Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos arrives in Nepal for Nepal Super League
FIFA World Cup-winning Brazilian footballer Roberto Carlos has arrived in Nepal. He landed at Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday morning and was welcomed by officials of Nepal Sports and Event Management (NSEM), the organizer of the Nepal Super League (NSL). Carlos is in Nepal as a special guest to attend the second qualifier match of the third edition of the NSL, which is being held in Kathmandu. The former Real Madrid star will be present at the Dasharath Stadium on Wednesday evening to watch the highly anticipated clash between Dhangadhi FC and Pokhara Thunders. Bhupen Kunwar, director of LOD Club, said the football legend will also make a special appearance at the club on Tuesday evening. In the Nepal Super League this season, seven franchise clubs are participating while Sporting Illam and Birganj United, both entering the NSL last season, have opted out of participation.
Diamond Harbour FC clinch I-League 2 title after securing I-League promotion
Diamond Harbour Football Club (DHFC) won the I-League 2 title on Saturday after defeating Chanmari FC at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Aizwal. In the 85th minute, Rabi Mandi scored the winning goal through a swirling ball delivered from the left wing which went past the keeper. Ahead of the game, the club only needed a point to clinch the title in two games. Earlier this month, DHFC secured promotion to the I-League. The Kolkata-based club will become the fourth team to play in the league after East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting, all of whom now play in the Indian Super League (ISL). Still unbeaten after 15 matches, with 11 wins and four draws, DHFC has taken the Indian third tier by storm, winning the league with one game to spare. Earlier, they won the I-League-3 title earlier this season to qualify for I-League 2.
Robi Hansda appoints a ‘professional agent’ and continues hard work under the guidance of his village coach
Robi Hansda is not yet sure when Mohammedan Sporting will start preparations for the Super Cup. Like the team’s other footballers, he is also not sure when his dues will be cleared. Still, the 26-year-old striker who surpassed the legendary Mohammed Habib, scoring 12 goals in the Santosh Trophy last season, is not sitting idle. He has been continuing his hard work for hours under the observation of his first coach at Mosharu village, Muthraj Seren. “I have been doing everything: running, practicing shooting, heading, and doing fitness training, and it goes on for hours every day. He was my first coach when I started playing football in my village. Today also, his guidance is helping me a lot to maintain the training,” Robi said on Tuesday while attending the ‘Bar Pujo’ festival at Calcutta Customs. He also revealed his realization adding, “Playing in the ISL has taught me to improve physical strength and ball-technique also, especially against the foreign defenders.” He also expressed thankfulness to Biswajit Bhattacharya and Sanjoy Sen on the occasion. “I learned a lot of basics of the game from Biswajit sir. Later, under the tutelage of Sanjoy Sen in the Bengal team my learning process became more intense. Sanjoy sir is methodical, disciplined and also very encouraging.” The striker could play in the ISL wearing Black-and-White shirts for only 153 minutes in total. But Kolkata’s football fraternity still remembers the only goal he struck and his one crucial assist that helped his team earn a goal. Even, Robi does not regret refusing the offer he got from Kolkata’s other ISL team before joining Mohammedan Sporting. He retorted, “Not at all, I wanted to play in the ISL. It might be little, still I have earned some recognition and overall learned how to improve and earn the competence to perform in the League.” Robi Hansda has taken another significant step following the professional footballers. He has signed a two-year contract with a professional agent after joining Mohammedan Sporting. A city-based football management company that looks after Robi’s football affairs especially, the transfer matters. The striker whose contract with Mohammedan Sporting is set to expire next month, now awaits for Super Cup and dreams of representing India in the future.
After a mid-game walkout, Cleiton Silva leaves East Bengal
East Bengal and Cleiton Silva have parted ways ahead of the upcoming Super Cup, the Indian Super League (ISL) club confirmed on Wednesday. The club captain has been out of favour at the club since the arrival of Oscar Bruzon with tensions brewing between the pair. The 38-year-old forward left the pitch mid-game during East Bengal’s friendly against Chennaiyin FC last Sunday, over a disagreement with Bruzon. Cleiton joined East Bengal from Bengaluru FC in 2022 and scored 20 goals across two seasons, while also winning the Super Cup in 2024. But he didn’t get on the scoresheet in 18 appearances in the ISL this season. The Red and Golds have only five fit overseas players — Hector Yuste, Saul Crespo, Richard Celis, Dimitrios Diamantakos, and Raphael Messi Bouli — in their roster ahead of the Super Cup. East Bengal begin its Super Cup campaign against Kerala Blasters on April 20 in Bhubaneswar.
