Welcome to another edition of the Indian football news roundup. Today, we will talk about Chennai City FC squandering their opportunity to win the I-League with a loss to Churchill Brothers FC, Kerala Blasters failing to get past a 10-man Northeast United FC in the ISL, Praful Patel running for the post of AFC’s FIFA Council member, and Chennaiyin FC John Gregory confirming that he will not be their manager next season.
In case you missed out on the previous edition of the Indian football news roundup, you can check it out here.
I-League: Chennai City FC suffer a loss to Churchill Brothers, need a win in the last match to lift the trophy
Chennai City FC required a victory over Churchill Brothers at the Tilak Maidan in Goa to lift their maiden I-League trophy. However, the Goan side pipped the Chennai outfit 3-2 to put a roadblock on their journey.
The visitors took the lead in the 29th minute when Sandro Rodriguez’s free-kick took an uncanny deflection from Willis Plaza to leave the goalkeeper wrong-footed. However, the Trinidad and Tobago player made amends for it nine minutes later after tapping in Nicholas Fernandes’ lovely cross from the left wing.
Right-back Wayne Vaz sent in a delicious ball for Christian Remi who made no mistake to give Churchill Brothers the lead in the 50th minute. However, the 24-year-old struck the ball with his hand around the 70minute mark to award a penalty to Chennai City FC. Pedro Manzi made no error in slotting the ball home.
Chennai’s hope of taking back their lead took a jolt two minutes later as goalkeeper Mauro Boerchio gave the ball straight to Khalid Aucho. The Ugandan put the ball in the platter for Willis Plaza who restored the lead for Churchill. The full-time scoreline remained 3-2 as Churchill Brothers completed their revenge of the 1996-97 NFL when Chennai-based Indian Bank demolished their hopes of winning the title.
ISL: 10-man Northeast United FC hold Kerala Blasters
Kerala Blasters failed to overcome a 10-man Northeast United FC in the ISL to finish their league stage with 15 points from 18 matches. Gurwinder Singh was shown the marching orders in the 23rd minute after taking down Matej Poplatnik.
The draw also ensured that Northeast United FC would finish fourth in their league as they have 29 points from 18 matches. They will be locking horns with FC Goa in the two-legged semi-finals.
Praful Patel to run for the position of AFC’s FIFA Council Member
AIFF President Praful Patel will run for the position of AFC’s FIFA Council Member. It would be a massive step for Indian football if he can be AFC’s representative in FIFA. Following is the list of people running for the post:
List of candidates:
AFC President and FIFA Vice President (Term 2019 – 2023)
Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (Bahrain)
Saoud A.Aziz M A Al-Mohannadi (Qatar)
Mohamed Khalfan Matar Saeed Alromaithi (United Arab Emirates)
FIFA Council Members (Term 2019 – 2023)
Mr. Saoud A.Aziz M A Al- Mohannadi (Qatar)
Mr. Khalid Awad A. Althebity (Saudi Arabia)
Mr. Mariano V. Araneta, Jr. (Philippines)
Mr. Chung Mong Gyu (Korea Republic)
HE Du Zhaocai (China PR)
Mr. Praful Patel (India)
Mr. Mehdi Taj (IR Iran)
Mr. Kohzo Tashima (Japan)
Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory to step down next season
Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory confirmed that he will step down as the coach next season owing to the poor performance of the club in the ongoing ISL. He, however, will manage the side in the forthcoming Hero Super Cup and the 2019 AFC Cup.
