NEW DELHI: Minutes after India’s 1-3 loss to Curacao in the opener of the King’s Cup in Buriram, Thailand, Indian National Team coach Igor Stimac mentioned “we were today very much like the weather.”

“I think, today we were very much like the weather. At one time the sun was shining, while in the second half there was a storm. After we changed few things in the half-time we started playing better,” he stated. “We were controlling much better – the passion, and the movements, and especially closing down the midfield. That’s what we did with two young players, both debutants coming off the bench,” he maintained.

Stimac was speaking at the official post-match press conference at the Chang Arena.

“Raynier Fernandes, and 18-year old Amarjit Singh – both of whom came on as substitutions in the 2^nd half made an impact. Their covering was good. They were coming in front of the big strikers who were creating problems for us. They did not surrender. We did not put our heads down and kept creating chances,” the Coach reflected.

“I think we had 5-6 good situations in the second half to score our second goal and come back, and put some pressure on them in the last 10 minutes. But the decision making was not good in the final third,” he stressed. “For example, where we were supposed to shoot the ball, we were passing; and when we were supposed to pass the ball, we were shooting. There is a long way for us to keep learning — the learning process will be long,” he declared.

“I’m proud of the team achievement especially the manner we played in the 2^nd half. The young players who came on showed great character, and had no fear to come on the pitch and playing football. That’s what I like. We have a good future.”

“Congratulations to Curacao. I had mentioned in the pre-match PC that they were the favourites and displayed in the first 45 minutes that they are of a different class. They have 6-7 top quality players. The match is a good blessing for our players. They could feel the touch of European Academy players among the Curacao players – you can feel in their movements, you can feel in their self-confidence,” Stimac explained.

India will now be playing the 3^rd place play-off against either Thailand or Vietnam on June 8.

“We go into another phase now in two weeks’ time, get together and prepare for the Hero Intercontinental Cup. We are missing 5-6 players who are very important part of the National teams set-up. As and when they would be back, we would be better.”

NEW DELHI: It was new coach Igor Stimac’s first match since his appointment. It was the day where he handed International debuts to 6 players, including an 18-year old Amarjit Singh, India’s U-17 World Cup Captain. It was also the day when Sunil Chhetri played his 108^th international match, thus becoming India’s highest capped International player, breaking Bhaichung Bhutia’s record. Not surprisingly, he even scored, converting from the spot, his 68^thInternational goal.

In what was a game of two halves, the Blue Tigers learnt from the mistakes of the first half, and despite being the better side in the 2^nd half ended losing 1-3 to a strong Curacao in their opening match of the King’s Cup at the Chang Arena in Buriram, Thailand.

Courtesy the victory, Curacao advanced to the final of the tournament, while India will play either Thailand, or Vietnam in the third place play-off on June 8 (Saturday).

Stimac started with a new-look Indian side, as three players – Rahul Bheke, Brandon Fernandes, and Abdul Sahal — made their International debut in starting XI. Raynier Fernandes, and Amarjit came in as substitutes from the start of the second-half, while Michael Soosairaj came in midway in the second.

The positive intent of the young squad was on display. Trailing 1-3 at the interval, Raynier and Amarjit’s inclusion added to the quick passing and effective blocking in the midfield. The Indians weren’t willing to go into a defensive shell. Rather, they looked the more purposeful side in the 2^nd half, and had their chances.

The Blue Tigers in fact, had also begun with much purpose. In the 7^th minute, Lallianzuala Chhangte mistimed a sublime cross from debutant Abdul Sahal.

The Curacao midfield, then tried to gain control slowing it down at times, stretching to the flanks, and playing quick one-twos. In the process, Bonavacia and Hooi scored within two minutes to make it 2-0 by the 18^th minute.

But India hit back. Sahal, who impressed with his turns, touches, and never say die attitude earned a penalty for the Blue Tigers in the 31^st minute. – Chhetri gleefully converting from the spot.

But hardly had the celebrations died down, Bacuna made full use of the gap between Subhasish and Gurpreet to score the third goal for the CONCACAF side.

But the Indians kept pressing. Two minutes to the end of the first half, Sahal collected it from the heart of the midfield, and passed it onto an onrushing Udanta. But the latter miscued it as both teams headed to the interval with Curacao leading 3-1.

