FIFA and the Local Organising Committee of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 today announced that Phase I tickets for Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi have been reopened for sale.

Illustrating the huge interest in the beautiful game in these regions, tickets for these three cities had been sold out well before knowing the teams that will play at the venue.

Ticket sales for Phase I are scheduled to end on 7th July 2017, after the Official Draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017. Keeping that in mind, the Organising Committee has decided to ensure fans who have not yet got a chance to buy the Venue Package in the three cities, can access the discounted tickets for another three days.

Speaking about the decision, FIFA Deputy Secretary General Zvonimir Boban said “We’ve been really impressed with the interest in the tournament, especially in Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi, and we’d like to give the fans there one more opportunity before the draw to book their place for this historic event in India. This is a beautiful demonstration of the love that Indian people have for football.”

Tickets for Phase II will go on sale once the fixtures have been decided on 7th after the Official Draw for the tournament. The phase will exclusively be available for VISA cardholders between 7th and 21st July.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup will take place in India between 6th and 28th October.

NEW DELHI: All India Football Federation today (July 4, 2017) submitted an expression of interest to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in India in 2019.

Mr. Praful Patel, President, All India Football Federation stated that this would be the next “logical step for the development of Football in India.”

“With India hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 this year in October, we feel hosting the U-20 World Cup would be the best way to sustain the footballing momentum in India. Even though the event was held earlier this year in Asia in Korea Republic, we would be happy to discuss with FIFA about the possibility of hosting the event in India in 2019,” he said.

The format of the U-20 World Cup is same as the FIFA U-17 World Cup with 24 teams playing out of six venues.

Meanwhile, the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 will be held in India from October 6-28, 2017.

Following a request from the All India Football Federation to hold the group matches of the FIFA U‑17 World Cup India 2017 in which India are playing in New Delhi, and the fruitful discussions between the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the local government, FIFA has agreed to amend the match schedule as follows:

Group A, featuring the home team, which is automatically seeded as A1, will be based in New Delhi and teams of Group B will be based in Navi Mumbai. Matches for the knockout stage remain as planned before.

Acknowledging the increased efforts of the local authorities and the LOC in connection with the requested amendment, FIFA’s Head of Tournaments Jaime Yarza said: “Attendance, especially in the venue where the home team plays its matches, is one of the priorities of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, crucial to achieving the purpose of better positioning football in the country, so the government’s commitment in this regard is highly appreciated. The presence of the Secretary of Sports at the meetings concerning the state of the works in the stadium and training sites sends a positive message and reflects the strong involvement of the authorities. We expect this involvement to extend into the area of pollution prevention, which has been an important topic discussed in relation to the tournament, in particular in Delhi. We are now expecting an action response plan to prevent pollution levels from affecting the tournament, which ideally should continue beyond the tournament.”

In less than ten days – on Friday, 7 July 2017 at 19:00 local time – the draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 will take place at the Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai.

Besides India, who are automatically qualified as hosts, the following teams have booked their tickets to the competition: Iran, Iraq, Japan, Korea DPR (AFC); New Caledonia, New Zealand (OFC); Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay (CONMEBOL); Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, USA (CONCACAF); England, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey (UEFA); Mali, Niger, Ghana, and Guinea (CAF).

FC Pune City rode on the double strikes from striker Senorita Nogngpluh to blank Tripude Sports Academy, Nagpur in a Group-B league match of the WIFA Women’s Football Championship, which is being conducted as part of the FIFA-AIFF State Development Project, at the Cooperage ground, on Friday. Senorita scored both the goals in the first half, the first in the 14^th minute and second in the 27^th minute.

In the second match of the day, Aadhar Pratisthan, Mumbai and KSA Women’s FC shared honours as they played out a tame goalless draw.

The Mumbai outfit Aadhar Pratisthan topped the group with 7 points while Pune City were placed second with 6 points and both have qualified for the semi-finals, which is scheduled to be played on Sunday, July 1. The finals will be held the following day on Monday, July 3.

In the semi-finals, Aadhar Pratisthan will take on United Poona FA, while Pune City will clash with hot favourites Bodyline FC.

Results – Group-B: Aadhar Pratisthan, Mumbai 0 drew with KSA Women’s FC, Kolhapur 0.

FC Pune City, Pune 2 (Senorita Nogngpluh 2) beat Tripude Sports Academy, Nagpur 0.

NEW DELHI: All India Football Federation has arranged for two International matches for the Indian U-23 National Team as part of the preparation process for the forthcoming AFC U-23 Championships slated to be held in Doha.

