The Ultimate Update: Rihanna sets new record with latest album

The Ultimate Update: Rihanna sets new record with latest album: Pop star Rihanna has become the first artist in 39 years to top Britain 's albums and singles charts twice in the same year with different...

Afghanistan Nation cricket team is already in kathmandu for ACC T20

Afghanistan who is considered as the pre-tournament favorite had already arrived to Nepal to adapt in the situation and weather of Kathmandu. Afghanistan was the team with the same level as Nepal was before three years when both teams had competed in the ICC World Cricket League Division-5 in 2008. However, Afghanistan progressed after defeating Nepal by 37 runs in the semifinal of the tournament in Jersey. Afghanistan coach Dawlat Ahmadzai said that his team is taking the ACC Twenty20 as a good practice tournament for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE in March 2012.

Afghanistan has already booked its berth in the qualifiers as a team of Division-1 and One-Day status.

“We are preparing for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers, the ACC Twenty20 would be a good practice tournament for us,” said Ahmadzai. However, he said that they are confident about defending the ACC Twenty20 title.

“We are well prepared for the tournament but the UAE, Nepal and Malaysia could be tough opponents,” said Ahmadzai.

Afghanistan and other top three teams of the ACC Twenty20 will secure berths in the qualifiers.

Pitch ready´ for ACC Twenty20!!!

Ajay Pandey, Curator of the TU Cricket Ground, said that four pitches are ready for the ACC Twenty20 Cup.

The TU Ground will host the opener as well as the semifinal and final matches of the tournament.

“I´ve prepared center wicket for the final and opening matches,” said Pandey. “I´ve tried to provide flat wicket as the beauty of T20 tournament lies in the runs scored,” he added.

The TU Ground is considered as a low-scoring and spin-friendly wicket but Pandey is hopeful that teams will be able to score runs this time around.

“Run-scoring depends on the batting. A team can chase around 160 runs on this ground,” said Pandey.

According to Pandey, the center wicket has a bit more grass and can help fast bowlers. “As we are preparing center wicket for the final, we should leave the grass for maintaining moisture,” said Pandey.

 TU cricket ground 

Live streaming Video of SAFF Championship 2011

SAFF Championship 2011 is being held in New Delhi this year. We are streaming all the matches in the tournament live on Indian Football Network.

All the matches will be held at the swanky Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium that was built for Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi. The kick-off times are 3 pm and 6 pm respectively for the 2 matches on each day.

The participating teams are
• 1. Afghanistan    2.Sri Lanka     3. Bhutan       4. India  (GROUP A)
• 5. Maldives          6. Nepal             7. Pakistan     8. Bangladesh (GROUP B)
  

The SAFF CUP 2011 schedule is as follows:

DECEMBER 2, 2011 

  CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT LIVE NOW!

DECEMBER 3, 2011 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT LIVE NOW!

DECEMBER 4, 2011

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT LIVE NOW!

DECEMBER 5, 2011

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT LIVE NOW!

DECEMBER 6, 2011

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT LIVE NOW!

DECEMBER 7, 2011

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT LIVE NOW!

ANFA to give lifetime award if Nepal wins

All Nepal Football Association President Ganesh Thapa has announced that ANFA would provide Rs 10,000 per month lifetime to all the National Team players if they win South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship to be held in Delhi from December 2nd. 

Speaking in the farewell program of Nepal National team, President, Ganesh Thapa announced the program.
"We will do everything possible to reward our players if they win the SAFF Championship. We have in our mind that how should we need to reward the players if we bring cup home. For now, I will declare that ANFA will provide Rs 10,000 monthly lifetime to all the current National squad if they win the SAFF championship".

"I am not going to New Delhi", ANFA President Thapa said, "Because sometimes you have to be superstitious. I am not going to Delhi to "support" my team. Our best wishes are with all the players. Players should remember country and I am confident that our boys will do good".

Sports Minister of nepal in farewale programme

Nepal National Team has reached New Delhi this afternoon to take part in SAFF Championship which is starting from December 2.

Nepal National Team will stay at Hilton Hotel.

Nepal will take on Maldives in the opening match of SAFF Championship on December 2 at the JN Stadium, New Delhi

Profile of the coaches of the national team of all south asian nation taking part in SAFF Championship 2011

The SAFF Cup brings together eight SAFF nations in a tournament held every two years, to ascertain regional supremacy in South Asia. India are to host the 2011 iteration of the tournament and they are also credited with being the most successful team at the competition.

