Bhaichung join practice!

Bhaichung Bhutia, the Indian football team captain returned to Kolkata yesterday night and today paid a visit to his current club, Mohun Bagan AC and did light stretching along with Manju who was also in the National camp.

The Bagan fans were awaiting the Nehru Cup champion captain and no sooner had he entred club premises the club atmosphere became a jubiliant one!

India's victory at the Nehru Cup will go down in the pages of history as yet another important victory of the Indian team under a Bagan captain. In 1951 India received Gold Medal at the Asian Games for football under the captaincy of Sailen Manna and again in 1962 Asian Gold medal for football under captain Chuni Goswami are a few to mention.

The team has received a boost of convidence before the Fed Cup with the coming of Bhaichung and Barreto will atlast find a quality partner upfront!

The Bagan team leave for Ludhiana on the 4th of September.

Bagan practice in full swing!

Bagan players are working hard before the Fed Cup under the supervision of Bagan coach Periera and the new Brazilian physio Leonardo. Leonardo is not happy with the fitness level of the team and intends on boosting the fitness of the team before their Fed Cup campaign.

Barreto who is suffering from a minor injury is trying his best to raise his fitness level.

The Bagan coach will soon get Bhaichung and Manju in practice before the Fed Cup but he will be missing the services of Sanjiv Maria and Dipak Mondal who are out with injuries.

Leonardo-Bagan physio

Isfaq Ahmed also has been suffering from a minor injury in his hamstring. However on a personal talk he reaveled that the Telegraph's report of his European venture and inclination is not perfectly true, because he personally does not feel like leaving Mohun Bagan for the Tier II League in Europe. However he said that his brothers who are already there has been urging him but he is staying in Bagan. However the payroll in Europe is bigger than what he is getting in Bagan and if he does strike a lucrative deal, we might find him in Europe.

Ishfaq Ahmed

Bagan prepare for Fed Cup, Gafari as third foreigner!

Bagan after their goalless against Mohd. Sp. in the CFL, have now diverted their attention towards Federation Cup 2007, which will be held in Ludhiana. The 2nd leg of the CFL will again begin from the month of November in between giving in space for the Fed Cup and the IFA shield. Bagan play their opener on the 6th of September against ONGC, Mumbai and winning which they will face the winner between Air India and Viva Kerala on the 9th and then they have a chance of meeting East Bengal or JCT in the semis on the 11th of September.

Bagan coach today confirmed that Gafari has been selected as Bagan's third foreigner in Fed Cup after weighing him with Emeka. Gafari before the begining of the season had signed for Bagan and it was highly likely that he would be signed unless a great turn of events. Gafari has played in the Indian National League before for Dempo and is an attacking midfielder. It is however a known fact that the Bagan coach has been in search for a blocker in the midfiled in order to check the countless attacks made by the opposition when Bagan is attacking. A few are speculating that Gafari might be used a blocker in the midfield.

Sibram Gobin, a player of Indian origin playing in Mauritius has also signed for Bagan. He will be available for Bagan in the Fed Cup. He has been brought to India on the initiative of the mohunbaganclub.com team. He is also an attacking midfielder.

With the return of Bhaichung Bhutia and Manju who have been busy for the Nehru Cup and their inclusion along with Gafari and Gobin would act as a breath of fresh air for Bagan in the Fed Cup.

Bagan go into the Fed Cup as the defending champions as they won the 2006 Fed Cup, Kolkata beating Sporting Clube de Goa in penalties after finishing 1-1 in regulation time. Bagan won 3-1 in penalties.

Mohd. Sp. hold Bagan goalless!

Bagan seemed not the usual self as they failed to make any head way against a young yet determined Mohd. Sp. through out the match as a placid match was witnessed by the the crowd present in the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday the 26th of August.

Bagan played Barreto and Lalam upfront and Anit was in place of Siddique.

Through out the match the two teams played more or less on counter-attacks as Bagan at times having the upper hand.

The 1st Half ended goalless as the Mohd. Sp. goalie pulled off two stunners from Barreto and he continued his form as he kept the ball out of the Mohd. Sp. goal.