National Coach Stephen Constantine felt the games would be a “learning experience” for the team.

“It’s been two weeks that we have been together and the U-23 boys need competitive games. The tour to Singapore would be a valuable experience for the squad to gauge the intensity of International encounters. I thank AIFF for arranging the matches ahead of our AFC Qualifiers,” he stated.

“The games would be competitive and provide us the much needed exposure,” he further added. It has been under Constantine’s coaching that the Senior Indian National Team has jumped 73 places in the FIFA Rankings to be currently placed 100.

AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das said the primary objective of the AIFF is to provide the “best exposure to all National Teams.”

“It is really frustrating that despite applying well in advance and after multiple follow-ups for the US visas we failed to get any response from the concerned authorities. I need to thank the Singapore FA for agreeing to the two International matches which would provide valuable practice for our U-23 boys prior to the AFC U-23 Qualifiers,” he said.

The U-23 Team presently preparing in the Capital since June 19 will fly to Singapore in the first week of July from where they will directly proceed to take on Turkmenistan, Qatar and Syria in Group C from July 19 onwards.

Bengaluru: Indian Super League side Bengaluru FC on Thursday, announced the appointment of AFC Pro-Licensed Coach Naushad Moosa as Indian Assistant Coach for the first team as well as Head Coach of the newly formed BFC reserve side.

Moosa has formerly served as Head of Youth Development and Head Coach of the U19 side at Pune FC and was head coach of Air India Limited in 2012. A former youth Coach at Mumbai FC, his most recent appointment was as U14s coach at Reliance Foundation Young Champs.

“As a coach, it is a privilege to join a club that has a winning mentality. Bengaluru FC has won a trophy in each of its four seasons and the professionalism of this team is second to none. I’m really looking forward to being a part of the setup here,” said Moosa following his appointment.

A former footballer himself, Moosa has turned out for Air India, Churchill Brothers, East Bengal FC, Mahindra United and Mohammedan Sporting in a career that spanned over 12 years. As coach of the Pune FC U19s, Moosa claimed the U18 I-League twice in three years and won the Pune League in 2016.

“We are very happy to add Naushad to our backroom staff. His experience as a player and coach will add a lot of value to our team and the added responsibility of managing the reserve squad will see him nurture the future stars at BFC,” said club COO Mustafa Ghouse.

While joining Albert Roca and Carles Cuadrat as  the Blues’ first team coaches, 46-year-old Moosa will also be at the helm of things for the newly formed BFC reserve side, which looks to bridge the gap between the clubs Residential Youth Academy in Bellary and the first team.

SILIGURI: India won their fourth consecutive SAFF Women’s Championship title when they beat Bangladesh 3-1 in the final of the 4th SAFF Women’s Championship at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri on Wednesday (January 4, 2016). In the process, the golden girls now stay unbeaten in 19 matches having won 18 and drawn one.

The first goal came early, as early as the 12th minute. Though it wasn’t a dream goal for any striker, scorer Dangmei Grace didn’t really mind when it touched her leg and slowly rolled into the empty net with rival Goalkeeper Sabina Akhtar caught in a dilemma.

It set the tone for the match. The match being a final meant that Bangladesh had to shrug off their defensive aspirations and that allowed India the width and space.

In the first 20 minutes, India had earned 4 corners and every time Bala Devi touched the ball, she created something out of nothing. In fact, Kamala Devi should have doubled the lead in the 17th minute when Bala set her a free-header, but it narrowly sailed out.

However, Bangladesh withstood the storm, regrouped, and eventually equalise in the40th minutethroughShopna as both Teams headed to the interval locked 1-1.

Changing over, India were again faster off the blocks. They pressed high and hard even as Bangladesh depended mostly on counter-attacks.

The break came in the 60th minute when the irrepressible Bala was pushed inside the box as the referee pointed to the spot. 2016 AIFF Player of the Year Sasmita Malik gleefully converted it.

With just 30 minutes remaining, it was quite a task for Bangladesh to come back. And it went worse for them seven minutes later when Goalkeeper Sabina, who was having a decent game till then, misjudged the bounce of a harmless Indumathi shot from long and it rolled in.

As India’s golden girls celebrated, Sabina hid her face in her gloves, quite understanding her mistake may rob her Country of the steam to fight back. Life at times can be so cruel.

Spurred, India did go all out as they smelt more. But this time, their perseverance didn’t yield any more goals.

It hardly mattered. It was fourth in a row for India, unbeaten in 19 matches and counting.