Behind every successful team, it is ofcourse the coach who makes all the game-changing decisions and hence i tried to find out the profile of all the coaches representing south asian nation, who look to challenge defending champions India for the 2011 crown.

                                                                                                

Mohammad Yousef Kargar Afghanistan Age - 49 The man who is in charge of the Afghanistan national team who are ranked currently 184 in the world according to FIFA, was actually a talented skiier and comes from a wealthy family who had set up the first ski resort in Afghanistan. He became national champion at the relatively young age of 16 but the ongoing Russian invasion meant we could never know how good he actually was as he failed to go to the Winter Olympics. Being a multi-talented man, Kargar also represented the Afghan National Football Team from 1976-1984. With the Taliban Regime ending, he was the Assistant Manager of the Football Team from 2002, mainly in charge of the youth system and finally it was in 2008, he was chosen to manage the Afghan National Team. Besides football, Kargar still maintains his keen interest in skiing as he has rebuild his family resort, which was destroyed during the Russian invasion and he trains future skiiers with the dream of Afghanistan being represented in the Winter Olympics, even though he may be too old for it.

                                                                                            
                                                                                                

Savio Medeira India Age - 46 Savio Medeira was recently appointed as Head Coach of India having served as Assistant Coach under both Bob Houghton and Armando Colaco from 2008. Starting his career as India coach with a draw against Malaysia, his first win came in the second match itself when they played the same opposition in Kolkata. Savio had a long and successful career with Salgaocar from 1983-2000 where he played as a midfielder and had won the National Football League in 1998. After retiring from football, he was appointed as coach of Salgaocar from 2001 after being an assistant coach for a year. His time at the club was mixed. They did win the Durand Cup in 2003 and also finished runners up in 2002-2003 NFL just behind East Bengal. however they were relegated twice under his reign. This would be the first India's first competition under Savio, and Savio will look to help India on to defend their crown as SAFF champions at their own backyard.

                                                                                            
                                                                                                   

Jang Jung Sri Lanka Age - 47 Jang Jung, who took charge of the Sri Lanka National Football Team in 2007 was a defender during his playing career and had also won four caps for the South Korean National team. He started representing Ajou University Youth team and quickly moved to Lucky Goldstar Hwangso. He also played for Perak FC, Singapore Lions and retired at Geyland United FC, where he immediately took over as coach of the team. He then moved to Balestier Khalsa, another team in Singapore's S-League as Coach and finally spending a year from 2006 as coach of Sri Lanka's U23 team he was appointed head coach of the senior Sri Lankan team.

                                                                                                                                                                                             

Hiroaki Matsuyama Bhutan Age - 44 Matuyama took over as head coach of the Bhutan national team, this year after Koji Gyotuku reinquished control. As a player he represented a clutch of Japanese clubs, with only a mere appearances in J-League, playing as a midfielder. He played for the likes of Furukawa Electric, Fujita, Bellmare Hiratsuka, Tosu Futures and Consadole Sapporo among others in a short playing career of about six years. However he never represented the Japan National Team. His only prior managerial experience before the Bhutan job was when he took over as Head Coach of Oita Trinita, a team in J-league Division 2 in 2009 for a short span before being removed. He was the manager of Vissel Kobe Reserves in 2004 and seemingly worked as an interpreter as well.

                                                                                            
                                                                                                 

Nikola Ilievski Bangladesh Age - 56 Ilievski is from the Republic of Macedonia born in Skopje which belonged to the former Yugoslovia under the Soviet Federation. He had a distinguished playing career from 1974-88 representing a clutch of clubs from the former Yugoslovia which includes FK Ohrid, FK Vardar, FK Rabotnicki, FK Pristina among others and also Kastoria FC from Greece. After finishing his playing career he obtained a coaching degree from the University of Belgrade. Just like his playing career he coached numerous teams, the highlights of which include coaching Macedonia from 2002-03. His most successful spell included leading FK Pobeda to the Macedonian Cup in 2001-02 and first division in 2003-04. He also led NK CM Celje to the Slovenian Cup in 2005-06. He replaced Gjore Jovanoski as coach of Bangladesh in June 2011.

                                                                                            
                                                                                                 

Istvan Urbanyi Maldives Age - 44 Currently in his second stint as coach of the Maldives National Team from October 2011, during his playing career he played both as a defender and a midfielder and represented the Hungary National Team. In his long 18 year playing career, he played for a host of clubs in Hungary with the most notable being BP Honved and Gyori ETO among others. His coaching career began in 2002 with BKV Elore in Hungary and Ujpest FC before taking charge of Maldives in 2009-10. He was reappointed after a short stint with Kecskemeti CE. With Maldives being last edition's losing finalists and the second seed behind India this year, Urbanyi will look to win the title with Maldives this time around.