Second Half saw a better Bagan side as they seemed a better force and Ayan who was replaced in place of Habibur, missed the easiest chance that came their way.

Lady luck seemed to have disappeared as a header from Barreto hit the post.

Bagan Mohd. Sp. Clash tomorrow!

Bagan will meet Mohd. Sp. tomorrow in their 7th round match in this CFL.

Bagan will play attacking footbal with 4-4-2 formation, Rauf coming in inplace of Subhashish and Siddique will be replaced by Anit Ghosh as he will sit out with two yellow cards.

Mohd. Sp. stand 5th in the table as Bagan lead the table. IFA has finally conceded to Bagan's demand of outstation refree on matches and thus an outstation refree will conduct the match.

Tomorrow match begin at 5.30pm in Salt Lake stadium.

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Dipak's Injury

Dipak is reported to be injured critically in the India's match against Bangladesh and need to undergo a knee surgery with Anant Ghosh and will most probably have to sit out for the whole season.

Mohun Bagan edge past Peerless!

Mohun Bagan faced Peerless today. Bagan tried to build up attack from the very beginning but the midfield seemed a bit colourless and the usual wing play by Rauf Khan was missing as he had to sit out with two previous yellow cards. Subhashish Roychowdhury was put in his shoes and fell far short of expectations as Peerless attacked from their right wing. A lackluster game ensued as the Bagan players seemed a bit complacent after their big derby win. However, the Bagan back, Peter Siddique rose to the occasion and headed a ball goal from a 25th minute corner from Dharamjit to put Bagan in front. Bagan piled on the pressure but lacked the killing blow as Barreto and Lalam were caught up in the off-side trap on a number of occasions. On the 43rd minute, however ball from the midfield found Barreto, who paced across the penalty box only to be fouled and rewarded a penalty kick. Barreto calmly placed it to the left of the despairing keeper.

Bagan went into the half time break with a 2-0 lead.

Right after coming back on, Peerless seemed more determined. A few mistakes by Shilton and Peerless found themselves at par. Bagan defence buckled under the Peerless attack and Peerless scored two goals in quick succession thanks to some hedious goal keeping by Shilton. They proved once again that they are one hard nut to crack amongst the smaller sides of the CFL this year.

The deadlock ensued as Bagan did not seem to have that extra zeal to win as the attacks were successfully foiled by the Peerless defence.

Bagan stepped on the gas in the dying minutes and a long ball from Habibur found a rising Jose Ramirez Barreto heading the ball towards Venkatesh who was near the penalty spot. Receiving the ball with his left right foot, dodged the advancing goalie and calmly placed a right footer into the goal! 87 minutes and Venkatesh put in the winner!

Bagan stand on 16 points from 6 matches leading the league table with a cusion of 4 points followed by East Bengal who have played 5 matches.

Venkatesh scored his 6th goal in this CFL and Barreto his 7th and is the lone highest scorer!

WATCH THE GOAL VIDEO

Third Foreigner

It is reported that another foreigner will come in for trial in Bagan playing in Bangladesh and after having a close look at both of Gaffari and him, coach Carlos will decide upon his third foreigner.

Bagan meet Peerless tomorrow! Sanjeev and Dipak injured!

Bagan tomorrow, after their outing against East Bengal, meet Peerless in their ground. Bagan will miss the services of Rauf Khan, unavailable due to two yellow cards and Peter Odafe owing to injury. Peerless have shown the tendency to stun the opposition after they had defeated Mohd. Sp. in their season opener and had gone in with a lead of 2-0 against East Bengal before the match had to be stopped because of pelting of stones from a section of unruly East Bengal fans and the match was finally called off due to incessant rain. Bagan are on 13 points from 5 matches. On the spitting incident, Barreto's fate will be decided a few days later when the League sub-committee convene a meeting and also the fate of Edmilson of East Bengal who also is accussed of spitting at the Peerless goalie and also of manhandling the line's man will be decided then.