Credits: AIFF Media

Credits: AIFF Media

SILIGURI: India Women’s Team start their SAFF Championship 2016 campaign in style as they rout Afghanistan by a whopping 5-1 margin in the Group B opener at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri today (December 27, 2016).

Kamala Devi opened the scoreline in the third minute even before the spectators could settle. The early goal instilled more vigour into the Indian girls to change the gear in their pursuit of more goals.

At the stroke of the half-hour mark, the referee awarded a penalty in the favour of the hosts and ‘AIFF Women’s Player of the Year’ Sasmita Malik didn’t waste the chance to double the lead from the 6-yard spot.

Afghani girls were trying to consolidate the game in the middle but India netted the third goal three minutes later from a brilliant piece of individual skill of Kamala Devi. She sneaked past the opposition defender from the left, cut into the penalty box and whacked the back of the net, leaving the goalie stranded.

In the dying minutes of the first half, Grace joined the party to take the scoreline to unassailable 4-0.

After the changeover, it was a completely different Afghanistan outfit who came out of the dressing room and the game was not a one-way traffic anymore.

Afghanistan players tried to control the game from their half and started building up attacks to break the Indian defiance.

Although the Indian defenders show their resilience to thwart the Afghani girls’ every effort, finally the deadlock was broken two minutes to the end of the regulation time.

Muhtaz Farkhunda tapped it home to net their first goal of the tournament sending the Afghanistan dressing room into a delirium.

Three minutes later, ‘AIFF Emerging Player of the Year’ Sanju nailed the final one in the Afghani coffin to seal the victory for the defending champions.

India are slated to take on neighbours Bangladesh on the last day of the year while Afghanistan will meet Bangladesh in their must-win fixture on December 29, 2016.

Credits AIFF Media Team

SILIGURI: All the head coaches from the participating nations barring Maldives and Bangladesh, who are scheduled to reach by tomorrow morning, attended the pre-tournament press conference in Siliguri today (December 25, 2016).

Mr. Jasmine (Sri Lanka), Mrs. Kelly Lindsy (Afghanistan), Mr. Kumar Thapa (Nepal),  Mr. Lee (Bhutan) andMr. Sajid Yusuf Dar (India) addressed the media in the press conference.

It’s the first tournament for the India team sans the legendary ballplayer Bembem Devi, who hung up her boots after the successful campaign during the South Asian Games in Shillong earlier this year.

“Although she’s not there with us as a player, but she is very much with the girls to share her expertise and loads of experience. Now the onus is on the girls to show their mettle ahead of the supporters”, Sajid stated at the press conference.

He added more, “Girls have come in the wake of a long camp at Hoshiarpur and we have every reason to stay positive before our first match on December 27.”

Nepal, who ended up as the runners-up in the last edition, are upbeat to stage an upset to start 2017 in a positive way.

“Yes, the memory didn’t go well with us in 2014. But, we’re looking forward to turning the table now”, Kumar Thapa sounded pretty optimistic while addressing the media.

Sri Lankan coach sounded a bit sceptical about the climate of Siliguri which is a bit different from their country, but he mentioned that players have to be ‘adaptive and positive’ before the tournament starts.

“Sooner the players adapt to the climate, better for us. It’s the perfect stage for us to perform and we can’t afford to complain about the climate.”

Mrs. Kelly Lindsy, Head Coach of Afghanistan, commented, “We want to leave a long-lasting impression before we leave the SAFF zone.”

Incidentally, this is the last SAFF Women’s Championship where Afghanistan is going to ply their trade. They have already joined the Central Asian Zone.

She wholeheartedly thanked the local organising committee as well.

“We have been very thankful to the organising committee for all the facilities provided to us. The atmosphere is really pleasant and we’re looking forward to a gruelling tournament ahead”, Lindsy concluded.

SILIGURI: The Indian Women’s Team reached Siliguri today (December 24, 2016) afternoon for the forthcoming SAFF Women’s Championship which kicks off on December 26, 2016.

India have been clubbed with Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Group B and the top-2 teams will advance to the semi-finals.

Head Coach Sajid Dar stated, “Girls are in proper shape and they’re ready for the challenge.”

Meanwhile, India climbed up to 54 in the recently-released FIFA ranking and Sajid Dar dubbed it as a ‘motivational booster’ before SAF Championship.

“Indeed it’s a great news before the SAFF Championship. It’ll motivate the girls to prove their mettle ahead of the home crowd”, Sajid commented.

