that helped to revive the Nehru Cup in 2007 and India emerged victorious. However, the revived version had less ranked teams. Most people had seen this more of a deliberate ploy as to improve FIFA rankings. Rather than fighting and going down to the high-ranked teams, one would expect India to win against teams similar or lesser in FIFA ranking.

Teams like Thailand (117) and Palestine (177) does not have great FIFA rankings, yet AIFF has failed to plan and make use of the FIFA international calendar.
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Coming of South United Football Club in Bangalore

Last evening, the city witnessed a new chapter in football - South United Football Club (SUFC), promoted by Lokko Sports India Pvt. Ltd., launched in a city hotel. SUFC will be an out-an-out Bangalore-based football club with a decisive aim to compete in the I-League. 

SUFC’s promoter, Lokko Sports Pvt. Ltd., operates a few soccer schools in India, also, they own a women’s football team in Mumbai. 

Former India international Raman Vijayan has been roped-in as the head coach. Definitely a challenging preposition for Raman, who few months back successfully coached KGF Academy (BEML) for BDFA Super Division title. 

Lokknath, the CEO of the endeavor stressed the importance of enriching local talents and eventual employment. Also, his soccer schools would play a feeder role in this effort. 

He added, “SUFC will hopefully inspire our young players to excel in football and look at sports as a career.”

Coach Raman Vijayan talked about the glorious past of Bangalore and how the city has contributed in Indian football. Also, brought up the plight of how the talented kids finish their career before a start because of a proper platform.
The team currently has 21 players on their roster, with a sizeable number coming from Raman’s previous club KGF Academy.

“This team is a mix of young and experience, we plan to make it a biggest side in future years.” 

“SUFC will be like a platform, conceptualized to identify young talents, who are the future and treasure of football in India. I believe, professionalizing football at the grass root Level is the need of the hour”, Raman adds up.

Team list

Goalkeeper: Harpreet Singh (United Sikkim FC), Kaleel SM (DYSS)

 
Defender: Shiva Kumar (KGF Academy), Rahul Sharma (Green Valley Sports Club), Gourshankar Dutta (Prayag United), Edwin (DYSS), Barun Oraon, Jayanta Rajbansi (KGF Academy) 

 
Midfielder: VR Murugappan (KGF Academy), Amoes (KGF Academy), M Madhukaran (KGF Academy), Manivanan (ADE), Sunil Kumar, Solai Malai, Abubakar (Students Union), Michael (DYSS)

 
Forward: Stephen (KGF Academy), Gopi (Postal), Rajkiran (ADE), Sridhar (ADE), Subhash R

BDFA C Division - 2011-12

BDFA C Division for the 2011-12 season will commence from Sunday, August 19 at the Bangalore Football Stadium. The year’s edition will be played on a knock-out basis with 65 participating teams. 

All the matches will be played for 30-minutes half. If in case a match ends in a draw, the winner will be decided via tie-breaker. No extra time rule is applied here. 

The finalists (top two teams) will be promoted to B Division. 

Special awards

 - Best upcoming goal-keeper: Shashwath (Blitz)
 - Defender: Paul (Bangalore Independent)
 - Mid-fielder: Vinay (Tilak Memorial)
 - Forward: Zabi (Bangalore Independent)
 - Top-scorer: Ranjan (Blitz), 10 goals
 - Referee of the year: Michael
 - Assistant referee of the year: C Leo 

Fixture and results

Day 1

• Sunday, August 19, 8 am: Bangalore Reds 2 (Damu Cariappa-12', Satya-59') Vs City Club 0 
• Sunday, August 19, 9.30 am: BHEL(EDN) 0 Vs Vinayaka 3 (Md. Tohit-12', Afan-20', Saif-28')
• Sunday, August 19, 10.45 am: Vel Socials 1 (Arun-54') Vs Young Challengers 2 (Stalin-56', Vikram-59')
  
• Sunday, August 19, 1 pm: Bangalore Boys 1(4) (Debangshu Seal-19'; tie-breaker: Tony, Madan, Shiv Prakash, Arvind) Vs United FC B/wadi 1(3) (Mahesh-45'; tie-breaker: David, Prem, Mahesh)
  
• Sunday, August 19, 2.30 pm: Nandaprabu Kempegowda 0(2) (tie breaker: Arun, Naveen) Vs Rangers 0(3) (tie breaker: Christopher, Jack, Glenn)
  
