Babul Supriyo , born on 15th December 1970, is an Indian playback singer turned politician. He is currently the Minister of State for Heavy Industries. He entered politics in 2014 and contested election for BJP. As a singer , he has worked in more than 70 Bollywood movies.

Soon the Congratulatory messages poured in. And when Shaan said that Babul Supriyo is an avid Indian Football supporter, he was cent percent right.

Babul, a die-hard supporter of Mohun Bagan and Indian football used to be a regular at the Kolkata Maidan.  

Though, there were some who even questioned Babul Supriyo’s inclusion in the U-17 World Cup Organizing committee and he tackled them quite gracefully.

A FIFA team is scheduled to visit India from March 21 to 27 for the final inspection of the facilities in the six cities which will host matches of the U-17 World Cup.

The FIFA u-17 World Cup will be held between 6th October to 28th October.

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1.  SUNIL CHETTRI and SANTIAGO MUNEZ.

Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) is best known for his role in the movie GOAL and has more things similar with Indian Football captain Sunil Chettri than just looks.

Munez’s parents were from Mexico a neighbouring country of USA whereas Sunil Chettri’s parents are from Nepal, a neighbouring country of India. Both of them plays in the forward position and while Munez took Newcastle to the Champions League play-off, Sunil took the Indian Football team to the Asian Cup 2011 after a gap of 27 years.

2. GOURMANGI SINGH and BRUCE LEE

Gourmangi Singh is a No non-sense defender whereas Bruce Lee’s Karate is all about defence.

3.ROBIN SINGH and BINDU DARA SINGH

The similarities between the two is too hard to not notice. Look at their eyes, look at their smile, look at their nose, look at their eyebrows. DAMN !

They are so similar, that in fact, both of them are known for their strengths. Whenever there is a need for a muscular actor , directors calls up Bindu whereas when coaches need someone to run through the opponents defence, Robin Singh is called up.

4.JO PAUL ANCHERI and MUKESH BHATT

Ancheri a prominent footballer from Kerala who played for India from 1992 to 2004 and has also captained the Indian team, looks a lot like actor Mukesh Bhatt who was a part of movies like Rocket Singh, A wednesday and Special 26.

5. JACKIE CHAN and BAICHUNG BHUTIA

Both of them are masters in their respective fields and coincidentally both are from a very humble background. Even though they are from culturally different backgrounds, both of them practice Buddhism.

And as far as , Baichung Bhutia’s famous bicycle kick goes , any martial art master would get impressed by it.

The post Top 5 Indian Footballers and their Celebrity Lookalikes appeared first on Football Counter.

The team selection by Constantine created an outcry among the Indian football fans.  Many of them are questioning the inclusion of players like Sumit Passi, Md.Rafique and Holicharan Narzary in the team whereas the other half were shocked to not see players like Jayesh Rane, Souvik Chakraborty in the probable list.

So, we at FootballCounter decided to form an Indian starting XI with players who were not included in the 31 Men India squad.  

FORWARD- In this position, we choose Balwant Singh who has got more goals in I-League in this season than Holicharan Narzary, Sumit Passi and Daniel.

MIDFIELD- Both Jayesh Rane and Kean Lewis were favourites to make the Indian side but I guess Constantine had other plans. Though, an injury might be the reason why Kean Lewis was omitted from the squad. But why Jayesh Rane was not included in the team who is having a dream run in this I-League season, could only be answered by Constantine himself. He and Brandon both were instrumental for Aizawl FC and is one of the reasons why they are in the 3rd position in the league table. Lalrindika Ralte coming off from a year long injury has certainly impressed the most of us Indian football fans and was even captain of the East Bengal side during the famous Kolkata Derby. Mandar Rao Desai may not be in his best of form but a player of his class can never be ignored.