Siliguri welcomed the girls with a pleasant weather and is expected to remain soothing in the coming days during the SAFF Championship.

He mentioned, “Although we are approaching the championship as the defending champions, we can’t be tagged as the favourite. Everyone will start afresh and so do we.

“There’s always some advantages and disadvantages playing at home. Girls have come at the back of a rigorous preparatory camp and they’ll surely show their worth in the ensuing Championship”, Sajid added.

India are slated to play Afghanistan on December 27 followed by their final match of the round robin stage against Bangladesh on December 31.

NEW DELHI: Jeje Lalpekhlua has been nominated as the ‘2016 AIFF Player of the Year.’ The announcement was made by Mr. Praful Patel, President, AIFF at the AIFF Annual General Body Meeting held at the AIFF Football House in New Delhi on Wednesday (December 21, 2016).

He will be presented a prize of Rs. 2.5 lakh along with with the glittering Trophy.

An elated Jeje mentioned that he was “honoured” on being chosen as the ‘2016 AIFF Player of the Year.’

“This year has really gone great for me. This award is another motivation for me to reap more in the future,” he stated.

Furthermore, Sasmita Malik was conferred with the 2016 AIFF Woman Footballer of the Year. The Odisha-based footballer will be bestowed with a prize of Rs. 2 lakh besides a Trophy.

“I thank the AIFF for their constant support and help. I revere the Awards lauded to me by the AIFF a lot and these are the things which matter the most to you as a Player,” she said.

AIFF inducts two ‘2016 AIFF Award for Special Recognition’ awards for Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Uvena Fernandes. They will be bestowed with Rs. 1 lakh and a trophy apiece.

Gurpreet represented Stabaek FC in the Europa League, first Indian to feature in a Europa League fixture whereas Uvena Fernandes is the first Indian Official to officiate in a World Cup final match. She officiated the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2016 final in Jordan.

Meanwhile, Rowllin Borges was declared as the ‘2016 AIFF Emerging Player of the Year.’

“As a Player, it’s my duty to give my best. Being conferred with such an Award means a lot to me. The recognition motivates me further,” he maintained.

Sanju, an integral part of the team who won the South Asian Games 2016, was being honoured with the ‘2016 AIFF Emerging Women Footballer of the Year’ award.

“I am in loss of words having received the news of the award. It means a lot to me and I am so happy that I could achieve this. I thank the AIFF for their constant support and exposure. And without a platform provided by the AIFF, I don’t know where I would be,” Sanju opined.

Furthermore, Punjab Football Association snapped the ‘2016 AIFF Award for Best Grassroots Programme.’

The ‘2015 AIFF Award for long-time contribution to Indian Football was awarded to Nike.

Pranjal Banerjee from IFA won ‘2016 AIFF Award for Best Referee’ along with Joseph Tony was awarded the ‘2016 AIFF Award for Best Assistant Referee’.

2016 AIFF AWARDS AT A GLANCE:

2016 AIFF Player of the Year: Jeje Lalpekhlua

2016 AIFF Woman Footballer of the Year: Sasmita Malik

2016 AIFF Emerging Player of the Year: Rowllin Borges

2016 AIFF Emerging Woman Footballer of the Year: Sanju

2016 AIFF Award for Best Grassroots Development Programme: Punjab Football Association

2016 AIFF Award for long-time contribution to Indian Football: Nike

2016 AIFF Award for Best Referee: Pranjal Banerjee

2016 AIFF Award for Best Assistant Referee: Joseph Tony

PREVIOUS WINNERS OF AIFF PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

1992: IM Vijayan

1993: VP Sathyan

1994: Jo Paul Ancheri

1995: Bhaichung Bhutia

1996: Bruno Coutinho

1997: IM Vijayan

2000: IM Vijayan

2001: Jo Paul Ancheri

2002: Deepak Mondal

2003: Tomba Singh

2004: S. Venkatesh

2005: Climax Lawrence

2006: Surkumar Singh

2007: Sunil Chhetri

2008: Bhaichung Bhutia

2009: Subrata Paul

2010: Gouramangi Singh

2011: Sunil Chhetri

2012: Syed Rahim Nabi

2013: Sunil Chhetri

2014: Sunil Chhetri

2015: Eugeneson Lyngdoh

NEW DELHI: Mr. Praful Patel was unanimously elected as the President of the All India Football Federation at the Annual General Body Meeting held at Football House, the Headquarters of the All India Football Federation on Wednesday (December 21, 2016).