Changing over, Stimac made two crucial changes – bringing in Raynier and Amarjit in place of Pronay Halder, and Changte. The introduction of the youngsters in the middle of the park helped. India looked composed, showing more urgency in the opponent half in the second half.

Raynier and Sahal combined brilliantly in the 71st minute but the Curacao defender saw off the danger till the end.

Indians earned back-to-back corners in the 73rd minute but Bheke miscued Udanta’s corner, and then Sunil headed over Pritam’s inch-perfect cross.

The talismanic striker came close to scoring another in the 86th minute but his effort bounced off the post.

In the second minute of added time, Chhetri put in a curling corner kick which could have found the back of the net off the head of a Curacao defender, but the ball rolled wide of the goal.

INDIA: Gurpreet Singh; Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Rahul Bheke(International debut for India), Subhasish Bose; Udanta Singh, Pronay Halder (Raynier Fernandes 46′ — International debut for India), Brandon Fernandes (International debut for India) (Soosairaj Michael 67′ — International debut for India), Lallianzuala Chhangte (Amarjit Singh 46′ — International debut for India), Abdul Sahal (International debut for India), Sunil Chhetri (C).

PUNE: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach Tony Mowbray hopes Aniket Jadhav’s time with the club will have provided him with the ‘building blocks’ for a future career. However, in saying so he even opined that there are some qualities that the players lacks.

The 18-year-old Kolhapur-born lad, who plays for Jamshedpur FC, is the first professional Indian player to train in England, having arrived at Rovers’ Academy for a three-month spell in early March.

To aid his development, Aniket was invited to join in with a first team training session ahead of the season finale against Swansea and Mowbray believes the talented teenager will have benefited greatly from the experience.

“He came up and trained one afternoon and I think that would benefit him – playing with experienced professional footballers at Championship level,” said the manager cum head coach.

“He’s only a young boy, but he showed that he had good basics to his game and he was able to join in with the session. He was enthusiastic, he worked hard with the group and hopefully he enjoyed it.

“I’m sure the daily training at the Academy will have helped him. When he came up to train with us, I’m sure the messages I was giving him was something he was getting every day down at the Academy.

“I would hope that the professional level of coaching he got at an elite level Academy will stand him in good stead for the future and create habits that will hopefully become rooted and become part of the foundation of his career.

“The fine detail of football is what matters. The ability to receive the ball on the half-turn or the weight of your pass. I call them the building blocks of your career. Basic football skills that the best players you don’t even notice they do it, but they all do it naturally.

Mowbray also opined that there are some qualities which the Indian footballer lacks.

“His habits to play at the top level, the little things that he doesn’t quite do naturally are quite obvious to me. He doesn’t have this peripheral vision, you should be knowing what your (teammates) are doing without really turning around to look. He has to develop these things, these things come from repetition every single day, maybe for years for some people,” he said.

“I played football professionally for 18-20 years. I learned my trade as a 4-10-year-old boy every day with the ball in the garden. I don’t see those natural instincts that top players at his age might have developed from doing what I did – practising without practising,” Mowbray added.

MARGAO: Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) were crowned the Hero Sub-Junior League 2018-19 champions at the Don Bosco College Ground in Margao, Goa on Wednesday when they defeated Bengaluru FC 3-0 in the final.

Prantik Saha and Supratim Das scored in the first half for the Mumbai-based side, while Harsh Vaghela added a third in the 57th minute to secure the win.

The first half began with RFYC starting off on the brighter note as Bengaluru FC goalkeeper Priyansh Dubey was forced to make a couple of quick saves in the first ten minutes. He was forced into action once again in the 21st minute by Karthick Thirumalai, who cut in from the left to shoot, but Priyansh was alert and collected the effort.

Five minutes later though, he had no chance as RFYC took the lead thanks to a brilliant shot from left-winger Prantik Saha. Collecting a cross from the right, Prantik beat his marker and curled in a shot into the far corner to put his side into the lead.

Bengaluru responded through Ishaan Raghunanda minutes after conceding but the youngster’s shot from the right side went into the side netting.

In the 31st minute, RFYC doubled their lead through midfielder Supratim Das. A cross from the right was punched out by the Bengaluru keeper but Supratim showed supreme awareness and from 25 yards, he lobbed over the goalie to ensure his team went into the break with a 2-0 lead.