• Sunday, August 19, 3.45 pm: IISC Vs South India Match was not played as both the teams failed to show up.
• Monday, August 20, 1 pm: Excelsior 2(4) (Sushruth-21',Shreyank-40'; tie-breaker: -Shreyank, Sushruth, Karthick, Bharth KV) Vs Bharath Matha 2(3) (Shivarj-2', Vikas-19'; tie breaker Amar, Arun, Shivarj)
• Monday, August 20, 2.30 pm: Hampi Nagar 4 (Dhruvakumar-20', Pritam-35', Ganesh-55', 57') Vs Bangalore Youngsters 1 (Naveen-54')
• Monday, August 20, 3.45 pm: Chinnappa Garden 0 Vs Cresent 3 (Chandrasekar-4', 35', Avinash-42')  
• Tuesday, August 21, 1 pm: Hindu Socials 5 (Inderjit–24th, 31st, Dinakaran–34', Dilip–40', 42') Vs Town SC, Channapatna 0
   * Hindu Socials club comprises of former ITI Players
• Tuesday, August 21, 2.30 pm: Tilak Memorial 4 (Akilesh-4', 19', Kiran Kumar–48', Kisan–50') Vs Jolly Brothers 1 (Manjunath-2')
• Tuesday, August 21, 3.45 pm: Ambedkar 1 (Sharath–15') Vs 515 ABWS 4 (Alex–25', 32', 46' [first hatrick]) 
• Wednesday, August 22, 1 pm: Binny FC 4 (Rohit-22, Martin–37', Siju–40', Deepak-46') vs Sarvagna Nagar 1 (Narendra–29') 
• Wednesday, August 22, 2.30 pm: Heroes Channapatna 2 (Suresh Kumar–52', 54') vs Vijayangar 3 (Samarth S–27', Amarjith Gowda–30', Naveen–16') 
• Wednesday, August 22, 3.45 pm: Veterans 1 (Prajwal–46') vs Queens Star 0 
• Thursday, August 23, 1 pm: Triveni 3 (Bharathi Das–40', 43', Sandeep–50') vs Bosch 0
• Thursday, August 23, 2.30 pm: Vivekananda 2 (Manju–16, Vinodh–27') vs Bentex 1 (Amith–32')
• Thursday, August 23, 3.45 pm: Maharaja Socials 2 (Rapheal–11', Shanmugam–32') vs Konkan 1 (Vergese-7') 
• Friday, August 24, 1 pm: Active Union 0 vs Nethaji 3  (Sharath–25', Vinodh Kumar-27', Satish–29')
• Friday, August 24, 2.30 pm: Income Tax 0 vs BTM FC 8(Lohith–19', 43', 56', 59, Rakesh–23', Prithvi–26', 49', Khalid–43')
• Friday, August 24, 3.45 pm: New Lucky Star 1 (Pradeep R–10') vs Shining Star 3 (Nanda Kumar–15', Adarsh–40', 51') 
• Tuesday, August 28, 1 pm: Young Boys w/o Vs Bangalore Wanderers
• Tuesday, August 28, 2.30 pm: Bangalore Independents w/o vs Young Gems
• Tuesday, August 28,  3.45 pm: Young Dynamos 1 (Lohith–29') vs Thamarai Kannan 2 (R Rakesh Kumar–22', Rajendran PL–36')
• Wednesday, August 29, 1 pm: Town FC, Hosakote 4 (Ajmal Baig-20', 50', Arfmad Khan-32', S Dheeraj-55') Vs Universal 0
• Wednesday, August 29, 2.30 pm: Afgan (1)1 (Rakesh-58' tiebreaker: Rakesh) Vs Bangalore Blues (1) 3 (Aravind-12' [tiebreaker] Lohith Kumar, Vignesh , Aravind)
• Wednesday, August 29, 3.45 pm: Bangalore Warriors 0 Vs Blitz 7 (Deepak N-1', Ranjan MP-3', 26', Deepak D-6', 15', 48', Vaibhv Ramesh-33')  