Dipak, Maria injured!*

In another development, two Bagan players representing the country in the Nehru Gold Cup held in Delhi were injured. Today during the match between India and Bangladesh, Bagan defender Dipak Mondal got injured. His injury however doesnot seem bad as Bob Houton, the Indian coach commented and he is expected to return for India's next match with Syria. Sanjeev Maria who was injured last season be a matter of concern for the Bagan fans. Our special correspondent had a talk with Maria and he informed that his injury is critical and might take time to return. *Has been subjected to change. Thank you

Barreto accussed of spitting on Madhab!

A frustrated East Bengal side and East Bengal back Madhab Das who was given the job of man marking Barreto in the Derby match, had failed miserably and so much so that he had to be replaced by Chandan Das in the second half is now out an accusing spree. Madhab even managed to pick up a yellow card when he pounced on the refree after he had awarded Bagan a 36th minute penalty, when he brought down Barreto inside the penalty box. Madhab had fouled Barreto countless number of times and after the defeat, East Bengal club officials and players instead of analysing there own short comings are openly accusing others. First they accussed the refree of biased play, then Anajan Mitra for creating pressure on the Refree Association and IFA. Now its time for Barreto.

Madhab Das is now accusing Barreto to have spitted on him during the match.

Barreto has denied such allegation as baseless and dubbed it as just another excuse after being defeated. Barreto today held a press meeting and said that, "If he(Madhab) has any complaint against me, why isn't he writing it on a piece of paper and sending it to the IFA. I'd be more than happy to answer." He continued, "He(Madhab) has also scratched me here(on his back) so am I going around complaing that, oh! look, he has scratched me! Its all a part of the game. Yes we did exchange a few words, but as i said, its all part of the game."

On being asked about the incident, Satyajit, the assitant coach remarked, "Its all baseless, just excuses. I have been around here for a lot of years, i know what goes behind all these allegations." He added, "Even we can now say that he spitted on someone else, what's the point? who's goining to see it? why didn't he bring that to the refree's attention then."

7 goals in Kolkata derby! Bagan emerge victorious!

The off-the-field drama about Bagan's refraining from fielding its players culminated perfectly with the on-the-field drama of the Kolkata derby. A wet day in Kolkata inviting much specualtions whether the match will be held atall, ended as the 22 players took to the field at the scheduled time! The match started and Lalam on the 9th minute gave us a taste of the things to come. Lalam pressurised Gurpreet on the left, who gave a back pass to Abhra, the EB goalie who in turn played it out to Suresh. Suresh played a back pass to Abhra and the ball was intercepted in the East Bengal penalty box by Lalam, who withstanding a tough tackle by Abhra and another East bengal defender managed to stay on his feet and pulled off a stunner as he pivoting on this left leg unleased a right footer! Bagan 1-0 up. Tough play ensued with slidding tackles flying in from all directions as East bengal tried to pull one back. Just then Edmilson got a free ball on the right side inside the Bagan penalty box. The class of player he is, East bengal supporters would have expected an equiliser, but he kicked it over the bar being charged by Shilton Paul. A wet and muddy Salt Lake stadium was houseful as reports came that all tickets had been sold out! And believe me when I say all those countless Bagan spectators were getting more than their ticket's worth! Barreto was heavily marked by Madhab Das who clung onto him like a Koala bear resulting in a few fouls around the East Bengal penalty box. Bagan pressed hard as East Bengal seemed to have lacked that killer instinct even after conceeding one goal. Lalam moved fast on the left flank and put in a centre which in his atempt to meet, Barreto was pushed and shoveled to ground by Madhab Das inside the penlaty box, and resulting in the inevitable. Penalty...Barreto's calm push to the left of a helpless Abrha who dived to his right. Bagan 2-0 up. 36 minutes on the clock. East Bengal seemed utterly clueless with 2-0 down as still Bagan kept the tempo up! Lack of initiative from the East Bengal players saw them 3 goals down in the first half as Venkatesh pushed a right footer past the goalie form the right. Bagan went into the first half with a 3 goal lead. Barely a minute had passed after the match had began after the lemon break, when Alvito, East Bengal midfielder left fly a left footer from 35 yards away and a outswinging shot found the back of the net. Certainly a good goal. The Half time break seemed to have brought in a sense of ugency in the East Bengal players as the pushed for a second. A tough game continued and almost 10 minutes later, a Barreto centre from the left to a surging Venkatesh who put another past Abrha. Bagan 4-1 taking his personal goal tally to 4 goals from 5 matches. East Bengal continued there attack as they put in a ball into the Bagan penalty box. Rauf khan was there to meet the ball along with Edmilson, but Shilton keeping his goal ungaurded rushed to punch the ball which was more closer the top of the penlty box. He cleared the ball no doubt but it found Alvito who unleashed a grounder. East Bengal pull another one back. 4-2 East bengal seemed a better force after the second half and attacked in full throttle. A ball from Alvito found Edmilson inside the penalty box, and Odafe in front. Edmilson after showing some skills tried to go past Odafe who made a bad slidding tackle onto to bring down Edmilson, penlaty awarded. Score : 4-3! Just one goal between the two! East bengal pushed on but Bagan defence some how managed to put the ariel balls out. Another ball loafted into the penalty box saw Shilton Pual advance and then running backwards to push the header off Dipendu for a corner. Bagan tried to slacken the pace but counter attacked non the less. Once a Lalam centre found Barreto who passed it back to Venky, and quite uncharacteristic of him, put it over the net! The last few minutes East bengal seemed to have resigned to their fate and tired out couldnot penetrate the Bagan defence and the score line remained 4-3! Bagan after this match, are on 13 points leading the League table with a goal difference of +12 East Bengal are second with 12 points from equal number of mtches(5 matches) with a goal difference of +10

