A few days back, seven Srinagar-based players of the Real Kashmir Football Club gathered in a hotel to ponder their road ahead. There was an atmosphere of tension in the city following speculation that the Indian government was about to scrap th…
Sunil Chhetri
At a media interaction just before the Indian football team’s practice session at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday, India’s star forward Sunil Chhetri is asked an awkward question.
Consider the moment. Chhetri is standing at the cusp of history. On Saturday night, the 34-year-old was named, as expected in the 23-man squad announced by newly appointed coach Igor Stimac to participate in the four nation King’s Cup in Thailand next week. Should he take to the field as is expected against…
With five days to go for India’s national coach Igor Stimac to name his first squad for the four-nations King’s Cup in Thailand, it is fair to say there is a hint of nervousness in the Indian camp.
That this will be a new-look outfit to that favoured by former coach Steven Constantine is without doubt. Stimac has already brought in several previously uncapped players in the initial long list of 37 players. And on Monday, he reaffirmed that belief by cutting six players, including two – Germanpreet…
Rahul Bheke was one of the standout performers for Bengaluru FC this past season.
Rahul Bheke says he got his hopes up when he learned earlier this month that Croatia’s Igor Stimac had been appointed the new coach of the Indian football team. “When the ISL season ended, the news came in that the coach had been changed,” says Bheke. “I felt if the new coach is there, I could get a call-up [for the national camp] and I should be ready.”
Considering his performances in recent years, it’s a bit of a surprise that Bheke should feel there was still some doubt over his selection. While…
Real Kashmir’s fairy-tale run as the I-League title contenders in their debut season came to an end after a 2-1 loss to East Bengal on Thursday, but coach David Robertson still takes pride in his side’s campaign. Robertson, who led the side through the I-League second division last season, however, had no regrets. “If someone said at the start of the season we will be where we are now, we would be delighted,” said the former Scotland international, who has managed Real Kashmir for the last two seasons.
There…
Defending I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC have asked the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to shift their upcoming match against Real Kashmir, scheduled to be played in Srinagar on February 18, following the Pulwama terrorist attack that…
Defending I-League champions Minerva Punjab have asked the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to shift their upcoming match against Real Kashmir, scheduled to be played in Srinagar on February 18, following the Pulwama terrorist attack that ki…
Srinagar’s TRC ground was under a foot of snow on Friday.
Srinagar is at a standstill. The heaviest snowfall of the season has left the city looking like a picture out of a winter fairytale but also left roads blocked, the airport shut down and fuel in short supply. And while football might not seem very high on the list of priorities, for the first time, the I-League too will be affected.
Real Kashmir’s TRC ground is buried under a foot of snow. The I-League debutants were supposed to play East Bengal on Sunday but that match has been postponed. It’s…
As he prepares for the opening match of his second season of the I-League, Amarjit Kiyam feels he has a point to prove. The midfielder for the Indian Arrows knows they are only playing this season of the I-League by virtue of being the developmental team of the AIFF. The fact remains that they had finished dead last in last season’s table. Since they couldn’t be relegated, that sword instead fell on Churchill Brothers, who had finished two points above them.
But Kiyam, the captain of his team, assures…
Johnny Acosta represented Costa Rica at both the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.
As first impressions go, Johnny Acosta says he was more amused than annoyed at his initial glimpse of the chaos of Indian football.
As I-League giants East Bengal’s premier signing of the season, Acosta, who had played as a defender for Costa Rica at the 2018 World Cup, was being paraded at a press conference in Kolkata in August but the ceremony hit a hitch. One that they might have been expected to plan for. Acosta is a Spanish speaker but with no translator arranged, the event quickly descended…