The electoral process was completed in the presence of the appointed returning officer Justice Bipin Chandra Kandpal (Retd.) who declared Mr. Patel elected along with the Executive Committee for the term 2017-2020.

“I declare Mr. Praful Patel unanimously elected as the President of the All India Football Federation. All nominated persons for the posts of Executive Committee members have also been elected unanimously, subject to the final outcome of the pending court proceedings. Congratulations to all of them”, Justice Kandpal declared.

Mr. Dilip Kumar Singh also attended the AGM as an observer on behalf of the Government of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, while Mr. Kuldeep Vats was the observer on behalf of the Indian Olympic Association.

Besides, Mr. Purushottam Kattel, International Relations Officer, Asian Football Confederation and Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, FIFA Regional Developmental Officer, South and Central Asia were also present on the occasion.

Mr. Chirag Tanna and Mr. Rochak Langer represented FSDL in the AGM.

“On behalf of the AIFF, I can assure you of the highest standard of ethics and transparency,” Mr. Patel told the house immediately after being re-elected.

“I thank all of you for your support and am grateful for your continuous support,” he added. “I take pride in the fact that I have been given the honour of heading one of the most professional sports bodies in the Country.”

Meanwhile, the Special General Body Meeting, which was also held unanimously, approved the proposed amendments to the AIFF Constitution.

The salient features of the amendments are as follows:

1. To bring the AIFF constitution in line with the FIFA and the AFC constitution.

2. To clarify and modify certain definitions to avoid anomalies and ambiguities.

3. To bring in more transparency in governance by including independent members in committees like finance and audit, development and judicial committees.

4. The composition of the AIFF Executive Committee will be of 20 members. Two woman members are to be included – one to be elected as the vice president in the next AGM and another to be appointed by the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee would also include a former Indian International player who has represented India in a minimum of 25 Official International matches.

6. Terms of references of the standing and judicial committees have also been amended to bring in better governance and transparency, and remove existing ambiguities.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary of the AIFF also apprised the members of India winning the 2016 AFC Award for the Best Developing Member Association at the AFC Annual Awards in Abu Dhabi. He also highlighted AIFF’s initiatives taken in 2016 for Youth Development Programmes (Academies), Grassroots Programmes and Coach Education Programmes.

Mr. Patel also announced the winners of the 2016 AIFF Awards. A list of the recipients of the Awards.

LIST OF ELECTED MEMBERS:

Mr. Praful Patel (re-elected as President).

Mr. Subrata Dutta (re-elected as Vice-President, East).

Mr. K. M. I. Mather (re-elected as Vice-President, South).

Mr. Subhash Chopra (re-elected as Vice-President, North).

Mr. Larsing Sawyan (re-elected as Vice-President, North-East).

Mr. Manavendra Singh (elected as Vice-President, West).

Mr. ZA Thakur (re-elected as Treasurer).

Mr. AR Khaleel (re-elected as Executive Committee member, South).

Mr. Jessiah Villavarayar (re-elected as Executive Committee member, South).

Mr. Deepak Kumar (elected as Executive Committee member, North).

Mr. Deepak Sharma (elected as Executive Committee member, North).

Mr. Ghulam Rabbani (re-elected as Executive Committee member, East).

Mr. Sanjay Behera (re-elected as Executive Committee member, East).

Mr. Amit Ranjan Dev (re-elected as Executive Committee member, West).

Mr. Gulab Chauhan (elected as Executive Committee member, West).

Mr. MN Brahma (elected as Executive Committee member, North-East).

Mr. Lalnighinglova Hmar (elected as Executive Committee member, North-East).

NEW DELHI: Bank of Baroda has become the first Indian company to sign up as a National Supporter for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, the first FIFA event to be hosted in the subcontinent.

Chairman of the Local Organising Committee and President of the All India Football Federation Praful Patel said, “We are pleased to welcome Bank of Baroda as the first Indian company that will be associated with the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017. As an organisation that has a long affiliation with football, this company has been an active supporter of the game for many years and shares our enthusiasm to develop and strengthen football in India. As President of the AIFF, I am committed to ensuring that football development in India gets the support it deserves, and I believe that this new partnership with Bank of Baroda is a very concrete step in the right direction to continue the growth that the sport has had in India.”

Tournament Director Javier Ceppi was not surprised by the keen interest in the National Supporter slots. “This is a landmark event in Indian sport. As the first ever FIFA tournament to be hosted in India and with India as one of the participating teams, it is a unique opportunity to be partners in making football history in this country. By joining in at this early stage, Bank of Baroda will have the added advantage of ten months of exposure in the build up to the FIFA U‑17 World Cup.”