WATCH THE GOALS!

Team: Shilton,Habibur, Siddique, Odafe, Rauf, Dharamjit(C)[Ishfaq], Lalkamal, Venkatesh, James, Barreto, Lalawmpuia.

The battle of the titans!

City Giant Mohun Bagan AC has atlast agreed to play the Big match against their bitter rival East bengal FC tomorrow as scheduled at the Salt Lake stadium, Match starting from 5.30pm (IST)

Bagan had intially ruled off the possibility of the derby match if the IFA did not play an out-station refree. But as on 16.08.2007, the IFA has decided that they couldnot provide an outstaion refree for the match but they have assured that on the appeal of Bagan for impartial refreeing in the derby, a committee of refrees will be formed who will observe the refree's decessions.

Bagan club secretary is happy with this provision and declared that Bagan will play the derby tomorrow as scheduled.

Bagan go into the match staying two points behind their adversary.

East Bengal are on 12 points from their 4 matches with a goal difference of +8

While Bagan are on 10 points from their respective 4 matches withe same goal difference.

The media has put forward this match as a battle between the brazilians of the two teams, Barreto and Edmilson. Many have subjected them to comparison and predicts that this will the battle of the two players as both of them are in their top form; both of them sharing the spot for the Top scorer in the ongoing CFL, 5 goals from 4 matches.

Thanking You ALL for making this blog-page a success! This Blog page is now just a month old and already it has had 1241 visitors Last month this Page was visited daily on an average of 42 times per day. This month it has had visitors at an average of 33 visitors daily. From India the recorded number of visits is 517 (68.21%) And from abroad, Australia leads with 84 (11.08%) Followed by United States with 50 (6.60%) Thank You All for your contribution in this effort of mine :) Will keep you updated :) Joy Mohun Bagan *Do post a comment to this post if you are a regular visitor stating your location. Thank you

No decession yet about the match! Gaffari to be 3rd foreigner for Fed cup!

Though rumours have been around that Bagan officials have already decided to boycott the Derby on the ground of being denied an out-station refree for the same match, no official announcements have yet been made on the part of the Bagan oficials, though it seems too inevitable as club secretary Anjan Mitra remarked that they are ready to face any consequence for not playing the game.

However in another developement, it has come to knowledge that Gaffari will join Bagan as the 3rd foreinger in their Fed cup campaign in Ludhiana. Gaffari is expected to join practice shortly.

Happy Birthday Mohun Bagan!

15th August! Happy Independce day to all!! & Happy Birthday to Our Beloved club: Mohun Bagan AC

Bagan may boycott Big match!