DEFENCE: Our defence looks good enough to tackle teams like Kyrgyzstan and Macau. All the four of our defenders- Souvik Chakraborty, Prabir Das, Sena Ralte and M.Wadoo had an exceptional ISL season. Souvik received several praises from Delhi Dynamos boss Zambrotta for his superb defensive abilities on the right back position. Prabir Das too had great success in the wing-back position when he played for Atletico Kolkata. Sena Ralte also has proved himself time and again in the Left back position for both Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC. Mehrajuddin Wadoo was the most capped player for ChennaiyinFC , this season. This tells you volume about the form Wadoo was in during the ISL3.

GOALKEEPER: Though we have some big names in the team with the likes of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh and Subrata Pal but still a player of Debjit’s stature can never be ignored.

Special Mention: Romeo Fernandes,  Lalramchullova,  Albino Gomes and Nirmal Chhetri.

If you think our team is good enough which comprises of players who were not chosen in the 31 men Indian squad then let us know.  If you think we missed to mention someone then also let us know in the comment section.

The post An Indian starting XI comprises of players who were not call for the Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers Camp. appeared first on Football Counter.

The post Luis Norton , India U-17 Coach – Analysis. appeared first on Football Counter.

I bet you didn’t know this. 

The level of Bromance between Robin Singh and Eugenson Lyngdoh is too damn high.

It’s amazing how a single tweet of 140 words can make you explain what India is all about.  I don’t see a Christian , a Muslim and a Hindu in this picture. All I can see is brotherhood, love and respect for each other.

In Which country but India can this be witnessed ?

One of  the best feeling in the world is when you see two of your Legends sharing a moment like this.  The tweet from Gurpreet is enough to make any Indian football fan’s heart melt.

Baichung Bhutia is so good at that trademark bicycle kick of his that he will be able to pull it off even when he will turn 50 years old. I have got no doubt about it.

Girls are leaving no stones un-turned to flirt with Robin Singh and I on the other hand can’t even get a reply back from them.By the way, why is she calling him a Doctor ? Is it because of Robin Singh’s Clinical Finish?

Santosh Kumar, a Bengaluru FC fan tweeted this to Sunil Chhetri and I could’nt resist myself from sharing this with you all.

When the Guy, who has been making every other striker in the ISL and I-League look like a MAMU , finally becomes a Chachu. Pardon my poor joke.

Sandesh here, is talking about his nephew Ivaan Jhingan.

Hahahah ! Amrinder literally won the internet that day.  But what’s up with Vineeth ?

Dayum ! I had no idea that Girls too can flirt just like us boys do untill I came across Robin Singh’s twitter account.

Forget Casanova, Robin Singh is the real deal.

We will end the Article with this motivational tweet from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

The post Best Tweets from the Indian Football Stars appeared first on Football Counter.

Dong , who was a part of East Bengal in the last years Kolkata derby, wished them good luck on facebook before the start of the match.

Love for football and fish, that’s exactly what makes us Bengalis. Ahahah !

Not to forget , Paul the Octopus pretty much predicted everything right during the 2010 World Cup.

It’s a whole other thing that this particular Octupus died 5 years ago.

Hotel’s in Siliguri are benefiting the most due to the derby as all the thousands of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan supporters need somewhere to stay.

Willis Plaza’s Agent and former Mohun Bagan player Stephen on Facebook.

Darryl Duffy, is one of the 10 players from both teams who will experience the derby atmosphere for the first time.

When you are an Aizawl FC supporter.  Remember Aizawl is just 3 points behind East Bengal and  is currently placed in the 3rd position of the table.

Singer, MP and now a Poet as well. That’s how Babul Supriyo rolls !

This are the genuine supporters of the clubs, unlike the celebs we get to see during the ISL who are paid in huge amount for their presence within the stadium.

I hope, this is just a rumour !

Indeed.

The match is between East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan and Ten Sports put up a poster with Sunil in it who plays for Bengaluru FC.

What is wrong with Ten Sports ? All we I-League fans are asking from them is a little effort and they are failing to deliver that also.

This one is just for the Bengalis !

The post How Fans are reacting on Twitter before the Kolkata Derby? appeared first on Football Counter.

