Bayern Munich win another continental crown, five in a trot.

              

              Bayern Munich won the 5^th crown of this year, beating Moroccan Side Raja Casablanca 2-0 in the final of Club World cup at Marrakech Stadium, Marrakech today. Brazilian center back Dante scored the first for visitors in the 7^th minute of the game while Spanish international Thiago doubled the lead in 22^nd minute.

              The Bavarians started the season with a nine-match winning streak. The club have been going through a purple patch claiming 5 trophies since last season, triumphing the Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League the German cup, the UEFA Super Cup & finally grabbing the Club World cup. Bayern are the first German club to achieve such landmark to win back to back five major triumphs in a row.

                   This was the third time Bayern coach Pep Guardiola has won the Club World Cup after lifting the trophy during his previous stint with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.

                On the other hand the German giants had never appeared in FIFA's Club World Cup before this game, they did win the Intercontinental Cup—the Club World Cup's

forerunner—in 1976 and 2001.

                    Meanwhile the local side Raja qualified for the tournament as champions of the host country Morocco. They were the second team from outside Europe or South America to reach the final since the tournament began in its current form in 2005 and were only briefly in the contest.

                   The Moroccans have earned admirers for a tremendous run which saw them beat Auckland City, Monterrey and Atletico Mineiro en route to the final where they had plenty of home support.

                     Just as they had done in Wednesday's 3-0 semi-final win over Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande, the Germans dominated throughout the entire tournament.

                   In this match Guardiola had to choose his first eleven in front of vociferous 45000 odd crowd randomly shouting for the homeside without gamemaker Bastian Schweinsteiger & winger Aejen Robben due to their injury.

                In the 7^th minute Dante put the visitors ahead after a head from Jerome Boateng who grounded the ball following a corner from Xherdan Shaqiri.

                While Thiago scored the second  in 22^nd minute after Alaba cut inside from the left wing to find Thiago who thundered the ball past Raja’s advancing custodian Askri into the net.

                After that goal both sides had their chances but neither of them manage to utilise any.

                Since last season Bayern have been going through a remarkable unstoppable dream-run & whether their form is concern they have been instrumental.

               In another eventful match in the third place decider Brazilian side Atletico Miniero edge past Guangzhou by 3-2 margin, the Brazilians had to play with 10 men in the few dying minutes of the game after veteran star Ronaldinho, who scored the second for his side got marching order.

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Dika wins the stellar show for East Bengal against archrival Mohun Bagan.

             Lalrindika Ralte won the Kolkata derby for East Bengal against arch rival Mohun Bagan by 1-0 margin by scoring the solitary goal in the 72^nd minute of the game.

              Neither side deserved to be a looser, the match was equally balanced, both the sides had their chances throughout the 90 minutes, it was Lalrindika who made the difference only by his individual excellence with a left footer long ranger almost form 25 yards away which went past the advancing Mohun Bagan custodian Shilton Paul into the net, silenced the 60000 odd green & maroon supporters inside the stadium & made the coronation of Armando Colaco as an East Bengal coach remarkable as well.

                 Tactically Karim Bencharifa was highly disciplined & correct, in the absence of experienced Eche he composed his defence with Pritam Kotal, Rowlison Rodriguez, Aibor Khonjee, Souvik Ghosh & used Kingshuk Debnath as a blocker in front of them,  put Sabeeth & Eric Muranda in the upfront while Odafa was operating as a withdrawal forward from a bit of behind.

               They had their chance in the very early minutes of the game while Odafa sent a pin-point pass to Eric who had the only goalkeeper to beat handed the ball into the safehands of East Bengal custodian Abhijit Mondal on the 6^th minute of the game.

               East Bengal also had their first clear opportunity on the dying moments of first half while Ryoji Sueka failed to dribble past advancing Shilton after following a goal bound pass from Kevin Lobo.

                Odafa has shown his spark in the second half while he screened the ball after taking four of the opponent defenders & took a thunderous shot unfortunately which found the safe hands of Abhhijit.

                 Abhijit Mondal once again saved a magnificent powerful header by Odafa following a right wing cross sent by Pritam Kotal on exact hour mark.

                  While the match was heading towards a tactical stalemate Armando introduced James Moga in the upfront on the place of Kevin Lobo in the 65^th minute of the game for putting some aerial pressure on opponent defence.

                    It was Dika who broke the deadlock in the 72^nd minute of the game after following a pass from Harmonjeet Khabra, thundered a long ranger volley by left foot, which went past the opponent custodian Shilton just making him a standing viewer only & dipped inside the post. Entire East Bengal crowd erupted in joy & started to chant with the name of Dika.

                 If we analyze the match then we must have to say during 90 minutes Salt Lake stadium have witnessed an uneven battle of few young talents in Mohun Bagan defence who experienced their first ever derby remained instrumental against heavily experienced East Bengal so it has to be told that Mohun Bagan might have lost the derby but those promising young talents have made a mark & surely going to advent as superstar in upcoming days.