Bagan Club Secretary has declared today that Bagan might boycott their match against East Bengal. Anjan had requested the playing of an impartial international refree for the Derby match, failing which Bagan has threatened to boycott the match! Though the IFA had initialy yielded to the cause of Bagan, they now however state that a foreign refree will not be available. To this Bagan officials have atleast pleaded for a refree from a different state failing which Bagan will refrain from playing on the 17th! Bagan officials will hold a general meeting tomorrow to finalise their position.

Bagan prepare for the Derby! Leonardo comes today!

Bagan prepare in full swing for the CFL derby on the 17th of August.

On asked about his off form last seasonand his return this season in form, Barreto remarked, "You can never right off players like me, bhaichung...we are fighters, we always try to do better."

Leonardo, the physical trainer from brazil who was a previously in Quatar, came today to Mohun Bagan club.

Bagan ease past Eastern Railway

Bagan today played their 4th round match against Eastern Railway at their club ground.

From the beginning ER tried to create pressure by flying in with few tackles and attacking the players' legs hoping to get the better off their counter part expecting them to be cautious about their upcoming Derby Match. But Bagan players kept the ball to themselves and within the 5th minute of the game, Rauf Khan sent in a beautiful inswinging dipper which committed the keeper but only to fox him as he went to a no-mans-land and Bagan ace Barreto directed a header towards the goal. Bagan 1-0 up in the 5th minute.

Bagan kept up the tempo and pressed on.

Bagan today seemed to play much better than any other match, the entire defense in thefirst half seemed like a mosquitoe net keeping the Railway men out and the midfield toiled efficiently like a well oiled machines with Rauf khan, the left back taking emense work load.

Soon after from a Dharamjit forward pass Lalam efficiently flicked a header towards Venkatesh who trappingg a chest high ball with his right foot inside the penlaty box, gaurding his marker, unleashed a blinder and his left footer finding the back of the net and the keeper motionless! Bagan 2-0.

Minutes later Lalam steamed down the left flank and after waiting with the ball for his teammates, sent in a grounder directed towards Venkatesh who played a slight touch to evade the defender and played a through ball to Barreto who calmly took a inswinger from outside the penalty box past the left side of the keeper. Bagan go 3-0 into the 2nd Half!

Second half saw a different Bagan as one after the other, Barreto, Lalam, Dharamjit were substituted by Isfaq, Jamir Ali and Sudesh respectively.

Bagan lacked that attacking force which had brought them 3 goals and so ER took advantage and attacked the Bagan goal. But the Bagan defence with Odafe, Siddique, Habibur and Rauf, soaked the pressure and foiled every attempt and in goal was Shilton Paul who was more than impressive and showed much class in collecting the ariel balls.

Siddique managed to receive a yellow card during the game and the score line could have been easily 5-0 as Bagan players(Lalam, Ishfaq) missed a couple of sitters.

Final score 3-0

Bagan play their next matc against East Bengal on the 17th at Salt Lake Stadium. Match starts at 5.30 pm.

Team Shilton Habibur Siddique Odafe Rauf Dharamjit(C)[Sudesh] Lalkamal Venkatesh James Barreto[Ishfaq] Lalawmpuia[Jamir Ali]

Tomorrow Bagan play their 4th round of CFL 2007-08 against Eastern Railway. Match starts from 3.30pm as scheduled at the club ground. The team is supposed to be the same as the last match. Bagan will go for all three points This is the last match before the Big match, so all experiments are to be carried out tomorrow! Perriera is in search of a blocker in the midfield and probably as of now, Lalkamal will be assigned with the job.

Bagan reach on 7 points with a 7 goal booster!

Bagan started off yet another match with 4-4-2 formation against Port. Mohun Bagan dominated in the first quarter but could not open the goal mouth.

However on the 31st minute, from a Lalkamal pass, Barreto receiving it with his back towards the Port goal and make a quick half turn, guarding his marker, let fly with a shot to the bottom left corner of the goal keeper netting the 1st of the day. Bagan pressed on as Port made some valid counter attacks but failed to convert.