Right from the start, Minerva started to attack the opponent’s defence and it only took them, 3 minutes to build up their first proper attack of the match, though it did not result in a goal. Minerva scored the first goal of the match through their captain Jeakson Singh within the ten-minute mark.

This out of the world long-range made the people present at the stadium go into a frenzy. The goal shot was taken at least 15 metres away from the penalty box.

Minerva had the chance to double up their lead at the 10th minute of the match but the cross from their left-winger was just an inch away from Md. Shahjahan.

The second goal came 4 minutes after the first one from Sailo. This goal was an exact replica of the first one, expect this one went inside the top left corner of the goal and the first one was banged into the right corner of the goalpost.

Even after getting the second goal, Minerva boys didn’t slow down a bit they kept on playing their brand of pressing football and tiki-taka football.

Throughout the first half of the match, the Minerva defence did a great job by nipping all the possible dangers in the bud. Ozone FC Bengaluru hardly got any proper chance to take a shot onto the Minerva goal.

Thanks to the pressing football by the Minervans and a perfect assist from Sailo, Md. Shahjahan nailed the final one in the Ozone FC coffin on 33 minutes.

Needless to say, Minerva completely dominated the first half of the match and they headed to the changing room with a handsome 3-0 lead.

In the second half, just when it seemed Ozone FC were starting to settle down and getting a hang of the match, the Minervans came out and put up two back-to-back attacks.

At the 51st minute, Minerva almost had their fourth goal but unfortunately for them, it was ruled an offside. Then two minutes later, Minerva was awarded a free-kick outside the box. Had it not been a brilliant save by the Ozone FC goalkeeper  Gurmeet Singh, the score line could have been 4-0 in favour of the Minerva boys.

Minerva could afford to replace their first-choice goalie in the 75th minute. However, both of the Minerva goalies, who stood under the woodwork tonight, were hardly tested by the opponent attackers.

Ozone’s best chance of minimising the gap came on 83 minutes but yet again the Minerva defence was up to the task. The danger was averted with a beautifully executed sliding tackle.

The most commendable part was that both the team maintained a high tempo throughout the match. Moreover, for Ozone FC, who came into the second half with a deficit of three goals, never for a moment gave up the fight, even during the extra time they were running after the ball with utmost zeal, they always had the hunger for goal in their game but it seems the game planning let them down.

Ozone FC, who earned huge accolades for their bravado on their debut season, are awarded a cheque of INR 1.5 Lac whereas Minerva Punjab FC are bestowed with the snazzy Nike Premier Cup trophy and a hefty cheque of INR 5 Lac.

The post Nike Premier Cup: Champion Minerva Punjab FC score 100% appeared first on Football Counter.

Only for he looked, above colour or creed that Celtic have their first Asian sensation. The year was 1936 when Mohammed Salim reached the coast of Britain along with his cousin. In Glasgow, Salim was introduced to Willie Malay by his cousin, “A great player from India has come by ship. Will you please take a trial of his? But there is a slight problem. Salim plays in bare feet.” to which Willie laughed but was awe-struck once he saw Salim play during the trial. Willie was so impressed by his skills and techniques that he immediately wanted to sign up Salim.

There is a whole another story of how Salim reached Britain.

After an impressive season with Mohammedan SC, Salim was invited to play two matches for All India XI against the China Olympic side. He was so majestic in the first match that the opponents had nothing but praises for him.
Then the most bizarre thing happened, Mohammed Salim disappeared just before the second match. Advertisements were placed in several newspapers asking him to return before the start of the match. IFA, who were organizing the two friendlies in India for the first time, all its effort to bring back Salim went in vain.

It was only later learnt that Salim along with his cousin Hasheem went to Britain to try his luck in European football. Upon reaching Britain, Hasheem took him to Glasgow so that he can appear for the Celtic trials and the rest, as they say, is all history.