From a cricket prospect to the top scorer of DHFC in I-League-2; Giric Khosla expresses gratitude to Bimal Ghosh and Kibu Vicuna
National cricketer Shreyas Iyer was his schoolmate at Don Bosco, Matunga Mumbai. He was a left-arm pacer at that time. He still remembers bowling to Iyer. He was promising as a bowler and also has memories of some worthy performances when inter-class competitions were held. He practiced cricket in the morning, played hockey after noon, and practiced football in the evening. Finally, Girik Khosla chose to become a professional footballer courtesy of Babin Khosla, his elder brother who represented the country at the junior level and was also a member of Mahindra United. “My parents asked me to concentrate on one game and watching my elder brother I became passionate about football gradually,” Girik revealed while speaking to Parallel Sports on Wednesday. Does not he regret leaving cricket even after watching today’s Shreyas Iyer? Girik smiled and said, “Initially, it used to haunt me a bit. The fame and money cricket helps to gain no other sport in India helps to earn that amount of money and fame. But after I became passionate about football, the feelings never came back.” Girik Khosla today is one of the key strikers of Diamond Harbor FC (DHFC), the Kolkata team that is all set to earn qualification to win the second division I-league this season. Girik is the team’s top scorer so far scoring five goals. DHFC need only one point in their remaining two matches to clinch the second division I-League and Girik is preparing to increase number of his goals in two remaining matches. The 30-year-old striker expressed huge gratitude to Dronacharya Bimal Ghosh. “He has a huge contribution to building my career. I played as a defensive midfielder. It could not have been possible to become a positive striker with only a 5-fit 7 inches height unless Bimal sir toiled so hard giving hours after hours in the training to turn me into a positive striker. I spent the two seasons with Mumbai Tigers Bimal sir’s tutelage and that was the most important time for me. I learned all the basics and mastered it from Bimal sir,” Girik added. Girik is also amazed by his DHFC’s Spanish coach Kibu Vikuna style of training and game. “I played under several coaches in the teams like Delhi FC, Real Kashmir, Sreenidhi Decan, and Minerva Punjab. But Kibu sir’s style of play and training is so modern and match with the international standard that you will be able to gain the basics of modern technique,” Girik explained. The striker has now the only dream of playing for the senior national team regularly and looking forward to the dream Girik has started preparing mentally for the next season.
The superstars of world football who are on way to become club owners!
The superstars of world football are trying to make a transition to a different role. They look initiating for the ownerships or co-ownerships of clubs and the names are coming up in numbers. Luka Modric became the latest high-profile footballer to signal his interest in swapping the dressing room for the boardroom. On Monday, it was announced the Real Madrid midfielder was “investor and co-owner” with a minority stake in Championship side Swansea City. Christiano Ronaldo should be the most prominent among them who already expressed a desire to become a club owner, any news of his investment to ay club for the ownership has not yet come out. But well-known footballers are there who already moved a step further by investing in football clubs before retirement. All the names are heavyweight! Kylian Mbappe who invested in SM Caen, and Sadio Mane are on the way to becoming a co-owner of Bourges Foot 18. Juan Mata has put in money for San Diego FC. Wilfried Zaha’s news of investment to AFC Croydon) is already on the air. Cesar Azpilicueta and Hector Bellerin have made investments in Hashtag United and Forest Green, respectively. Three more big names are also there in the list of footballers turning football club owners. In July 2024, Mbappe completed the takeover of Ligue 2 side Caen, investing £12.6m in a majority stake. His first season in club ownership is likely to end with relegation for the French team. Spain’s all-time top goalscorer David Villa was a co-founder of Queensboro FC. Since the club was announced in November 2019, they are yet to make their debut in the USL Championship, the second tier of football in the United States. Eden Hazard was announced as the co-owner– along with former Chelsea team-mate Demba Ba – of San Diego 1904, who was set to play in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The league collapsed before the club could play their first game. Meanwhile, the ‘Class of 92’ led by Gary Neville are aiming to take Salford City to the Championship by 2029.