On the 37th minute, Lalkamal trapping a ball on the left side of the goal, about 30 yards away and dodging two defenders took a right-footer which swarved towards the top left corner of the goalie, MB go up 2-0.

Bagan kept on the pressure as Habibur and Rauf Khan overlapped beautifully and it seemed as if the Bagan team was working like a well oiled machine as the Midfield kept the ball, snacthed it when necessary, fed the two flanks as Rauf and Habibur kept on puting in centres into the Port penalty box.

41st minute of the game and Venky put in a centre which failed to meet anyone and Dharamjit chased it to the side line and sent in another cross which was inch perfect and Barreto rose above two Port defenders to net the second of the match and the 3rd of his season.

Minutes before the lemon break, Odafe made a forward pass which met a poor clearance from a port defender only to fall dangerously inbetween Lalam and the Port keeper as both of them rushed. However the Port keeper might have done better if he had aimed for the ball instead of Lalam, as he, withstanding the keeper's push, found a free ball and turning 0n his heals scored the 4th for Bagan!

Bagan went into the lemon break with a score line reading 4-0! With the commencement of the 2nd half, the Port coach substituted his Keeper to relieve him of his nightmare but it was far from over for Port!

Though initial pressure was applied by Port, Bagan stepped on the gas again and on the 61st minute Dharamjit making a penetrative run into the left post of the Port goal took a weak and poor shot which an equally poor catch by the Port goalie and the ball found itself at the back of the net. Bagan 5-0 up!

Barely a minute had passed when from a ball from James, Venkatesh who was runing towards the goal unleashed a piledriver, just too hot to handle for the Port custodian! Bagan 6-0!

Soon Barreto was replaced by Ishfaq and the game seemed to have slackened as Bagan though pressing was not as determined as they could have been. Just when it seemed the score could remain 6-0, James Singh lobbed in a ball from the right flank and the Port defender Prashanta in his attempt to clear unfortunately found the back of his own net. 75' minute, Bagan 7-0!

Not much after this though the score line could easily have reached double figure as Lalam, Barreto, James, Ishfaq missed chances which, if converted would have been the most numbers of goal in a CFL match. However this 7-0 victory is this season's biggest win! Yesterday East Bengal had put in 6 goals against 2 in their tie against Mohd. Sp. Bagan today replaced that 4 goal margin by a 7 goal one!

Bagan are now placed 2nd in the Leage table with 7 points from 3 matches with an impressive GD of +8. Peerles are at the 3rd position with 6 points from their 2 matches, with East bengal leading the table with 9 points from 3 matches!

Goal videos on Youtube.com

Team

Sangram[Shilton]

Habibur

Siddique

Odafe

Rauf

Dharamjit(C)

Lalkamal

Venkatesh

James

Barreto[Ishfaq]

Lalawmpuia

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Bagan having a new Brazilian Physical Trainer!

Club sources say that Bagan might have a new physical trainer from Brazil to complete a Brazilian Triangle: Barreto, Perriera, Leonardo, the new physical trainer!

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Tomorrow Bagan play against Port

Bagan in their 3rd CFL tie meet Port Trust tomorrow at their club ground. Bagan are on 4 p[oints from 2matches with 5 goals in favour and 4 goals against!

Lalkamal is probably back in the starting 11 after he had arted in from the Bench in the previous match. Perriera is looking forward for 3 points and will make Barreto play upfront with Lalam.

Last year, Bagan had lost one match against Port and had won one in which Bhutia came through with an excellent Free kick to give Bagan the winner.

Foreign refree for Kolkata Derby

IFA has assured that on the 17th, a foreign refree will be brought in to conduct this year's Kolkata derby. After yesterday's controversial refreeing, Bagan fans and officials had voiced their protest against the low quality of refreeing in the Kolkata maidan and also accused the refree for the outcome of such surprise match scores!

On being asked about the upcoming Big match, Barreto remarked, "every match is a new story..." , the Chirag match is over and the next match is against Port Trust.

High scoring match ends in Bagan's favour! 2 penalties against Bagan!

