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Thursday, February 28, 2008

IFA shield kicks off! Bagan lose to Churchill

Mohun Bagan started off their IFA shield campaign on a losing note, going down 0-1 against Churchill Bros. of Goa in the Salt Lake Stadium. The match was not the most high intensity match with neither of the team having the lion's share of action, though Churchill's Mboyo created panic in the Bagan defense on more occasions than not. On the other hand, the Ba-Bha combination upfront for Bagan could create much chances. The Bagan defense did not look the brightest but keeper Sangram was up to the task till the 33rd minute when a deflected header from Manju found its way into the goal. Within a few minutes again, Sangram committed a foul inside the box awarding Churchill a penalty but came up with a superb save. Bagan kept on the pressure but the impotent striking force could not find a goal. Both Barreto and Bhiachung missed out on easy chances to score.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Bagan finish 4th in I league!

The inaugural ONGC I League came to an end on the 23rd of February with all the teams playing their respective last matches, Mohun Bagan went to Mumbai to play their match against Mahindra.
The match was a a pretty ordinary performance put up by the Mumbai devils and the Kolkata Mariners both happy to split a point between them. The match was played mainly in the midfield with few scoring chances coming their way. However the Bagan defense seemed a bit shaky but still the Mahindra strikers could not find a whole in it and neither could Bhaichung and Barreto find one in the Mahindra defense.
The match ended goalless and Bagan finished 4th on the I league table with Mahindra in 5th.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Post Season Transfer gossips on roll!

Even though the Season has not come to an end, with the IFA Shield still to be held from 25th Februray onwards, the Transfer gossips which usually keep the Kolkata Maidan entartained when the there are no games around, has already started to heat the atmosphere. Both the Big clubs are claiming to have contacted big players and fished out some handsome picks as East Bengal claim that Lalkamal and Lalampuia are almost sure to move from Bagan following a huge offer. Even they have contacted Manju who, as they say, has agreed to move only if Venkatesh is signed with him. Even though, East Bengal had jumped for Bhaichung Bhutia, Bagan skipper has waived off any offers from the down in the dumps torch bearers. On the other hand, even though it has not been made official, rumours are that I League's highest scorer, Churchill's Odafa Okili has accepted Bagan's offer of a huge sum, possibly to the highest transfer fee ever paid to a player in India. Though, Odafa has denied such claims, may be because the season has not ended and he is still a Churchill player. Moreover, Bagan has roped in 8 TFA players, of them Branco Cardozo deserves special mentioned as he has impressed a lot of football watchers when he played for India in the Under 21 Asia tournament.

Bagan held 1-1 in Ludhiana!

The former Bagan striker, young Sunil Chettri stopped Bagan from running away with 3 points and climbing to the 3rd spot as he put in an equiliser in the 70th minute to share a point in Ludhiana. Bagan had started off the match with Ishfaq and Bhaichung upfront with Barreto playing up an down in the midfield. The first half was a rather battle of attrition in the midfield as both the team tried to take controll of the match. However, Bagan opened their acount through Habibur Rahman Mondal when he scored off a right footer from inside the box. Bagan were 1-0 in front in the 26th minute. Bagan held the lead till the end of the 1st half. With the beginning of the second half, Bagan opted for a more defensive approach and played in a rather conservative manner and not pushing JCT enough to extend their lead. But unfortunately the Bagan defense, which was quite well holding out the prolific Eduardo Escobar, was violated by the young Sunil Chettri in the 70th minute. No more late dramas in the match, saw the final score card reading 1-1! Bagan after this match are on 29 points from 17 matches. They are 4th with JCT infront by just one point. Bagan have just one more match after this against Mahindra Utd in Mumbai!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Title hopes dashed as Dempo held Bagan!