                 With this victory East Bengal remains unbeaten since last 6 matches against their archrivals moreover has won 4 out of their clashes including the violence marred abandoned derby in which East Bengal was declared winner by AIFF later.

                 This victory guided East Bengal on 10 points after 7^th round while Mohun Bagan remains in 10 after 9^th round.

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Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal, 2 Kolkata giants are going to clash in the 1st leg of I-League this season.

               Kolkata peoples are going to taste this season’s first derby while two Kolkata giants will renew their long term rivalry when Mohun Bagan will take on arch-rivals East Bengal in the first leg encounter of this I-League at Yuba Bharati Kriangan on 24^th November.

                 In this current scenario both the sides are standing on different kind of conditions. East Bengal has just recruited Indian coach Armando Colaso who has won five I-League crowns during his previous association with Dempo, after terminating the much whipped Brazilian coach Marcos Falopa, whom they have brought here from Brazil & handed over the responsibility since the beginning of this season.

                   But this time the coronation of Armando is going to be a difficult litmus test, just after taking responsibility of the side he has to face the fierce rival in Kolkata.

                 On the other hand the Green & Maroon brigade have been in the stewardship of Moroccan coach Karim Bencharifa since the mid of last season. Karim who is known for utilizing young talents, has a handful of young talents in the likes of Ram Malik, Pritam Kotal, Souvik Ghosh & few other promising talents who are performing quite well & improving day by day. It’s expected that 6 out of Mohun Bagan’s starting eleven are going to play their first derby encounter with the heavy weight archrivals.

                   Everybody knows very well what Kolkata derby means to the supporters of these two sides, sometimes it’s beyond the result, it’s all about sentiments & emotions attached with the entire Bengali communities. Supporters of neither side will not mind what happened in the previous matches & what will happen ahead if they can test a victory in this match.

                 If we go through last few encounters then we will see that Mohun Bagan has not won any single derby against their arch-rivals since their last victory in 2011-12 CFL match.

                Meanwhile the Red & Gold brigade emerged as the winner 3 out of 4 encounters in previous season including the violence marred abandoned I-League derby of 9^th December, 2012 in which East Bengal was declared the winner by AIFF later, moreover they are unbeaten since their last 5 encounters with the archrivals.

                 So this time the entire Green & Maroon brigade, the players along with the languishing supporters are frantically hoping & desperately seeking for a victory in this match.

                   This derby will get more importance due to the presence of several Bengali footballers in both sides after a long while. It’s expected that Shitlon Paul, Kingshuk Debnath, Souvik Ghosh, Pritam Kotal, Ram Malik will start in Mohun Bagan’s first eleven while East Bengal first eleven will comprise with their skipper Mehtab Hossain, Abhijit Mondal, Saumik Dey, Arnab Mondal. Supporters of both sides will be eagerly eyeing on that Bengali brigade who have the potential to act as a game changer.

                    No equations, speculations & predictions work in derby but this time the Red & Golds will visibly start as a superior side than their opponents, they have a set team since last 3 years, apart from James Moga most of the players have experienced Kolkata derby before.

               While there are 5 to 6 stubborn young players who are likely to be included in the first eleven of Mohun Bagan will taste their first derby experience on Thursday who will try to substantiate themselves in this bigger platform.

                   The Red & Golds will heavily bank on their midfield supremo Mehtab Hossain who will marshal the midfield along with Ryoji Sueka who has just recovered from his injury while Chiddi will pair with James Moga in the upfront.

                   On the other hand the Mariners will retaliate with the agility of Odafa Okolie who will spearhead their attack along with Kenyan, Eric Muranda in the upfront while indispensable Japanese midfielder Katsumi Yusa will take on the midfield.

                     The absence of central defender Eche who got the marching order in last match will maim the defence of Mohun Bagan & will bring furrows on Karim Bencharifa’s forehead. He has to manage & compose his destitute & unkempt defence without any foreigner on that place, Kingsuk Debnath, Pritam Kotal along with Rowlison Rodrigues are likely to work on there.

                 The time will say that the new comer Armando can produce himself as a herald with his sorcery touch or veteran bespoken Karim can emeute with his booming young talents.

                 Though both these sides share the same ground Salt Lake stadium as their home this time AIFF has given Mohun Bagan the responsibility of organizing this match & referees panel are decided by AIFF is Dinesh Nayar, Pratap Singh & Madho Singh while Dinesh Nayar is likely to be tipped as a whistle blower during the match. The kick-off time is scheduled at 5-00pm.

                Eventually this is going to be the 9^th round encounter for Mohun Bagan, currently standing on 10 points while it’s going to be the 6^th round game for East Bengal, standing on 7 points now.

                  It’s expected that 1,20000 chauvinist vociferous supporters of both sides will be present in the ground to witness this face-off & regarding that a huge amounts of securities along with riot police are arranged by the local administration which would be deployed every corners inside the stadium to avert any kind of tussles & nuisances.