TRIAL AT CELTIC PARK:

After persuasion from both Hasheem and Salim, Willie Malay finally agreed to take a trial of him.
Salim then demonstrated his skills and techniques in front of 1,000 Celtic members and three coaches. He was so incredible that Willie instantly decided to sign him up and make him play some friendlies.

FRIENDLY MATCHES:
In his first match against Hamilton, Celtic won by a scoreline of 5-1. He took a penalty and even managed to score one, thus becoming the first ever Indian-born footballer to play and score in European Football. It was only 63 years later that a similar feat was achieved by another Indian-born. It was none other than Baichung Bhutia when he scored off a volley against Chesterfield in English Division two for Bury FC.

In the second match against Galston, Salim helped Celtic to clinch an emphatic win against them. The scoreline ended 7-1. Of the 7 goals scored by the team, three of them came from his move.

EFFECT ON CROWD:
“Well Worth Seeing” that’s the exact headline used by the Scottish newspaper before Salim’s first game against the Hamilton. There was a huge hype before the game to see the barefoot Indian winger play. 5000 People turned up for this game and Salim played along with Celtic legend Malky MacDonald.

During the second friendly, Salim’s performance was even more impressive. Salim’s popularity at Parkhead was sky-high, “Give the ball to Salim” was demanded by the crowd, but the Celtic players wisely did not overwork the Indian.
It said that the penalty shot, Salim took was so powerful that even after getting a hand to it the opponent goalie couldn’t manage to stop the ball from going inside the net.

HOME-SICK:

A week after the friendlies, Salim left Glasgow to be on his way back to Calcutta on the ship that brought him.
Willie Malay wanted to sign him for the 1936-37 season and in order to persuade him to stay at Celtic, the manager even offered to hold a charity game in his honour and was even willing to give 5 percent of the total ticket sale.
But Salim still wanted to leave Britain as he was homesick and was missing his family very badly.

BACK-HOME:

After returning back to India he joined Mohammedan SC and helped them to clinch two back to back CFL titles before retiring in 1938. Salim certainly didn’t forget about Celtic FC. In 1949 he contacted The Evening Times (Newspaper) in an attempt to secure a copy of Willie Malay’s Book and again in 1960, he wrote to them.
Celtic too didn’t forget Mohammed Salim.

Rashid, son of Mohammed Salim, wrote to Celtic FC, the letter said that Salim was seriously ill and in need of urgent medical treatment. To Rashid’s surprise, he received a letter from the club inside which there was a bank draft of 100 pounds.

At a time when India remained under colonial rule when our own were fighting against the foreign invaders for our own land, for our basic human rights.

It was the Scottish people who showed us that with the football we can eliminate all racial discrimination.The club gave both Salim and his cousin a proper reception, whole-hearted support, and treated them in a right manner.

The post Mohammed Salim – The first Indian Footballer to Play in Europe appeared first on Football Counter.

• Unprofessional Attitude :
  On 10th December 2004, negligency on part of AIFF and Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA) costed a promising footballer his life. Cristiano Júnior was then the highest paid footballer in the Indian League. During the Federation Cup final between Dempo and Mohun Bagan , Junior collided with then Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Subrata Pal at the 78th minute of the match and collapsed on the football field. Just before the impact , he placed the ball right towards the goal.
  After he fell down to the ground , many attempts to revive him were taken but all were in vain as there was no registered doctor present at the ground. He was then rushed to the Hosmat Hospital where he was declared ”brought dead”.
  Bangalore District Football Association only asked for physiotherapists and an ambulance but no doctors for the game. The reason they cited was that they could’nt afford 1000 Rupees per doctor.
  After Junior fell down on the ground , his Dempo teammates rushed to him , thinking it to be a celebration, the referee took almost 7 mins to allow the physio’s to enter the ground so that they can have a look at Junior. As physiotherapists are not allowed to enter the field without referee’s consent , therefore ,they were waiting for his approval.
  The Brazillian forward was rushed to Hosmat hospital which is two km away from the stadium (Being a rush hour , the traffic was heavy too) and not to the nearby Mallya hospital has drawn some severe criticism and speculation. Even the oxygen cylinder in the ambulance which was carrying him , was not working.
  Futher enquiry revealed that , neither Dempo SC nor Mohun Bagan had their own doctor present at the Ground. Infact , not a single team that took participation in that years Federation Cup had their own doctors.
  After this incident Subrata Pal was suspended for 2 Months.
  This incident perhaps was the biggest blot on the face of the I-League.Exposed its unprofessional , callous attitude infront of the whole footballing world.