                                                                                            
                                                                                                   

Zavisa Milosavljević Pakistan Milosavljević took charge just in November, 2011 replacing Tariq Lufti, who was a stop gap after Graham Roberts was sacked. He has his task cut out since Pakistan head on to compete in the SAFF Championship early December. He possesses a Master Degree in Physical Education and was also a P.E Professor. He also has an A category Coaching license. His previous stint was coaching the Lesotho National Team with whom he won two, drew six and lost nine. He was born in Serbia and he had previous experience in coaching the U-16, U-19 and U-23 Serbian National Football Team. On speaking about his vision regarding the Pakistan football team he mentioned "target, analysis, vision, action and control” as what he looks to achieve.

                                                                                            
                                                                                                  

Graham Roberts Nepal Age - 52 Arguably the most high profile coach among all, Roberts was born in Southampton, and played as a defender representing a clutch of big clubs including the likes of Chelsea, Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur among others in a sparkling career that stretched 21 years. His honours include winning the FA Cup with Tottenham in 1981 and 1982 and also the UEFA Cup in 1984. With Rangers he won the Scottish League in the first season itself along with the League Cup twice in 1987 and 1988. He also won the second division while representing Chelsea in 1988-89. He also won 6 caps for the England National Team. When he hanged up his boots as a player, he took over as manager of Clyde in the Scottish League. While playing for Yeovil Town, he was also a manager there. However he was dismissed rather controversially by Clyde,on the allegation that he made racist remarks but which was later found out as wholly exaggerated or possibly not true at all. Before taking over Nepal he had a short stint as Head Coach of Pakistan but was removed in March 2011, being there for only a year.

Zambia Thrash India by 5-0 ahead of SAFF championship 2011!!!

India’s confidence ahead of the SAFF Championship would certainly have taken a beating following their 5-0 defeat at the hands of Zambia at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa on Tuesday.

Musakanya Bwalya was the star of the match with a hat-trick within 21 minutes which sealed the victory for his side.

The international friendly match played  at the Jawaharal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, before the SAFF championship was the crucial match for India to gain its confidence.
The Indian team led by midfielder Steven Dias conceeded the first goal in the 15th minute, when Jimmy Chisenga found the back of the net for Zambia.
Joseph Sitali doubled the lead, while Bruce Musakanya scored a hat trick to make it 5-0 in favour of the visitors, who are ranked 79th in the FIFA World Ranking.

Goals:

Jimmy Chisenga 14′ 

Sitali Mushumba 55′ 

Musakanya Bwalya 69′ 

Musakanya Bwalya 72′ 

Musakanya Bwalya 90′ 

Live Update of the International friendly match between India and Zambia!!!

INDIA Karanjit; Jaspal, Gouramangi, Gawli, Nabi; Dias, Jewel, Rocus, Miranda; Sushil, Abranches

ZAMBIA   Kakonje;  Chisenga, Banda, Mulenga, Kabamba; Katongo, Sinkala, Kasonde, Sitali; Mulenga, Lungu

Click the link below to get the Live update of the match or watch it in DD sports.


       Live update of the match between India and Zambia 


 Before the SAFF Championship is underway in Delhi on December 2, India plays an international Friendly against Zambia, who are ranked at 79 in the world, a far cry from India's 162. This will, on one hand allow India a final practice match as well as allow them to test themselves against a much higher ranked side in the world.

Zambia had played a previous match against a Goa XI team, thrashing them comprehensively by 4-1. In that match, they clearly demonstrated that their higher ranking was rather deserved as they outplayed the Goa team, in the second half.

Savio will miss his first choice striking pair Chhetri and Jeje up front. With the additions of young central defenders Nirmal Chettri and Govin Moirangthem, who will certainly get a look in, the squads resemble the ones against the twin friendlies against Malaysia.

This will be Savio's third match in charge of the Indian National Team and with already one win and one draw in his bag, he will look to maintain his unbeaten streak. More importantly this will allow Savio to effectively rotate his squad and decide on the players he would like to represent India at the all important SAFF Championship.

Zambia coach, Herve Renard will look to field an unchanged team from the one that took apart the Goa XI. Moreover Zambia have come without much of their International players, allowing their young players to represent the Zambia national team and is confident that the 20 something players will give a good account of themselves and fill in the three slots in the team that are yet to be fulfilled.