• Thursday, August 30, 1 pm: JJ FC W/O Vs Basavanagudi FC (did not turn-up till 1.30 pm)
• Thursday, August 30, 2.20 pm: Vehicles 2 (Girish-28', Emanulla-38') Vs Navarathna 3 (Muragadass-6', 55', 60' [hatrick])
• Thursday, August 30, 3.45 pm: Rabbani (did not turn up till 4.30pm) Vs W/O La Masia 
• Friday, August 31, 1 pm: Md Sporting 3 (8) (Gerad–19', John–28', 43' tie-breaker: Arun, Vijayakumar, Geff Sagayaraj, Abdul Waheed, Gerad, Devaraj, Krishna, John)  Vs ITC 3 (7) (Sunil–32', 36', 39', tie-breaker: Amarnath, Joseph Kumar, Sunil, Srinivas, Babu Saha, Sendil, Rahul)
• Friday, August 31, 2.30 pm: Misaka United 3 (Sendhil–18', 30', Deepak–23') Vs Eagles 2 (Vinodh–17, Sunil–54')
• Friday, August 31, 3.45 pm: East West 2 (Frijan – 46', 50') Vs La Masia 1 (Sujay Noel–54')
• Saturday, September 1, 1 pm: Bangalore Reds  0 (4) (tie-breaker: Cariappa, Manivanan, Sathynathan, Nagu) Vs Vinayaka 0 (2) (tie-breaker: Touhid, Zaib) 
• Saturday, September 1, 2.30 pm: Young Challengers 1 (4) (Stalin–50', tie-breaker: Nelson, Stalin, Divakar, Harish) Vs United FC, Banasawadi 1 (1) (D Seal–25' tie-breaker: Subadeep Bose)
• Sunday, September 2, 8 am: Excelsior 2 (Aditya KV–43', 65') Vs Hampi Nagar 0 
• Sunday, September 2, 9.30 am: Crescent 4 (Chandrashekar 15', 17', 29', Hemanth-28') Vs Hindu Socials 1 (Indrajith–19')
• Sunday, September 2, 10.45 am: Tilak Memorial 6 (Milton-23', Abhilash–28', 29', Kiran S-31', Kiran M-45', Kiran-53') Vs 515 ABWS 0 
• Sunday, September 2, 1 pm: Binny FC 1 (Ronith–58') Vs Vijayanagar 0
• Sunday, September 2, 2.30 pm: Veterans 5 (Prjawal–10', 23', Praveen-16', Naresh-28', Chethan-57')  Triveni 1 (Bharathi Das–25')  
• Sunday, September 2, 3.45 pm: Vivekanand  4 (Dilip–35', Srinivas–40', 50', Manju–58') Vs Maharaja Socials 1 (Raphael Joseph–14') 
• Monday, September 3, 1 pm: Nethaji 0 Vs BTM FC 4 (Lohith–6', 17', 57' Akash–49')
• Monday, September 3, 2.30 pm: Shining Stars 1 (3) (Abhishek–23', tie-breaker: Aroikaraj, Praveen, Adarsh) Vs Young Boys 1 (1) (Chandrasekhar–25', tie-breaker: Darshan)
• Monday, September 3, 3.45 pm: Bangalore Independents 4 (Shivakumar-24', Zabia–38', 57', Arun A–41') Vs Thamarai Kannan 0
• Tuesday, September 4, 1 pm: Town SC, Hosakote 1 (Ajmal Baig-10') vs Bangalore Blues 4 (Arvind–32', Sathish–41', 44', Vignesh–45') 
• Tuesday, September 4, 2.30 pm: Blitz 4 (Ranjan 6', 9', 40', [hatrick], Mitesh–50') Vs JJ FC 1 (Vijay Kumar–24') 
• Tuesday, September 4, 3.45 pm: Navarathan 1 (Nikhil–5') Vs Mohd. Sporting 2 (Vijaya Kumar-47', Arun–59')
• Wednesday, September 5, 1 pm: Misaka United  5 (Vijay–7, Deepak-15', 22', Sendhil–17', Denis–58') Vs East West 1 (Dilshan–23')  
  