Just when Periera and his boys started to believe that they could win the I league, League leader Dempo who were just 4 points ahead held Bagan in their I League tie thus ending all hopes of Mariners to win the I league. Bagan had gone down 2-0 in their away match to Dempo and in the home match, Bagan had to win in order to stay in the chase for the title, but missing the services of Bhaichung(due to double booking) and Barreto and Mohunraj due to injury, it was an uphill task. However, the match started off with Barreto setting up Dharamjit Singh in the 40th second and but he hit the bar and the rebound found Lalapuia with an open net who fired it wide. Bagan, after this could not come up with any constructive moves in the first half while what seemed, Odafe and Manju along with Rahul Kumar and Habibur quite well held the defense denying Chidi and the dangerous Ranty Martins to take a crack at the Bagan goal. The second half saw a similar story as Bagan unsuccessfully tried to put one goal in and on the otherhand, the Bagan defense coping well with the front line of Dempo. Dempo needing just six points to ensure their title were quite happy to get just one point from this match as they still had two easy matches left. They played out time and Bagan also failed to wrest 3 points and thus the game ended goalless. Bagan are now left with two matches and the team virtually and surely out of the title race will now be looking forward to secure the best finish possible as JCT Mills and Mahindra are close on their heal. Bagan have two more matches with the above mentioned opponents, JCT and Mahindra! Bagan are now on 28 points from 16 matches.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Mohun Bagan now third on I league table

A heroic Sangram deserves some serious applaude after his match winning performance today against Salgaocar to bring home three points for Bagan as Barreto scored the lone goal to take Bagan to third position. Match started off with Salgaocar, nothin to lose and almost sure to get relegated, coming out fearlessly to give one last bite and Bagan started off cautiously and with Douglas missing out with injury Subhasish found himself in his shoes and with Barreto and Bhaichung man-marked, courtesy Subhash Bhowmick, the TD of Salgaocar, Bagan stiffled as the game moved from one side of the field to the other. Barreto and Bhaichung becoming desperate to break the deadlock, started moving up and down and in one such attempt to score, Barreto clashed with the Salgaocar goalie only to be injured and later replaced by Lalam but not before he scored the winner in the 34th min as he headed a ball home from a long Mohunraj throw-in. The 1st half ended with Mohunraj leaving the field due to injury and Rahul Kumar was introduced. In the second half, Bagan more or less sat back and defended the lead as without Barreto, the team seemed lackless in midfield and with Lalkamal Bhowmick, a player worth Rs 22 lac, the highest paid Bengali player in India, in the midfield, Bagan seemed more likely to concede a goal let alone scoring. However, Bhaichung fought a lone battle upfront and he was justly rewarded for his efforts when referee Suresh handed him the yellow card for bulging into the keeper, denying Bagan off his services in the Dempo match. Bagan's shacky defense with Subhashish and Rahul Kumar some how held on and Sangram came up twice with to saves which had goal written all over them. One in the 1st half when he managed to keep the ball out by advancing towards the forward, it was a 3:1 situation. The other was in the second half and surely denied Salgaocar off two genuine goal, but that is what a goalie is for and Sangram again proved his class as critics had started questioning his calibre. Bagan now are on 3rd position on the table with 27 points from 15 matches

MOHUN BAGAN ATHLETIC CLUB-The National club of India

A Short History:

MOHUN BAGAN AC-The National club of India, the oldest Club in Asia,
was established on 15th August 1889 when India was up in arms against her collonial head, England.

Eversince its establishment the Club had been winning a lot of local leagues and cups but the moment of greatness that surpasses all came in the year 1911 when Mohun Bagan AC became the first Indian club/team to defeat the foreigners in their own game of football.

On 29th of July 1911 Mohun Bagan won the IFA shield beating East Yorkshire 2-1. Eversince there has been no stopping!

The club has won and keeps on winning many a laurel for the country! It has made our Nation Proud!

According to FIFA rankings, in Asia, Mohun Bagan is the 16th biggest team to have an avg. home crowd of 19,888. According to World standards, Mohun Bagan has been ranked of 127 much ahead of other big clubs like Udinese(Italy), Benfica(Portugal) and Fulham(England) to mention a few.

It is however,not an easy task to consolidate the history of a club which is more than 117 years old*...(read more...)

*For Further Info:Please visit The Offical site of MAC: History section please open in a New Window

Location: Kolkata Maidan
Colours:
Green and Maroon
Symbol: Sail Boat

Stadium: Mohun Bagan ground
Yuva Bharati Krirangan

MOHUN BAGAN AC- It's not just a club, it is an institution, a religion, a passion. LIVE IT...DIE FOR IT...

A Pictorial trip of the Mohun Bagan Ground!

Satellite Imagery of our Club Ground!*
*Open in a New Window please.
Images of Yuva Bharati Krirangan*
*Open in a New Window please.

Photos by: Soumyadeb Sinha
Photos by: Soumyadeb Sinha

Souvenirs

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