Over recent years, increasing awareness of and participation in sports has become a key focus for the state-owned banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Vadodara in Gujarat.

“We are highly motivated to promote football across the country and to inspire a new generation of youngsters. Partnering with the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 was a logical choice for us, as there will be no bigger sporting event in the country next year. It is truly an Indian crusade to make sure that this tournament succeeds and engages our complete population. We are sure that our strong banking network across the nation will help to make that happen and we are excited about becoming the first National Supporter for the event,” said Mr Rakesh Kumar Bhatia, General Manager (Marketing, Corporate Communications & WMS) at Bank of Baroda.

With the signing of the agreement, Bank of Baroda has thus claimed the first of six National Supporter slots for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017. The tournament will be held from 6‑28 October 2017.

Goa, November 12, 2016: Reliance Foundation Youth Sports comes a step closer to crowning the Champions of Goa as the day’s action saw Junior Boys and Senior Girls Semi – Finals matches held at the Duler Stadium in Mapusa. The semi-finals brought about a lot of action throughout the day where the Senior Girls impressed in their outing. The first match of the day saw Carmel Higher Secondary School take on the St. Xavier’s Higher Secondary, a closely contested match was only decided by a moment of magic which separated the two sides.

The match began with Carmel taking the early control as their attackers’ dribbling ability bamboozled the oppositions defense although ST. Xavier’s proved threatening through their set pieces. The first chance of the match fell to Carmel where Number 11 Lifa Gama dribbled past 4 defenders to set up her teammate whose powerful shot was saved by the outstretched leg of the keeper. St. Xavier’s also had an opportunity on the 20^th minute through a freekick from 25 yards out which was taken by their captain, Scindia Saundatikar whose shot was on target but too close to the keeper. The breakthrough finally arrived in the 24^th minute when Number 3, Ageema Borges was put through by her captain to finish the opportunity past the keeper giving her side the 1 – 0 advantage. Carmel went into halftime with their lead intact giving them a boost for the next half.

The second half saw more attacking display by both the teams, St. Xaviers again came close through a freekick this time put just over the crossbar by their captain. Carmel’s Lifa Gama and Avia Vas were mesmerizing the oppositions defense but had no help from their forwards to convert their opportunities. Carmel’s defense gave little away in the second half but also could not capitalize on their opportunity as they hung on to the first half lead to finish the game as 1 – 0 victors.

The morale boosting victory puts Carmel Higher Secondary School through to the Finals in Goa where they face Rosary Higher Secondary School who emerged victorious against Our Lady of the Rosary Higher Secondary School by 3 goals to nil.

Junior Boys also showcased their talent with Marina English High School beating Our Lady Mother of the Poor School by a goal to nil. Our Lady of the Perpetual Succour High School also triumphed over Saviour of the World High School but needed penalties to register their win. The two teams will face each other in the Finals on Saturday 19^th November at the Duler Stadium.

Tomorrow’s semifinal matches will see Damodar College take on SS Dempo College at 8.30am and Rosary College of Commerce & Arts will go against Fr. Agnel College of Arts and Commerce at 2.00pm in the College Boys category. St Xaviers Higher Secondary will battle it out against St Alex Higher Secondary at  11.00am while Guardian Angel Higher Secondary School and Govt Higher Secondary School will vie for a spot in the finals at 4.30pm in the Senior Boys category.

RFYS Junior Boys Finalists

1. Marina English High School
2. Our Lady of the Perpetual Succour High School

RFYS Senior Girls Finalists:

1. Carmel Higher Secondary School
2. Rosary Higher Secondary School

RFYS Junior Boys Scorelines:

Our Lady Mother of the Poor High School – 0 lost to Marina English High School – 1

Our Lady of the Perpetual Succour High School – 1(5) beat Saviour of the World High School – 1(4)

RFYS Senior Girls Scorelines:

St. Xavier’s Higher Secondary – 0 lost to Carmel Higher Secondary School – 1

Rosary Higher Secondary School – 3 beat Our Lady of the Rosary Higher Secondary School – 0

Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has capped off a stellar 2016 by being named the world’s best footballer in Goal.com’s annual survey of the best players on the planet.
Ronaldo’s impressive 12 months see him finishing ahead of Barcelona striker Luis Suarez and Atletico Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann. Last year’s Goal 50 winner Lionel Messihas slipped to fourth, making it the first time in the countdown’s eight-yearhistory that the Argentinian forward hasn’t appeared in the top three.