The first attack of the second half saw RFYC’s Harsh Vaghela race past the defence, rounding the keeper and tap the ball home, but the effort was ruled out for offside by the referee.

 

Bengaluru then regrouped and tried to make their way back into the match but were unlucky to have not scored their first goal of the game in the 39th minute. Bengaluru skipper Gautam Rajesh struck a powerful free-kick from the edge of the penalty area, but it came back off the underside of the crossbar.

 

Midway through the second half, Bengaluru had another chance to score through Chandan Biju but the winger’s header from a set-piece opportunity fell straight to the RFYC keeper Aniket Ghosh. 

 

The Blues continued to press to halve the deficit and were caught on the break by RFYC in the 57th minute as Harsh registered the third goal for his team. The speedy forward made his way past the two Bengaluru defenders and made no mistake in the one-on-one situation as he slammed the ball home powerfully and secured the victory for RFYC.

NEW DELHI: The Indian National Team had their first practice session under newly-appointed Croatian Head Coach Igor Stimac at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi today (May 21, 2019).

The squad has assembled to prepare for the forthcoming Kings’ Cup in Buriram, Thailand. The King’s Cup is slated for be held in Buriram on June 5, when the Blue Tigers take on Curacao in their first match.

The former Croatia national team manager wasted little time in formalities and got right into the thick of action aiming to lead the Blue Tigers on an upward surge after inspiring performances in the AFC Asian Cup earlier this year.

Speaking on the side-lines of the practice session, Rahul Bheke who got his National Team call-up said: “The coach greeted everyone with a Namaste and shared his plans about Indian Football.”

He further explained: “As a team, the coach wants us to play together as a unit and if we have to be one of the best teams in Asia, we have to think big and follow our dreams.”

“He is very much positive about the growth of Indian Football and wants to take us further into being one of the best team in Asia,” he added.

Stimac took the squad to some fitness tests on the opening day.

Besides Bheke, Brandon Fernandes, who got a call-up to the National Camp for the first time since 2015 stated: “I was training a bit in the offseason. But now I am here and I want to give my cent percent in every session.”

Lauding the experience of Stimac, who was part of the Croatia team in the 1998 World Cup where they finished third, Brandon said: “He is a very experienced coach and can do great things for this country. His plans and goal is to improve us and I feel that it was a good choice to appoint him.”

“I will be taking it day by day. My first target is to get into the final list for the King’s Cup. So right now I am focussing on that,” Brandon maintained.

Bheke signed off: “This is a chance which I can’t afford to blow up. I will give my best in the camp.” Brandon nodded

Goa: Bengaluru FC’s Sub-Junior side will have a shot at making history when they take on Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) in the grand finale of the Hero Sub-Junior League at the Don Bosco Ground in Goa on Wednesday. The Young Blues can become the first-ever BFC Academy side to clinch an AIFF Youth League title after an enthralling campaign which has already seen them create history by reaching the final.

The task won’t be an easy one for Rajan Mani’s all-Bengaluru side who will come up against an equally formidable opponent from Navi Mumbai, who boast of players from all over the country. But they can take motivation from a thrilling come-from-behind 2-1 win over a strong Sudeva FC side in the semifinal on Monday.

Speaking on the eve of the big clash, Coach Rajan praised the effort put in by the team so far in the competition. “We have worked very hard as a team to reach at this stage of the competition. We came up against some quality teams and the boys have always given their one hundred percent in every game. In the final however, we will need to give even more because it won’t be an easy tie. We have worked on our game plan and the boys have managed to implement our philosophy and it’s something to be proud of,” said Rajan.

Going into the game, RFYC are currently the top scoring side in the competition with 62 goals, and the Young Blues follow in on third with 47 goals. While the attackers have been scoring freely for either side, they also have been formidable at the back boasting one of the most stubborn defences in the league. RFYC have conceded eight goals keeping six clean sheets, while the Blues have just let in five, keeping seven clean sheets of their own.

Rajan expects a close game and while assessing the opponents, he further added, “We have faced RFYC twice before this season, in friendlies at Coimbatore and Navi Mumbai. While we have beaten them before, we can’t underestimate them or take the game lightly. They are quite an organised team when it comes to their game play and will pose a lot of threat if we are not alert. It’s important for us to stick to our game plan and be prepared for a close affair.”

