The 'Dorts' takes on Saints

 

Borussia Dortmund play away at Zenit Saints Petersburg tonight for UEFA Champions League round 16. This first leg clash will be a tough one for Dortmund as they were defeated by Hamburg 3-0 in Bundesliga on last Saturday.

Last years Champions League finalists Dortmund has a weak for tonight's match because unfortunately their key defensive midfielder Sven Bender is out for 10 weeks with an injured pelvis. On the other hand, Zenit certainly have the squad to trouble Dortmund tonight with a couple experienced campaigners in Hulk and Andrei Arshavin. 

Please tell us about your views and predictions in the comment box.

Fred, Jo, Jefferson complete Brazil squad

Forwards Fred and Jo and goalkeeper Jefferson have been added to the Brazil squad to take on South Africa in next month’s friendly.
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men visit Johannesburg on March 5 as they build up to hosting the FIFA World Cup in June and July.

Churchill look to tame Persipura Jayapura

Persipura Jayapura will play host to reigning I-League champions Churchill Brothers SC in the AFC Cup Group E encounter to be held at Mandala Stadium in Jayapura of Indonesia on Tuesday.

Lesten strike sends Sporting top of table

Lesten Martins sealed victory with a marvellous touch, as ten men Sporting Clube de Goa moved to the top of the table after overcoming Dempo SC 1-0 in the AIFF’s U-19 I-League at Sesa ground, Sirsaim on Monday.

Real Sociedad 3 Barcelona 1

Real Sociedad inflicted a blow to Barcelona’s La Liga title hopes with a stunning 3-1 win at Anoeta on Saturday.
Antoine Griezmann was influential as Sociedad extended their unbeaten home run against Barcelona to five games, leaving the team that topped the table heading into the weekend three points behind Real Madrid.
An Alex Song own goal gave the hosts the lead, only for Lionel Messi to level with his sixth goal in his last five appearances against Sociedad.

Real Madrid win to move clear as Barcelona lose

Real Madrid moved three points clear in La Liga thanks to a 3-0 win over Elche and Barcelona losing to Real Sociedad.
Real were never in any problems at the Santiago Bernabeu once they opened the scoring through Asier Illarramendi, the midfielder netting his first league goal for the club via a deflection.
Gareth Bale added the second with a long-range strike that crashed off the crossbar on its way in, and Isco completed the win with a low shot past Manu Herrera with nine minutes remaining
Four hours later their lead at the top was confirmed as Barcelona were beaten 3-1 in San Sebastian.
Gorka Elustondo’s header deflected off Alex Song to give Sociedad the lead at Anoeta, but Barca soon responded with an equaliser through Lionel Messi – his sixth goal in five matches against Sociedad.

Valencia eyeing Fernando Torres

La Liga giants Valencia are being linked with a summer move for Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, according to Daily Mirror.
Los Che will have money to spend in the summer if billionaire Peter Lim completes the club takeover and it is believed he will try and make the Spain international his first marquee signing.
Chelsea are expected to finally cash in on the experienced forward, although they are hoping to earn around £13 million from his sale.
Fernando Torres joined the Blues from Premier League rivals Liverpool in January 2011, but he never came even close to justifying the £50 million price tag.
The Spaniard went on to score mere 19 goals in 101 Premier League appearances, and lost his place in the national team in the process.
He has managed just 4 goals in 19 league outings this term and everything suggests he will be leaving Stamford Bridge at the end of the season.
Source: Soccernews.com
Link:  http://www.soccernews.com/valencia-eyeing-fernando-torres/138963/

Goa’s Liston Colaco, Jolitan Dias selected to train at Manchester United

Liston Colaco and Joliton Dias

Goa’s Liston Colaco and Jolitan Dias were among the 11 talented footballers who have been selected to train at the Manchester United Soccer School under Airtel Rising Stars, India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt that concluded on Friday.
The talent hunt saw 23 selected participants from 7 cities take part in the two-day final trials at Duler stadium, Mapusa.

32 teams to battle it out for coveted title tomorrow

The stage is set for the grand finale of the Inter Centre League of the ‘Vodafone GFDC Rising Stars Football Festival’, a first of its kind grass root festival for budding talent in Goa. The six-month festival that kicked off in September 2013 will conclude with a gala ceremony on Sunday, February 23 at Duler stadium, Mapusa in the midst of eminent personalities and football enthusiasts. 

The grand finale will showcase 300 children from the first 6 grassroot football development centres of GFDC battling it out for the coveted title.16 matches will be played amongst 32 teams across 3 categories, U10 and U12 Boys and U12 Girls. The matches will begin at 9 am followed by the prize distribution ceremony at 5 pm. Entry for the mega event is kept free and will be available on first come first serve basis.

Confident Dempo face Armando’s East Bengal

Upbeat after their win against Rangadejied United FC, Dempo FC are all set to face the challenge of East Bengal when they meet on Sunday in the return match of the I-League at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.

FIFA team gives thumbs up to Goa

While dropping enough hints that the state is set to be one of the six centres for the biggest FIFA tournament India has ever hosted, Inaki Alvarez said he was impressed by the football facilities in the state.
FIFA’s director of competitions Inaki Alvarez on Saturday said that prospects of Goa being picked as a venue for the 2017 Under-17 World Cup are very “positive”.  
While dropping enough hints that the state is set to be one of the six centres for the biggest FIFA tournament India has ever hosted, Alvarez said he was impressed by the football facilities in the state.