The Goal 50 list is compiled by over 500 of Goal.com’s journalists from around the globe. Goal’s football experts have given a thorough examination of players in every territory, judging them on their level of consistency, their big-game performances, footballing legacy and the success of their team at both club and international level.

Ronaldo’s place at the top of the list was cemented by a 12-month period which saw the player lift both the Champions League and European Championship trophies. He finished the 2015/16 season with 51 goals in all competitions, while at Euro 2016 he became the first player to score at four consecutive European Championship finals. He also equalled the record for most goals scored in the competition’s history, despite coming off injured during the final.

Commenting on his award, Cristiano Ronaldo said: “It’s an honour to receive this recognition again,” Ronaldo told Goal as he collected the trophy in Madrid.
“It’s for all my team-mates at Madrid and in the national team. I feel very happy and very proud.Nothing is achieved without ambition, personal effort and without a team of colleagues and workers who support you day in, day out. That, day to day, is the most important thing.”

James Marley, Global Editor-in-Chief at Goal said: “Even by Ronaldo’s standards, the past twelve months have been amazing. Whether you look at his accomplishments for club or country, it’s hard to argue against him being named the best player the world. Although Lionel Messi dropping to fourth place may surprise some people, it’s not because he’s had a poor year, but rather those around him have had better ones. Although the pinnacle of football has teetered in recent years between Ronaldo and Messi, we can now see that the title of best player in the world is more competitive than it’s been in a long while.”

Although Barcelona had an impressive 2015-16, in which Luis Enrique’s side claimed their second successive domestic double, Messi’s efforts were surpassed by his Barcelona team-mate Suarez, who had the best season of his career and claimed second place in the Goal 50 list.

Messi’s fourth-place position puts him behind Atletico forward Griezmann who, despite scoring fewer goals than Messi, played an integral part in his club reaching the Champions League final, scoring seven goals on the way. At this summer’s European Championship, Griezmann scored six times and assisted two more to claim the Golden Boot and be named the tournament’s best player.

The majority of the Goal 50 play their football in Europe’s five biggest leagues, with 19 playing in La Liga, 14 in England’s Premier League, nine in Germany’s Bundesliga, six in Italy’s Serie A and one in France’s Ligue 1. Outside of Europe, River Plate’s Lucas Alario makes the list by placing at number 50.

The teams with the most players appearing in the Goal 50 are: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich (8); Barcelona (6), Atletico Madrid and Juventus (5); and Manchester United (4).
Notable absentees from the 2016 Goal 50 include Chelsea players Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois. N’Golo Kante is the only Chelsea player to make the cut following his impressive season with Leicester City.

Leicester City’s surprising Premier League title win helped Riyad Mahrez (7) make his first appearance in the annual countdown. Mahrez is joined by fellow Goal 50 new-boys Dimitri Payet (14), Paolo Dybala (28) and Jan Oblak (29).

Full Goal 50 2016 List:

01 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

02 Luis Suarez (Barcelona)

03 Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

04 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

05 Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)

06 Neymar (Barcelona)

07 RiyadMahrez (Leicester City)

08 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

09 Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus)

10 ZlatanIbrahimovic (Manchester United)

11 Jamie Vardy (Leciester City)

12 Pepe (Real Madrid)

13 N’GoloKante (Chelsea)

14 DimitriPayet (West Ham)

15 Paul Pogba (Manchester United

16 Pierre-EmerickAubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)

17 Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich)

18 Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

19 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

20 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

21 Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)

22 Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid)

23 Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)

24 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

25 Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

26 Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

27 Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)

28 Paulo Dybala (Juventus)

29 Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)

30 Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich)

31 Marcelo (Real Madrid)

32 Koke (Atletico Madrid)

33 Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)

34 Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)

35 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspurs)

36 HenrikMkhitaryan (Manchester United)

37 MesutOzil (Arsenal)

38 Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

39 Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

40 Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid)

41 Casemiro (Real Madrid)

42 David Alaba (Bayern Munich)

43 Andrea Barzagli (Juventus)

44 Renato Sanches (Bayern Munich)

45 David De Gea (Manchester United)

46 Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich)

47 Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan)

48 Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona)

49 Marquinhos (Paris         Saint-Germain)

50 Lucas Alario (River Plate)

Doha, Qatar: A brave Bengaluru FC had their Doha dreams dashed after a Hammadi Ahmad goal in the 70th minute was enough to crown Iraqi side Air Force Club champions of the AFC Cup at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, in Doha, on Saturday night.