The game kicks off at the Don Bosco Ground in Goa at 4.30 pm tomorrow.

Madgao, May 20, 2019: The final of the Hero Sub Junior League 2018-19 will see Reliance Foundation Young Champs take on Bengaluru FC as both sides clinched semifinal victories on Monday at the Rosary Ground in Navelim, Goa.

RFYC got the better of Bengaluru Youth Football League in a thrilling contest that ended in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw in regulation time in the first semifinal. In the second, Bengaluru FC came back from a goal down against Sudeva FC to record a 2-1 win and seal their berth in the summit clash.

RFYC CLAIM SHOOTOUT WIN AGAINST BYFL AFTER LAST-MINUTE DRAMA

The first half of the first semifinal saw RFYC dominate proceedings from the start as they took the lead through Yanglem Singh in the ninth minute as his shot from distance flew into the top corner. Just three minutes later, it could have been two goals for the Mumbai-based side as winger Prantik Saha raced into the box from the left but saw his shot crash off the crossbar and back into play.

At the break, the scoreline read 1-0 in favour of RFYC but the gap could have easily been more if not for some terrific goalkeeping from BYFL’s Som Kumar, who made a number of top-notch saves in the first half. The best of the lot came in the 23rd minute as Som dived brilliantly to his right to stop a rasping effort from RFYC’s Harsh Vaghela from inside the box.

BYFL came out charging in the second half and looked to press their opponents high up the pitch, which saw them come close to the equalizer. However, as the tempo settled down, the game became a battle between RFYC forward Harsh Palande and the BYFL custodian.

In the 50th minute, Som produced yet another fine save to deny Harsh and two minutes later, a long-range shot from the striker seemed destined for the top corner but once again, the keeper clawed it away to safety. Two minutes from time, in the 68th minute, Harsh finally found the net as he latched on to a through ball before rounding the goalkeeper and tapping the ball into the empty net.

RFYC were now 2-0 up and seemed set for a place in the final but BFYL were not ones to back down. With a minute to go, Dhananjay Darji scored with a powerful volley from inside the penalty area to halve the deficit and in the first minute of added time, he was on hand to level the scores as he headed in a free-kick from the right flank and sent the match into a penalty shootout.

It was a battle of nerves in the shootout and at the end of it all, it was RFYC goalkeeper Aniket Ghosh who was the hero for his team. He saved three out of four penalties to take his side to the final as Viraj Arora remained the only scorer for BYFL. On the other hand, RFYC scored three out of their five spot kicks – through Supratim Das, captain Narendra Naik and Yanglem Singh.

BENGALURU FC SEAL FINAL SPOT WITH COMEBACK WIN OVER SUDEVA

In the second semifinal, Sudeva FC and Bengaluru FC faced off in an absorbing battle that saw great end-to-end action. BFC started off on the front foot as they created some early openings but just six minutes into the match, it was Sudeva who took the lead through midfielder Hiti Seb from the penalty spot.

The side from Bengaluru upped the ante as a result, coming close to scoring on a number of occasions. Ishaan Raghunanda had a chance to shoot from the right flank and kept his shot on target, which was tipped past the post by keeper Pankaj Bhandari in the 16th minute.

Four minutes later, they were inches away from equalizing as a chipped effort from the BFC striker was cleared off the line in an acrobatic manner by Sudeva’s Bijay Champia. Soon, Rohit Negi had a chance from a free-kick from the right flank but his curling effort landed on the top of the net.

With the half coming to a close, BFC were not to be denied in the third minute of added time as they scored their first with a goal straight from the training ground. Skipper Gautam Rajesh played a short corner and crossed the ball from the left flank, which was headed in at the far post by defender Vinith Venkatesh.

Scoring just before the break certainly upped BFC’s confidence and they carried it on in the second half – taking the lead in the 40th minute. It was another aerial ball that did the trick as Ishaan’s cross from the right found Chandan Biju unmarked and he headed it home to make it two to BFC.

Sudeva tried hard to find their way past a sturdy BFC defence but could not gain the upper hand. In the 53rd minute, Bengaluru were inches away from their third goal as forward Yodhin Rishyak struck a powerful shot from the top of the box but saw it come back out off the post.

In the end, Bengaluru held on for the win and made their way into the final, that will take place at the Don Bosco Ground in Margao on Wednesday (May 22, 2019).