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Brazil won the Confederation Cup, hammering Spain by 3-0 margin.

             

            Congrats Brazil, won the Confederation Cup once again, humiliating current world champion Spain by 3-0 margin at Maracana lastnight, Fred has scored a brace in the either halves of the game on 2nd & 47th minute while Neymar has done the rest in 43rd minute.

                Brazil have shown another usual thing once again at Maracana that they know how to handle the pressure cooker situation & how to take control & get rid of big matches against the real heavy weight opponents in mega tournaments.

                  This is Brazil’s fourth Confederation Cup triumph & third in a succession in the other hand this is Spain’s first defeat in last 29 matches, lasttime they lost a group league match

against Switzerland in their opening match of World Cup 2010.

                 Currently Brazil is standing on 22^nd position according to FIFA ranking which is the worst in their football history but with this victory they could have established the proverbial myth once again that “rank comes later quality & excellence matter”.

                    Brazil started in a furious note, got their first goal within 2 minutes of the game while Fred, brilliantly scored from a fumble in front of Spain’s goal after failing down on the pitch,  following an Oscar’s delivery from the right & equally well assisted by Neymar from the right.

                   Daviz Luiz denied Spain’s eqaliser in the 40^th minute of the game when Mata played a glorious little dink across the box to the right to Pedro who was clear in on the keeper, He placed it around Julio Cesar without huge power but very precisely yet David Luiz slid in and knocked it clear an inch or so before it went in.

                   In 43rd minute Brazil doubled their lead courtesy Neymar, magnificently played one two with Oscar & smashed

high at the near post above Casillas.

                    First half ended with Brazil’s 2-0 lead over Spain.

                    From the beginning of the 2^nd half Brazil started with the same dominance they have shown throughout the first half, due to that Fred scored his second & Brazil’s third, put the final nail on Spain’s coffin.

                 Played up the left, Marcelo cutting inside and tapping through to Neymar in the centre who flicks it to his left and Fred steers a shot around Casillas into the opposite corner. The game was almost over for Spain.

                    Vicente Del Bosque made a final attempt by introducing Jesus Navas in the place of Mata in the middle of the 2^nd half which actually could have been fruitful for Spain,

Spain got a penalty in the first touch of Navas following a foul by Marclo inside the box.

                   Dutch referee Bjorn Koupers pointed toward the spot, Sergei Ramos screwed wide of Julio Cesar's post, wasted the last lifeline for Spain.

                     Gerrard Pique got marching order in the 67^th minute while tackling recklessly  goal bound Neymar without the ball, in this case neither Pique had any option to defend Neymar nor the Dutch referee had without showing the red.

                   The entire credit of this Confed triumph should go to newly appointed coach Luiz Philip Scholari, the coach of 2002 World Cup winning team, has taken the responsibility again in a very critical time from the hand of Mano Menzes, committed this bunch of youngsters, has shown excellent stewardship to guide Brazil forward.

                    Neymar has shown an extra-ordinary individual excellence throughout the tournament, should mention here before this tournament he has not scored any goal in his last 9 appearances for Brazil.

                 In here we got different Neymar, scored 4 goals himself, assisted during several other goals, bagged the best footballer award by winning the Golden Ball here, better to say

a legend is born, has shown enough potential to carry the legacy forward from the previous superstars in the likes of Kaka, Ronailndho, Ronaldo etc.

                   It has to be told that Brazil football is on a new horizon courtesy Neymar, Fred, Hulk, Oscar, Paulinho & few other youngsters who have proved themselves in this Confederation Cup & going to shine once again during World Cup 2014 which would be hosted by Brazil also.

                  The average age of that Brazilian side is only 24, they are the real contender of World Cup 2014.

                    Throughout the tournament Brazil have shown sensational & eye-soothing display of football, in Portuguese we mention it as “Jogo Bonito”, they have given the indication to world football they are coming back on their own style.

                   With this victory in continental crown Brazil established themselves as the Champions of the Champions as & claimed their dominance back in world football together.

                     On the other hand quite shameful defeat for Spain as well as d fall of Spanish dynasty at Maracana & the demise of tiki-taka concept also.

                  Neymar is named the tournament's best player and received the Golden Ball for his stunning performances. Spain playmaker Andres Iniesta trudged up for the Silver Ball, while Neymar's team-mate Paulinho is awarded the Bronze Ball.

                 Julio Cesar is handed the Golden Glove for being named the tournament's best goalkeeper while Fernando Torres is given the Golden Boot for scoring the most number of goals, 6 in the tournament.

                   Regarding the current circumstance of the country this should get much more importance than Brazil’s all other triumphs. Country is not a stable position right now, millions of

demonstrators across the country have been showing their anti-government agitations & protests over their demands of common peoples’ basic needs.

                 It is expected that this victory will calm down all protesters in Brazil as well as make this football nation stable before the upcoming World Cup 2014.

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