Not quite what Bagan Fans would have expected...their second match in CFL this season ending in a 4-3 score line! A high tension match, two penalties against Bagan, four players opening their account! The match started off as heavy rained poured down... Mohun Bagan drew first blood through a 13 minute goal from Venkatesh. Barreto put in a centre from the left out and Venkatesh meeting it precisely to put it to the left bottom corner of the goal. Chirag pressed hard and earned a corner in 20th minute and Sangram made an ugly mess of an in-swinging floater and Peter Odafe used his hand to stop the ball from crossing the line. The inevitable happened, a penalty against Bagan but Odafe should consider himself lucky not to have been given the marching order on his debut for Bagan for handling the ball intentionally. Theo, the Chirag foreign striker hit a cannon shot and equalised. Bagan piled on the pressure and after an usuccessful Bagan corner, Lalkamal with the ball was aiming to send in a penetrative long ball, when Theo stole the ball from Lalkamal who was the last man and rushed towards the Bagan goal pursued by Odafe. But Theo was unselfish enough to take Sangram and Odafe on his side and gifted a free goal to his team mate. Soon after Venky missed a sitter with only the keeper to beat just outside the six yard box, as he only managed to hit the keeper! Bagan went into the Half time break with the score 1-2 Perriera fielded Isfaq Ahmed with the beginning of the 2nd half in place of Habibur. Bagan pressed on for the equaliser when from a 59th minute Dharamjit corner Barreto flicked a header from the first post to the second lounging forward to Lalam, who left unmarked did not make any mistake and burried home a right footer. Score 2-2 Bagan still relentless in their attack with 3 strikers, pushed forward and earned a free kick when Barreto was tripped about 45 yards away from the Chirag goal. James sends in a floater in the box, Isfaq heads high, the ball rises and falls to Odafe who heads it towards Barreto and in the middle of a crowded box, sheer magic! Brazillian miracle! an exquisite back volley! Score 3-2, Bagan fans ecstatic! Bagan determined to increase the lead were still attacking in numbers as Isfaq Ahmed was fouled on the right flank...Bagan sealed victory with a 74th minute header from Peter Siddique off a Dharamjit free kick! Bagan, however become a slight negligent after the 4th goal and started playing wayward! Passes not meeting inetended players, tackles flying here and there, concedeing unnecessary free kicks... That is when the Bagan captain, Dharamjit screwed it for Bagan and flew in with a needless tackless from behind inside the box on Asim Das Sr. and gifted yet another penalty and Chirag converted it to make the score 4-3 still in Bagan's favour...

Goal Videos on Youtube.com

Team: Sangram Habibur[Isfaq] Peter Siddique Peter Odafa Rauf Khan James Singh Suman[Lalkalmal] Venkatesh Dharamjit[C] Barreto Lalawmpuia Odafe impressive: The Tall Nigerian who has signed for Bagan seems to have impressed the Bagan fans with his accurate slidding tackles, headers and long thow-ins! Though might be too early to judge, this player seems to have a sense of good football and might play an important role in marshalling Bagan's defense this season! Jersey color changed: After much confusion about the orange/yellow color on the Bagan jersey, the team sported a new jersey today with no yellow/orange stripes instead replaced by white stripes! Barreto joins Elite Club* Jose Ramirez Barreto became the third foreigner to score 150 goals — after Chima Okerie (280 goals in 413 matches) and Chibuzor Nwaknama (168 in 419 matches) — for Indian clubs when he netted Mohun Bagan’s third goal against Chirag United SC on Sunday. Barreto has scored 136 goals in 219 games for Mohun Bagan, while for Mahindra United he has netted 14 in 24 games. Following is the break-up of the Brazilian’s goals for Mohun Bagan and Mahindra:

Calcutta League — 25 goals in 47 matches

National League —62 goals in 110 matches

Federation Cup — 13 goals in 15 matches IFA Shield — 14 goals in 15 matches Durand Cup — 8 goals in 13 matches Rovers Cup — 1 goal in 5 matches Bordoloi Trophy — 2 goals in 2 matches