The Blues, who fought their more fancied opponents toe-to-toe for most of the game, had a moment of weakness twenty minutes from time and had to settle for second in a competition that saw them capture the imagination of an entire country with consistently inspiring performances through the year.

Roca named an unchanged starting XI from the side that beat Johor Darul Ta’zim in the semifinal spare the inclusion of Lalthuammawia Ralte in goal for a suspended Amrinder Singh. Meanwhile, for the hosts, Emad Majeed and Ahmed Khadim found starting places given the suspensions of Samal Saeed and Bashar Bonyan.

In a very measured and sometimes strong first half for Bengaluru, Ralte made very vital intervention in the 40^th minute when he held on to Amjed Radhi’s intended cut-back for an unmarked Sameh Mejbel who had to simply tap in from five yards out with no one on his heels. When with the ball, Bengaluru were happy to pick Rino Anto down the right who was at his consistent best with some promising crosses in the Air Force box.

The Blues got their first big chance of the game ten minutes into the second half when Sunil Chhetri, who was picked in the Air Force box, adjusted his body and cut the ball back for Eugeneson Lyngdoh. The midfielder had the space and the time but his goal-bound shot was blocked by Air Force skipper Ali Al-Saadi.

Just a little over the hour mark, Roca rolled the dice with his substitutions bringing on the pace of Udanta Singh and Len Doungel for Nishu Kumar and Alwyn George. The change worked almost immediately as Bengaluru began pegging the Air Force defence back and earned two quick corners.

But it was Air Force who shot into the lead against the run of play when the Iraqi side’s talismanic striker Hammadi Ahmad tapped home from close after being rolled in by Amjed Radhi in the 70^thminute.

With a final to chase, Bengaluru began attacking in numbers and came close to an equaliser in the 87^th minute only for CK Vineeth to miscue a very difficult attempt on the volley from a BFC freekick. There were a couple of close calls in added time but the Air Force defence did enough to see the game through.

GOA: Brazil were crowned Champions of the inaugural edition of the BRICS U-17 Football Tournament as the ‘Samba Boys’ thumped South Africa 5-1 in the Finals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa today (October 15, 2016) to lift the trophy.

A brace by skipper Victor Oliveira and a goal a piece by Paulo Filho, Vinicius Oliveira and Alan de Souza for Brazil, on a hot afternoon in Goa proved to be enough as Carlos Amadeu’s boys wrapped up the proceedings, proving to be superior against their opponents infront of a jam-packed stadia.

The ‘Samba Boys’ were right off the blocks and as early as the 2^nd minute the danger bells rang for the ‘Amajimbos’, as Marcos Santos’s rasping shot flew inches wide of the South African goal.

After suffering a near setback, the ‘Amajimbos’ found their legs in the match as time passed and in the 20^th minute Karata rattled the woodwork as his shot from close range kissed the woodwork and came back into play.

South Africa’s resurgence was short-lived and four minutes later, Brazil took the lead as Paulo Filho outfoxed his marking defender and cleverly found the back of the net.

The Brazilian attacking class proved too much to handle for the Amajimbos and in the 35^th minute Vinicius Oliveira’s screamer from 30yards crashed into the back of the net to double Brazil’s lead.

In the 40^th minute Brazil were awarded a penalty and skipper Victor Oliveira placed it exquisitely into the left bottom corner to make it 3-0 for Brazil.

South Africa were reduced to 10 men right after the second half kicked-off as Mazibuko was red-carded for a dangerous lunge, leaving the ‘Amajimbos’ a man down for the remainder of the half.

The ‘Samba boys’ tried to take full advantage of an extra man and upped their ante. In the 52^nd minute, Paulo Fliho came close to extending Brazil’s lead as his lob from outside of the box, struck the woodwork.

Eight minutes later, skipper Vitcor Oliveira doubled his goal scoring tally and slotted the ball home as he capitalized on a cross from the right flank to give Brazil and unassailable 4-0 lead.

Brazil dominated possession and even after the Amajimbos pulled a goal back in the 89^th minute through Bophela, Carlos Amadeu’s boys found the net in the added extra time through Alan de Souza as the full-time read 5-1.

Meanwhile, Russia finished third in the Tournament after they came from a goal down to defeat China 2-1 in the 3^rd/4^th placing match earlier in the day, courtesy of strikes from Kirill Kolesnichenko and Chelidze Georgy in the 66^th and 84^th minute respectively, after China had taken the lead through a Tao Qianglong penalty in the 34^th minute.