This will thus be a perfect opportunity for Renard to test his squad in preparation for the upcoming African Cup of Nations.

Available Squad For India

Goalkeepers: Karanjit Singh, Subhasish Roychowdhury, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

Defenders: Jaspal Parmar, Sameer Naik, Mahesh Gawli, Debabrata Roy, Nirmal Chettri, Syed Rahim Nabi, Gouramangi Moirangthem, Govin Moirangthem.

Midfielders: Baldeep Singh, Rocus Lamare, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Francis Fernandes, Climax Lawrence, Anthony Pereira, Clifford Miranda, Jewel Raja, Steven Dias, Lalrindika Ralte.

Forwards: Baljit Sahni, Sushil Singh, Joaquim Abranches.

Available Squad for ZambiaGoalkeepers: Jacob Banda, Kalililo Kakonje, Joshua Titima,

Defenders: Jimmy Chisenga, Daudi Musekwa, Nyambe Mulenga, Hichani Himonde, Dennis Banda, Oswald Kalamba, Lawrence Chungu, Stephen Kabamba,

Midfielders: Bruce Musakanya, Jonas Sakuwaha, Thomas Nyirenda, Nathan Sinkala, Joseph Sitali, Emmanuel Chimpinde, Kennedy Mudenda, Felix Katongo, Rodrick Kabwe,

Strikers: Evans Kangwa, Ronald Kampamba, Luka Lungu, Alfred Luputa.

India Announce 26 member Squad for SAFF championship 2011

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has named a 26-man squad for the Indian national team’s upcoming friendly against Zambia and the preparatory camp for next month’s SAFF Cup.

Young central defenders Nirmal Chettri and Govin Moirangthem have been called up with the injured Raju Gaekwad, Anwar Ali, who got hurt in the Kolkata friendly against Malaysia and Mehtab Hussain, who is yet to be match fit, missing out.

Indian Football team

The rest of the squad remains the same as it was in the twin  friendlies against Malaysia and the SAFF Cup preparatory camp begins on 25th November in Goa.

India will be taking on Zambia, who are ranked 80th in the world, in an international friendly in Goa on 29th November. That match will be India’s last game before their SAFF Cup 2011 campaign, where they have been placed in Group A alongside Afghanistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Goalkeepers: Karanjit Singh, Subhasish Roychowdhury, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu,

Defenders: Jaspal Parmar, Sameer Naik, Mahesh Gawli, Debabrata Roy, Nirmal Chettri, Syed Rahim Nabi, Gouramangi Moirangthem, Govin Moirangthem

Midfielders: Baldeep Singh, Rocus Lamare, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Francis Fernandes, Climax Lawrence, Anthony Pereira, Clifford Miranda, Jewel Raja, Steven Dias, Lalrindika Ralte

Forwards: Baljit Sahni, Jeje Lalpeklua, Sushil Singh, Joaquim Abranches, Sunil Chhetri.

Head Coach: Savio Medeira

Bangladesh Reaching New Delhi Tuesday Morning, Bangladesh to play SAFF championship!!!

The complication regarding visas of five members of the Bangladesh national football team including head coach Nikola Ilievski was finally resolved yesterday, paving the way for the team to take a flight this morning to take part in the SAFF Championship.

The 31-member contingent will fly at 8:35 am for New Delhi through a Bangladesh Biman flight as the seventh edition of the regional football extravaganza involving eight countries will get underway from December 2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The booters were originally scheduled to leave the country for Kolkata on November 25 to play two practice matches there but the tour had to be cancelled due to visa complications as the Indian High Commission granted visas of the remaining five members of the contingent only yesterday.

The tour of Kolkata was important for Macedonian coach Nikola, who wanted to fine tune his charges through two matches in Kolkata before taking on Pakistan on the opening day of the tournament. But he had to be content with the practice matches his boys played on home soil and the lone match in Malaysia.

“It is a good memory for us that we are leaving the country with a victory we recorded against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in our last practice match though it could have been better had we got the opportunities to play two matches in Kolkata,” said coach Nikola.

After the cancellation of the tour of Kolkata, the national side had practice under the floodlights yesterday at the Bangabandhu National Stadium as they will have to play under floodlights in New Delhi.

Dabur Nepal To Sponsor Nepal National team For A Year

Multinational company, Dabur Nepal has agreed to sponsor Nepal National team for a year.

ANFA and Dabur Nepal is signing in an MoU today at DECC Hall, Tripureshowr, Kathmandu. 

"We are pleased to partner with ANFA", Dabur Nepal official said, "Football is popular game in Nepal and we want to contribute something in the development of the game".