• Poor Media Coverage and Sponsorship:
  During the 2011-12 and 2012-13 I-League, the league was a 14 team affair , as a result of which a total of 182 matches were played, out which only 75 matches were telecasted on Televisions. This is really apalling for the top tier league of a country with a population of 1.2 billion people . The population part was mentioned because the league somehow failed to create a market for itself even with such a huge population.
  Not just this, I-League didn’t even have a title sponsor untill the 2013-14 I-League when Airtel struck a deal with them. Then after the first season of ISL, Hero decided to sponsor I-league alongwith ISL.
  After this deal, a lot has improved for I-League, they even started handing out monetary prizes for the man of match. Though the money they offer seem to be very less compared to what ISL man of the matches gets but the fact that they are now getting prizes is praise-worthy.

• Zero Marketting:
  Apart from people of Kolkata , North East and Bengaluru not many are well informed about the premier league of Indian Football. Sadly , neither the clubs nor the federation took any initiative about it. The AIFF has long been criticized for hardly doing anything to promote the I-League, resulting poor Fan- following of I-League among masses.The league’s problems intensified after the emergence of the ISL, which adopted aggressive marketing practices to overshadow the I-League.
  As a Last ditch efforts by the Clubs, it was decided that all involved I-League clubs will contribute a notable amount of Money to a central pool. That money will be used to buy airtime on regional TV channels along with Ad spaces in the newspapers and digital media. This strategy was developed before the 2016 I-League. How much of a success it was , is still unknown.

• Confinement of the league to certain pockets of the Country :
  Though 2017 I-League will be an exception, but in all the previous editions of the league , most teams came from Goa and Kolkata.
  Take the example of 2012-13 I-League. In that years league, 4 teams were from Goa , 4 teams from Kolkata and 3 from Maharashtra. As a result of which other parts of India felt left out from the League. No representation at all from Southern and the Northern part of the country.
  Luckily , inclusion of teams like Bengaluru, Chennai City , Minerva Punjab and DSK over the year in the league, might make it enliven.

Basically , if you think about ISL , it is offering everything I-League failed to do. Be it entertainment , crowd filled stadiums, sponsor , money or professionalism. The only difference is I-League had 20 years to achieve all this and all it took ISL to accomplish this was 3 years.

It’s high time we embrace the change; at least for the betterment of Indian Football.

The post Why we need ISL ? appeared first on Football Counter.

FIFA World Cups started in 1930, Uruguay being the host for that edition also successfully managed to claim the trophy. Only 13 teams took part in that edition. After this, FIFA increased the number of slots for the final round of FIFA World Cup to 16.
World Cup remained a 16 team affair up untill the 1978 World Cup which was both hosted and won by Argentina. Then from 1982’s Cup in Spain, the World Cup was made open to 24 teams and it was only as recently as 1998 that FIFA decided to let 32 teams play in the final round. So, now after a gap of 28 years FIFA will again increase the number of participating teams.

Now, lets get back to India and its chances.
Till the 2022 World Cup, the Asia Confedartion will get 4 sure slots out of the 32 available slots. Europe will get (13) slots , North America (3.5) , Africa (5), South America (4.5) OFC (1).
But from the 2026 World Cup, Asia will have 8.5 slots available to them. The half slots representing teams going to the play-offs.

If the 8.5 slots were to be awarded purely on the basis of the present FIFA ranking then these are the teams that would qualify for the 2026 World Cup from the Asian Confederation (AFC).

