S'pore coaches work wonders From relegation candidates to I-League champions in a year, Chennai City proved there are more to football miracles than just Leicester City's stunning English Premier League triumph in 2016. In achieving the improbable, head coach Akbar Nawas and his assistant K. Balagumaran also showed that Singaporean trainers are capable of producing such magical moments after leading the Indian club to the league title on Saturday. The duo are believed to be the first local coaches to win a professional football league outside South-east Asia. Former Tampines Rovers coach Akbar told The Straits Times yesterday: "There is great satisfaction after accepting the challenge of taking over a relegation-threatened team, and then winning the league within a year." When the 43-year-old took over the reins last year, Chennai had three games to stave off relegation from the I-League. They beat Churchill Brothers 3-1, lost 7-1 to East Bengal, before securing safety with a 2-1 win over Minerva Punjab in their final match. A year later, the remarkable turnaround was completed in front of 8,000 fans at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu on Saturday with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Minerva as both club and head coach clinched their first league title. For Balagumaran, this is his second league title as assistant to V. Sundram Moorthy after winning the 2013 Malaysian Super League title with the LionsXII.
A SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT There is great satisfaction after accepting the challenge of taking over a relegation-threatened team, and then winning the league within a year. AKBAR NAWAS, Chennai City head coach, on the I-League side's dream season.
With 13 wins, four draws and three defeats, Chennai amassed 43 points, one more than second-placed East Bengal. And they did it in style, scoring 48 goals in 20 matches, and never relinquishing their place at the top of the 11-team league from the third match week. The Times of India summarised their triumph as "befitting their dominant campaign, the fulcrum of which was a sustained possession-based football". Akbar said: "Winning the title was the end result of good scouting, our attacking football philosophy, how we trained, prepared and executed our plans during the games. "The club gave me the freedom to impart this to the players despite initial scepticism about whether this will be successful in India. "I never lost sleep over the title race because we were focused and trusted our processes - there was great synergy among the owner, backroom staff and players. In fact, I lost sleep only after we won, with the many phone calls and text messages coming in!" Astutely building the team around five Spaniards from Europe's lower leagues and former S-League star Jozef Kaplan, Akbar also made room for local talents to shine.
PUTTING THE SHINE ON When we got here, the players we had were not from football academies, they were from the streets and so unpolished... now they have won their first professional league title. K. BALAGUMARAN, on the humble backgrounds of many of their players.
Incredibly, Chennai won the league without a single Indian international in their squad. Yet, the goals flowed from every department. Striker Pedro Manzi may be the league's joint-top scorer with 21 goals, but the winning goals against Minerva came from 20-year-old centre-back Gaurav Bora. Balagumaran said: "When we got here, the players we had were not from football academies, they were from the streets and so unpolished. "Many of them are playing in their first professional season and now they have won their first professional league title. "Credit has to go to Akbar for his attacking philosophy because defending was not our strength - we drew 3-3 with Neroca after blowing a 3-0 lead - and to the players for being open to his ideas. "This is definitely the highlight of my career, but I hope there is more to come." That could well be the case as Chennai are now eligible for the 2020 AFC Champions League qualifiers, while sources also told ST that the duo are now on the All India Football Federation's radar, with India's national coach position currently vacant. Representatives from Swiss club FC Basel, who have a 26 per cent equity stake in the Indian club, were at Chennai's coronation and are said to be impressed by the work of Akbar and Balagumaran. While Akbar declined to comment on speculation over his future as he has one more year left on his contract, Balagumaran said: "I hope this achievement shows there are good coaches from Singapore and opens the door for more Singaporean coaches to venture abroad. "If we can start from humble beginnings, work hard with what we have and still find success, there is no reason local coaches can't aim for a job in a professional league in Asia, or perhaps youth teams in Europe." Football: Five games that tipped the scales in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's favour for the United job LONDON (AFP) - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been rewarded by Manchester United for engineering a remarkable turnaround in the club's fortunes since he took over from the sacked Jose Mourinho in December . Football: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer named permanent Manchester Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Crystal Palace - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - April 6, 2019 Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic celebrates after the match REUTERS/Scott Late Milivojevic penalty sees Palace snatch points at Newcastle 22nd October 2009. The cellar club with merely 1 win, 7 draws and 13 goals scored was the perfect sparring partner for Sengkang Punggol whom their fans would claim it to be "bla Singapore national football team - Wikipedia Neymar has paid a visit to Brazilian football legend Pele, who has been in hospital in Paris since April 3. The Paris Saint-Germain forward posted a photo on his Instagram account on Monday of Neymar visits recovering Pele in hospital Lions must want the ball: Yoshida, Football News & Top Premier League: Five things we learned from the weekend's action including Almiron's impact and Liverpool's resolve Liverpool returned to the top of the table with their scrappy win at Premier League weekend: Five things we learned A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on June 09, 2019, with the headline 'Ozil courts controversy again'. Chaser Courts Controversy Again - YouTube The Netherlands will not be lulled into a false sense of security when they face a struggling, new-look Germany in their Euro 2020 qualifier in Amsterdam on Sunday, captain Virgil van Dijk has said. Dutch not favourites against struggling Germany - Van Dijk Sead Kolasinac put through his own net in stoppage time to give Huddersfield late hope, scoring Huddersfield's first goal in over nine hours of football in all competitions, but the visitors held on for the win. Victory moved Arsenal level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea, who play Manchester City on Sunday, while Huddersfield stayed Iwobi, Lacazette lead Arsenal to win at Huddersfield MADRID (AFP) - Zinedine Zidane will make a shock return as coach of Real Madrid after the club decided on Monday to sack Santiago Solari, say reports in the Spanish press.. Read more at Football: Zidane set for shock Real Madrid return, reports say Everybody has an opinion on how much money you should tuck away in your bank account. The truth is, it depends on your financial situation. What you need to keep in the bank is the money for your How Much Cash Should Your Business Keep in the Bank - Due
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