The sponsorship deal will come to an effect from this SAFF Championship. Hope the combination of Dabur Nepal and ANFA will bring some glory back to Nepal. Don’t forget to watch the live streaming video and to get live update of the match through out the tournament. I will be available for the exclusive update of the match.

Sri Lanka To Reach New Delhi On November 30 and Srilanka Announces 20 members Squad

A-20-member Sri Lankan team will leave the island for New Delhi on November 30 by Flight No.GW 257 to take part in the SAFF Championship Football tournament. Srilankan have never won the SAFF championship and are always considered as the under dog team of the tournament. Srilankan are physically strong .
Sri lanka are in in the group of India, Bhutan and Afghanistan and this group is suppose to be easy group compared to other group

The players are as follows:

The Sri Lanka squad: 

Manjula Fernando (Blue Star SC, Goalkeeper), W.S.D. Sujan Perera (Kalutara Park SC, Goalkeeper), Asanka Viraj (Saunders SC, Goalkeeper), 

R. N. Bandara Warakagoda (SL Army SC, Defence), Suranda Bandara (Don Bosco SC, Defence), W. Rohana Ruwanthilake (Captain) (Saunders SC, Defence), M. Baranudeen (Java Lane SC, Defence), K. C. K. Lankesara (SL Air Force SC, Defence), Dhanushka Wijesiri (SL Army SC, Defence), Chameera Krishantha (SL Navy SC, Defence), 

Nadeeka Pushpakumara (SL Police SC, Mid Field), Thejan Fernando (Don Bosco SC, Mid Field), Chathura Gunarathne (Renown SC, Mid Field), S. M. M. Nazar (SL Air Force SC, Mid Field), Tuwan Rizni (Renown SC, Mid Field), M. N. M. Issadeen (SL Army SC, Mid Field), 

S. Sanjeeu (SL Air Force SC, Forward), Nagoor Meera (Java Lane SC, Forward), M. I. Mohamed Zain (Renown SC, Forward), Nipuna Bandara (Don Bosco SC, Forward).

Team Officials:

Vasantha Wickremasinghe (SP Manager), Jang Gung (Head Coach), D. Chandrasiri (Coach), U. L. Thushara Sampath (Asst. Coach), S.N. P. Kumara Silva (Masseur). 

India to play against Zambia before SAFF Championship 2011.

In the run-up to the SAFF Championship, the Indian National Football Team is all set to host Zambia in a FIFA International Friendly at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Tuesday. The match serves as the perfect backdrop for the eight-Nation tournament which kicks-off on December 2, 2011.

The SAFF Championship, at the moment can wait; and against Zambia India would be taking the field without the awesome twosome – strikers Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua, both of whom are away for trials at Scottish giants Rangers.

Chief Coach Savio Medeira stays aware of the Zambian challenge. “The match is very important for us. This is a great opportunity to gauge where we stand. The Zambian team are ranked higher than us and are an athletic side,” he said. “It will be a learning experience for the boys ahead of the SAFF Championship.”

Govin Singh and Nirmal Chhetri make a comeback to the National squad for the match.

However, Medeira seemed unfazed by the absence of his strikers. “It’s true the duo has brought us laurels in the recent past. But this is a great opportunity for the others to prove themselves,” he added.

The boys, nevertheless, stay unperturbed by their higher ranked rivals. They look forward to repeat their performance against Malaysia when India got the better of them in a two-match series.

“If we play as a unit – the manner we played against Malaysia, we should pose a challenge for Zambia,” quipped Baljit Sahni. “We hope to bank on the crowd support. We will give our 100 percent,” he echoed.

The Kick-off is at 3:45 pm and would be telecast live on DD Sports.

The squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Karanjit Singh, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury.

Defenders: Jaspal Singh, Sameer Naik, Mahesh Gawli, Debabrata Roy, Nirmal Chhetri, Syed Rahim Nabi, Gouramangi Singh, Govin Singh.

Midfeilders: Baldeep Singh, Rocus Lamare, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Francis Fernandes, Climax Lawrence, Anthony Periera, Clifford Miranda, Jewel Raja, Steven Dias, Lalrindika Ralte.

Forwards: Baljit Sahni, Sushil Singh, Joaquim Abranches.
OFFICIALS:

Head Coach: Savio Medeira

Assistant Coach: Mariano Dias

Doctor: Sandeep Kumar

Physical Trainer: Pradip Datta

Massuer: Liaqat Ali.

Physio: Vishnu Nair

Manager: Mandar Tamhane