Goa team for Santosh Trophy 2014 announced

 

GOA

Goalkeepers
Reagan Juliao (Laxmi Prasad SC), Agnelo Gomes (ONGC)

Defenders
Prajot Naik (Laxmi Prasad SC), Mario Mascarenhas (CFC), Meldon Silva (Wilred Leisure SC), Neville Miranda (CFC), Stanley D'Silva (Laxmi Prasad SC), Ponif Vaz (Sesa Football Academy), Lenston Alfonso (Sesa Football Academy), Sachin Gawas (ONGC)

Midfielders
Pacy Perryson Rebello (Sesa Football Academy), Guirish Naik (Sesa Football Academy), Joel Sequeira (ONGC), Nicholas Fernandes (Sesa Football Academy), Brandon Fernandes (African Soccer Development, Cape Town), Steven Fernandes (Laxmi Prasad SC, Captain)

Forwards
Agnelo Colaco (Sesa Football Academy), Lavino Fernandes (ONGC), Umesh Harijan (Sesa Football Academy), Alvito Miranda (Laxmi Prasad SC)

Officials
Levino Anthony Pereira (Coach), Vishwas Gaonkar (Technical Director), Sebastiao A. Noronha (Goalkeeper Coach), Welvin Menezes (Manager), Danny Pereira (Physiotherapist), Lavino Rebello (Chef-de-Mission).

Vasco SC qualify for Pro-League

Vasco SC broke the hearts of Calangute Association and their large supporters as they pipped their rivals with a 1-0 victory in injury time in the GFA First Division match played at the Poriat grounds here on Wednesday, to qualify for next season’s GFA Professional League.

Wenger questions Ozil's penalty style

  

Manuel Neuer saves Mesut Ozil's penalty kick

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger questioned the penalty style adopted by his German midfielder Mesut Ozil, after he missed a crucial spot kick in Arsenal's 2-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich.

Ozil’s relaxed approach to his eighth-minute attempt allowed his German international colleague Manuel Neuer to palm away with relative ease, and Wenger admitted he is not a fan of the slow-paced approach adopted by his 42.4 million-pound club-record buy.

Demichelis holds hands up for red card

Martin Demichelis brought down Lionel Messi in the second half.

Martin Demichelis has stated he does not blame referee Jonas Eriksson for sending him off during Manchester City’s 2-0 Champions League defeat to Barcelona on Tuesday.
Demichelis was red-carded following a last-ditch tackle on Lionel Messi at the Etihad and the attacker stepped up to score the resulting, if controversial, penalty.
Despite contact appearing to initially take place outside of the box, Demichelis accepted blame on his part that he had "made the foul," but admitted he should not have made the challenge in the first place.
"I tackled him [Messi] because we were still outside the box. But I don’t blame the referee. It happened all too fast," Demichelis told The Sun. "I have seen the moment again on TV and think 'why did I have to tackle him and not keep running by his side?'
"I was sure that I would get the ball when I made the tackle. And then you think that you will steal the ball from Messi, you realise that you don’t. But I made the foul."
City manager Manuel Pellegrini was furious with Eriksson after the defeat and is now facing the prospect of a UEFA charge for his post-match rant at the Swedish official, who he deemed to favour Barcelona throughout the last 16 clash.
Source: "ESPN".

Guardiola hopeful of Toni Kroos stay

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has expressed his hope that reported Manchester United target Toni Kroos will sign a new contract after he helped inspire the club to a 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Champions League.
Midfielder Kroos not only provided the opening goal of the night, with a curled finish from outside the box, but also set up Arjen Robben before the red card for Arsenal shot-stopper Wojciech Szczesny.
“He played on a very, very high level. That was real Champions League level,” Guardiola said of Kroos. The Germany midfielder has so far not signed a new contract at Bayern, and has put talks on hold until the end of the season.

Dempo juniors go down to Sesa FA

Sesa Football Academy put up a spirited performance to outplay Dempo Sports Club 5-0 in AIFF’s U-19 I-League (West Zone) football match played at Sirsaim ground, Thivim on Tuesday. The Academy boys led by a goal at half time.
Olvin Cardozo scored in the first session while Rajiv Haldankar, Ganesh Thakur, Stephen Colaco and Glenn Martins were all rewarded for their efforts with a goal each.  Dempo keeper Shilton Fernandes’ goal was breached early in the fourth minute when front man Olvin finished with a deft placement after Glenn had done the spadework. Thereafter, Sesa continued their dominance but keeper Shilton was outstanding even as Olvin missed four clear chances in a one-to-one situation.

Churchill Bros SC overcame Rangdajied United FC

Both the team players tries to acquire the ball.

 

 A 55th minute penalty goal by Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Anthony Wolfe helped Churchill Brothers SC score a solitary-goal win against Rangdajied United FC and bring back hopes of resurgence in the I-League, at Tilak Maidan, Vasco on Tuesday.
The all-important goal was scored after Churchill’s Costa Rican striker Christian Lagos was fouled by Rangdajied’s goalkeeper Rehenesh TP while he was attempting to score. Referee Vishnu Chauhan promptly pointed to the dreaded spot signalling the penalty.

Dempo hope to see Indian players representing EPL teams.

 Denis Irwin(left) along with Dempo Sports Club players and Shrinivas V Dempo(right)

The iconic Barclays Premier League trophy was on display at the Channel V Indiafest 2014 which was held at Baga. This is the first time that the EPL trophy has reached Goan shores and to witness the first ever display of the coveted trophy. Denis Irwin, legendary Manchester United full back player was present. Goa Football Association president and chairman of Dempo Group of Companies Shrinivas V Dempo was invited as a special guest.

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