The Hindu : Sport / Football : NFL kicks off today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2005

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Sport - Football

NFL kicks off today

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLKATA, JAN. 11. The ninth edition of the National Football League will get off to a start at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday with East Bengal taking on Mohun Bagan.

This match will also be a fund-raiser for Brazilian Cristiano Junior who died in Bangalore during the Federation Cup final last year. This is the first major meet after that incident and it will be interesting to see how well the organisers tackle FIFA's mandate on proper medical facilities at all the venues.

There are six strong teams from Goa led by Federation Cup champion Dempo, former NFL champion Salgaocar, Churchill Brothers, Sporting Clube de Goa, Vasco SC and new entrant Fransa. But in the last two seasons it was the Kolkata giant East Bengal which walked away with the crown. In fact Bengal has won six out of the eight titles so far.

Holder East Bengal will also be keen to record the first hat-trick of titles but the question remains whether the team has prepared well for its new venture.

Though coach Subhas Bhowmick has been able to keep the trophies last season, East Bengal's triumphs have come the hard way.

It's latest triumph came in Nepal, where it beat a Korean university outfit on penalties to win the San Miguel International Cup early this month.

East Bengal has it own worries with many of its key players in the injured list, but it still remains the best side from Bengal. The other two, Mohun Bagan and Tollygunge Agragami, are much behind in both strength and motivation.

Mumbai's Mahindra United has been gaining in strength every season. The automobile giant has pooled in additional resources to ensure a robust composition under Dronacharya coach, Syed Nayeemuddin.

The Federation Cup remained a fiasco but this team can do better in the expansive format of 22 rounds and 132 matches in all.

JCT Mills, under coach Sukhvinder Singh, is also capable of springing surprises like in the previous editions. SBT, having a clutch of players who helped Kerala win the Santosh Trophy is also potent on paper but it remains to be seen how it proves itself as a club outfit.

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, will inaugurate the tournament. The match will broadcast live on DD Sports from 3.00 p.m. onwards.

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