Governor’s Gold Cup — 7 goals in 6 matches

Airlines Cup — 6 goals in 7 matches Millenium Cup — 4 goals in 4 matches McDowell Cup — 3 goals in 4 matches AFC Cup — 5 goals in 13 matches *source The Telegraph **Photo: Anandabazar news reporter

Odafe to play against Chirag tomorrow

Tomorrow Bagan play their second match in the ongoing CFL. With a draw already in their first match, Bagan will be watchful in their approach against Chirag. Odafe who has signed for Bagan for the CFL will play the role of a Central defender tomorrow pushing Habibur to his usual role of a right back. Perreira intends on playing James Singh from the beginning and keeping Lal Kamal Bhowmick on the bench and wil field once if deemed necessary. Perriera will not be able to avail of the services of Bijoy Basfore and Shubhashish tomorrow as both of them are out with injury. Bagan stand on 1 point from match, five points short of their rival with one match in hand. I another developemnt, It has been decided that I League in India which was supposed to be a professional will start later than had beed decided as the World Cup qualifier matches for India has been scheduled during the time it was suppossed to commence. due to unavailibilty of top players, AIFF has decided upon it. The 2007-08 Federations Cup wil be held in Ludiana, it has been decided today. Mohun Bagan will go into the Tournament as defending Champions. Bagan has an incredible track record in this tournament, that is most number of times as champions being 12 whereas that East Bengal is 4

Odafe joins practice, new Jersey in dispute

Today Peter Odafe arrived in the city by an early flight and he was welcomed to the city by awaiting fans at the airport. The Nigerian is a tall well built man and in practice has impressed the Bagan coach Carlos Periera.

Bhaichung Bhutia after returning from his international stint in Portugal came straight to the Club ground today along with Dipak Mondal to provide his side a vocal tonic to which might help Bagan to boost their moral to go for 3 points against Chirag Untd SC

However after the 1st match, Bagan supporters have broken in protest over the apparent use of the yellow color the Green and maroon jersey. Fans have put up a protest against the use of such an uninstitutional color in the Bagan jersey. Apparently there are a number of stripes of yellow on the jersey besides the collar and the sleave ending. However club Secretary Anjan Mitra has assured that dispute over the jersey design/color shall be looked into. James Singh after scoring against George yesterday wearing the new jersey under dispute.

James's goal gives a point to Bagan

Not the best of beginning for Bagan as they were held 1-1 against George Telegraph. George went ahead with a 17 minute goal from George foreinger, Salau who scored of a header from the centre from the Bagan right flank. Suman Dutta couldnot block the centre and in the penalty box Salau was left unmarked as Bagan defender Shubashish Roychoudhury fell short of his defensive duties and the Bagan goalkeeper was left in a no-man's land. Bagan created a chance immediately when Barreto flicked a ball towards goal but the George telegraph keeper kept things clear and out of the George goal. Bagan went into the lemon break with one goal deficit and the team screaming for some changes. With an untimely injury in the 2nd minute, Bijoy was replaced with Chinmoy Roy , who was given the role of a central midfielder and he failed hediously. This also resulted in placing Suman Dutta to his not so usual Right-back possition through where George attacked in waves and scored the goal and not to mention Shubhasish Roychoudhury who fell far short of expectations. Bagan came into the 2nd half with much determination and Lalampuia was fielded instead of Chinmoy. Chances were created for Bagan with the beginning of the 2nd half and Lalampuia got some half chances immediately which he should have converted. Atlast on the 59th minute the Bagan coach replaced Shubhashish with James Singh and the former Bagan right out came up with a long shot with his right foot to drive the 64th minute equalizer past the George custodian's left. Bagan pressed on as Barreto managed to strike the post twice. The Pitch was in excellent condition, one might feel a bit too excellent as balls were bouncing unsually high inspite of the heavy monsoon rains and seemed like a match was in progress in the Jawaharlal Stadium, New Delhi. file picture Team line up Sangram Mukherjee Shubhashish Roychoudhury(James Singh) Habibur Rahman Peter Siddiqi Bijoy Basfore(Chinmoy Roy)(Lalampuia) Suman Dutta Dharamjit Venkatesh Lalkamal Bhowmick Barreto Isfaq Ahmed