Ranjan Chowdhury selected for the ‘lifetime’ award; But AIFF says he is one of the contenders!
The All India Football Federation (AIFF), in its awards ceremony function on 2nd May on Friday in Odisha has shortlisted former TFA coach Ranjan Chowdhury’s name for the ‘lifetime award’. Although according to an AIFF top official Chowdhury is one of the contenders for the ‘lifetime’ award! Even, the official revealed on condition of anonymity that Friday’s award function will be an overall award ceremony. It is not going to be the medal ceremony for only I-league this season or IWL this season. We will organize medal ceremony programs for those events separately. Friday’ award function will be overall.” It is also learned that the short-listing of the best striker, best midfielder, best defender, the best goalkeeper and emerging player’s names have been made from ISL, I-League, IWL and some state football associations will also be presented trophies for their performance in respective football tournaments.”
Al Nassr bow out of AFC Champions League; Ronaldo misses sitter in injury-time
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr crashed out of the Asian Champions League Elite semi-finals on Wednesday when they were beaten 3-2 by Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale. Ronaldo, a five-time winner of the UEFA Champions League, hit the woodwork with a first-half header in Jeddah and spurned a golden opportunity right at the death. The Al Nassr captain, still to win a major trophy in his two and a half years in Saudi Arabia, left the pitch shaking his head. Frontale, who were contesting their first Champions League semi-final, will now meet Jeddah-based Saudi Pro League club Al Ahli in Saturday’s showpiece. They become only the fifth Japanese club to reach the final of the continent’s premier competition. Frontale, who edged 2011 champions Al Sadd of Qatar 3-2 in extra-time on Sunday, began the semi-final with only one foreign player in their starting line-up, in stark contrast to big-spending Al Nassr’s seven. It was Frontale who took a surprise lead in 10 minutes when Tatsuya Ito met a looping clearance from Mohamed Simakan and sent a superb volley from the edge of the Al Nassr penalty area high into the top corner past Brazil goalkeeper Bento. But just before the half-hour mark, Sadio Mane leveled. The former Liverpool forward cut in from the left and then watched as his effort took a heavy deflection off Frontale stand-in captain Yuichi Maruyama, which was just enough to beat goalkeeper Louis Yamaguchi. Soon after, Ronaldo attempted an audacious overhead kick but sent it well wide, while a minute Later, he out-jumped his marker to crash a close-range header against the upright. However, four minutes before half-time, Frontale restored their lead.
The Quartet of male sprinters shatter 15-year-old men’s national 4x100m relay record in India Open
India currently boast of an excellent bunch of male sprinters. Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain have run sub-10.30 secs in the 100m. On Wednesday, the quartet representing Reliance shattered a 15-year-old national record in the 4x100m relay, clocking 38.69s to win the India Open relay competition at Chandigarh. The previous national mark of 38.89s came while winning bronze at the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games. The quartet has been in excellent form this season and came together to set a fresh bench-mark at Chandigarh’s Sector 7 Sports Complex. Gurindervir, who set the 100m national record (10.20s) this year, ran the first leg, and Animesh, the 200m national record holder with a 100m best of 10.27s, the second. Manikanta (100m best 10.22s) extended the lead with a brilliant bend run. Amlan, known for his powerful dash down the straight crossed the finish unchallenged. The Tamil Nadu quartet was second (39.83s) and the Army third (41.40s). For perspective, the Asian record set by Japan in 2019 is 37.43secs. At the 2023 Asian Championships, Thailand won gold at 38.55s, ahead of China (38.87 secs) and South Korea (38.99secs), which should raise Indian hopes of a podium finish at the coming continental meet. “We just believed in each other and our speed,” said Amlan. They will be part of India’s 4x100m relay team at the Asian Championships in South Korea in May. Federation Cup winner Pranav Gurav is also part of the relay squad. In women’s 4x400m relay, Sneha K, Rupal Chaudhary, Jisna Mathew, and Subha Venkatesan won clocking 3:32.64s. All four national campers are in the Asian Championships squad. Tamil Nadu’s Dhesikha V, N Mariea, Akshya Baskar, and Vithya Ramraj were second (3:40.85s).
Soccer legends stunned by Yamal performance; Inzaghi says he has not seen a player like him in last nine years!
Barcelona and Inter Milan played out a fascinating Champions League semi-final first-leg on Wednesday, leaving the tie evenly balanced ahead of the second leg in Italy next week with a 3-3 draw at the Olympic Stadium. Despite the intensity of the thrill in the nail-biting 90 minutes, Lamine Yamal stole the searchlight once again producing a magnificent performance reminding the golden days of Lionel Messi with Barcelona jerseys. Yamal set a new record, becoming the youngest scorer in the Champions League at the age of 17 years 291 days surpassing Kylian Embappe who scored in the same competition at the age of 18 years 140 days. The soccer stars of the world football seemed almost speechless after watching Yamal against Inter on Wednesday. “It was Messi-esque,” CBS Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said after the game. “That was like watching Messi in his golden days. Getting the ball, the whole game just stopping to see what he’s going to do.” Arsenal and Barcelona legend Thierry Henry was in disbelief at Yamal’s performance, saying: “It’s crazy to think that he is 17 years old. It is crazy, what he is doing, it is just abnormal.” He continued: “We can talk about a lot of guys who are supposed to be on the throne. One thing that always amazes me in football is that you always think that no one’s going to be better… And then Lamine Yamal arrives.” Watching on from home, Erling Haaland shared a screenshot of one of Yamal’s best plays on Wednesday with the caption: “This guy is incredible”. It was a sentiment shared by Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi, who revealed that he had been forced to take drastic measures to stop the young Spaniard: “I haven’t seen a player like Lamine Yamal in the last eight or nine years. We had to put three players on him.” Wednesday’s performances cemented Lamine Yamal’s status as a genuine Ballon d’Or contender if it wasn’t already. The Spaniard has already achieved so much in his young career and is now propelling Barcelona towards a historic treble in 2024/25. An inspiring statistics has come out in the context of Yamal’s brilliant show against Inter Milan on Wednesday: Cristiano Ronaldo at 17 years old: 19 appearances, 5 goals, 4 assists. Lionel Messi at 17 years old: 9 appearances, 1 goal, 0 assists. Lamine Yamal at 17 years old: 100 appearances, 22 goals, 33 assists.