• Wednesday, September 5, 2.30 pm: Bangalore Red 0 Vs Young Challengers 3 (Stalin–37', 57', Nilson–59') -  Young Challengers enters Quarter Final  
  
• Wednesday, September 5, 3.45 pm: Rangers 0 Vs Excelsior 2 (Sushruch–21, Aditya KV–53) - Excelsior enters Quarter Final
• Friday, September 7, 1 pm: Crescent Vs Tilak Memorial Re-match
  
• Thursday, September 6, 2.30 pm: Binny SF 0 Vs Veterans 4 ()
• Thursday, September 6, 3.45 pm: Vivekanada FC 0 Vs BTM FC 4 (Mandeep-29', Rajesh-34', 51', Prashant-35')  
• Friday, September 7, 3.30 pm: Bangalore Independent 3 (Vinodh–4, Shiva-13', James–35') Vs Shining Star 0
• Friday, September 7, 4.30 pm: Blitz 5 (Ranjan–5', 26', 42', Narendra-20', Anand–45') Vs Bangalore Blues 0
• Friday, September 7: Mohd. Sporting 3 (Arun–42', Gerad–55', 63') Vs Misaka United 0

• [Quarter-final] Saturday, September 8, 8 am: Young Challengers 4 (Vikram-13', Stalin-30', 44', 53') Vs Excelsior 1 (Shreyan-41') 
• [Quarter-final] Saturday, September 8, 9.15 am: Tilak Memorial 5 (Milotn-4', 48', Kiran-13', 45', Darashan-31')  Vs Veterans 0
• [Quarter-final] Saturday, September 8, 10.15 am: BTM FC 0 Vs Bangalore Independents 3 (Arun-1', Zabee-12', Abhira [own goal])
• [Quarter-final] Saturday, September 8, 11.30 am: Blitz 4 (Kiran-17', Ranjan-35', Hemanth-44',Sajesh-55') vs. Mohd. Sporting 0 

• [Semi-final] Sunday, September 9, 8 am: Young Challengers Vs Tilak Memorial
• [Semi-final] Sunday, September 9, 9.30 am: Bangalore Independent vs Blitz 

• [Final] Sunday, September 9, 3 pm:(Winner Semi-final M1) Bangalore Independent  5 (Tie-breaker - Ravibabu, Shiva Kumar, Kiran, Ramesh, and Nagaraj) Vs (Winner Semi-final M2) Tilak Memorial 4 (Tie-breaker - Kiran Kumar, M Kiran, Pradeep, Binay)

Advent of South United in the Garden City

Is this going to be a defining moment in Football in Bangalore? A private club venturing into the footballing scene in Bangalore, which otherwise dominated by public sector, defense organizations, and government teams. 

Let us all wish luck to South United, sure they will make difference!

Look out for more news of South United in this space...

Nehru Cup 2012: Koevermans has task cut out

Hardly a few days in his office, Wilhelmus ‘Wim’ Jacobus Koevermans is on the task of retaining the Nehru Cup. And this time, the defending champion is the lowest ranked amongst the participating teams. 

Cameroon (59), Syria (147), Maldives (161), Nepal (162), India (168)

A tête-à-tête with our newly appointed football coach Wim Koevermans on a day when India’s FIFA ranking hits a new low of 168. 

Ouch, how perilous!

GardenCity Soccer Stars (GCSS): How is it going coach?

Wim Koevermans (WK): It has been going good, weather is excellent, boys are doing their bit, and they are enjoying the training stint here in Bangalore. 
 

GCSS: What was the first thing that stuck in your mind when you took the assignment (of coaching the senior India team)?

WK: It has been hardly any time, however, few areas needed immediate attention, especially, defense. Another important area mid-field, we’re working on it and giving special attention in these areas. Also, giving stress on pressing football.
 

GCSS: There was a last minute change from Noida to Bangalore. Has this shift hampered your preparation?
WK: As you all know the change was due to rain, where we have hardly any control. It is always better to practice smoothly in an away location rather than a close location, which would frequently interrupt our training.
Talking about the climatic change, I don’t think that will matter much. 
 

GCSS: You’ll be playing Nehru Cup in natural turf but the Bangalore Football Stadium turf is artificial, you think that would a major factor?
WK: No, not at all! This is a very good turf and our players have enough experience playing in this kind of turf. Also, not to forget that we’ll have a good five days to practice in natural grass turf after August 16, just before the start of Nehru Cup.
 

GCSS: Just when I talk to you, India has gone down 5 notches, per the latest FIFA ranking India is 168. How do you think about your opponents in Nehru cup, especially Cameroon?
WK: Cameroon is off course a very powerful team. I’m told that they’re sending a team based on the home players, which itself is a strong team.
As I’ve said earlier, our immediate goal is to win the Nehru Cup. Ranking of the other teams are pretty close, we should be able to beat them.

National camp shifted to Bangalore

The National camp for the Platinum Jubilee Nehru Cup will kick-off at Bangalore Football Stadium from Friday, August 3, 2012. The venue got shifted from Jaypee Greens Atlantis, Greater Noida owing to severe power cut across the region and heavy rains.