Needless to say, these are some of the heavyweight teams of Asia but where does India stands against them ?
Over the past 1 year the India Under-17 had the opportunity to play against some of these heavyweights. Of course against the Under-17 squad of the respective teams.
Saudi Arabia :
Now ranked 48 in the World FIFA ranking and 5th in the Asian ranking. India U17 boys had the opportunity to play against them during the 2016 U16 AFC Championship.
The Game started pretty well for India , they started dictating terms to their West Asian counterparts. India U17 was 2 goals up just within the first 25 minutes of the game.
The turning point of the match came in the 80th minute when a lapse of concentration from the Indian side costed them two back to back goals.
The Match ended in a 3-3 draw. With Suraj Wangjam scoring the last goal for India at the 90+5 minutes. Thats how dramatic the game was.

China PR:
We faced them in the BRICS Cup back in 2016. Both the teams played in the same manner throughout the game and it was only the goal at 90+5 mins from China’s U17 player Cong, that separated the two teams.
FT: India 0-1 China

United Arab Emirates:
This was India U17’s first game in the 2016 AFC U16 Champioship. Yet again the Indian team had a sensational start. We were leading by 2 goals to 1 against UAE (A country ranked 69 in the World) in the first half itself. Then due to some poor defending mistakes and lack of concentration from the Indian side, the UAE players scored two goals in the second half. Ending the game 3-2 in favour of UAE.
South Korea:
This was India U17’s one of the best performance . We played against them in the Youth Cup. Here we completely dominated this Asian superpower. We were literally toying with them, we had the most ball posession, our players were displaying out of the world football skills, all in all, it was a super performance from our boys. The only thing missing was a goal as the Korean team parked the bus with all of their 10 players in the back line defending.
No one would have been able to guess that the difference in FIFA ranking between the two teams were 120 at that time.
The Game ended with a scoreline of 0 – 0 (Draw).

Iran:
India U17 team faced Iran two times and the stories has been completely different each time.
The first occasion we faced them was in the AFC U16 tournament. We lost that game by 3-0. Iran’s first goal came from its brightest young prospect Ghadari, in the 23rd minute of the match. The next two goals from Iran were at the 81st and 90+1 minute of the match, both the goals were from the penalty spot. They dominated us for most of the match and needless to say they were technically superior to us and displayed much better team co-ordination.
Then came the Granatkin Cup, here we faced Iran for the second time. We were much better prepared this time around and it showed on the pitch. We were clearly the better team that day (17th jan 2017).
Right from the very begining we had our attack mode on and was having a go at the goal every 2-3 minutes. India’s biggest moment came in the 8th minute when Abhijit Sarkar failed to tap in the ball into an open net. Iran on the other hand struck the back of the Indian net at 39th minute.
During the second half, the Indian team uppped its ante but was unable to score a goal. We are attacking from the left , from the right , from the centre and this made the Iranian defence was defend on their toes. Being unable to cope up with the Indian attack their defence even conceeded a red card. Inspite of all our effort we couldnt manage to get a goal.
We were so impressive that even the Iranian coach had to praise our players.

Here is what Iran’s Head Coach has to say about India’s performance:

But for some reason I feel he understated our U17 boys performances. He claimed that ” in some of the moments the Indian players were better than the Iran players.”
Anyone who has watched the game knows that India was the better team for most part of the game.

This shows that our U17 Boys are improving at a faster rate than Asian Superpower Iran.
Presently, if not better our Under-17 boys are at par with the best Asian teams and the rate at which we are improving we will no doubt possess some serious threat to these teams in the future.
Though this is not a perfect parameter to measure our chances for qualification to the World Cup but this is the only parameter we have. And for some reason this does make some sense. As this U-17 Indian boys will be around 23 years old when the qualification process for the 2026 World Cup will start and 26 years when the actual world cup will begin.
Maybe this article is a bit too optimistic but then again we are Indians and its completely okay for us to be an optimist !
And we at FootballCounter.com truly believe Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement and nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
“Turn your face towards the sun and the shadown fall behind you” – Anonymous.

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