Tag: Punjab FC

Week 28: Practically Perfect in Every Way

Week 28: Practically Perfect in Every Way

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Scores

Lyn Football 1 – 4 Rosenborg BK (W)

A late first half goal put RBK up, and a flurry to start the second half put it away. Marit Clausen and, our fave, Julie Blakstad each had a brace to give RBKKvinner a first win in their new colors.

The win saw RBK jump to a tie atop the ToppSerien. Granted both of the top two teams have big wins against last-placed Lyn, but wins are wins and with four points being the maximum this year, this may be a great year for parity.

Rosenborg BK 3 – 0 Stromsgodset (M)

Another strong showing from Rosenborg’s men’s side, should allay some fear of regression. That it came together only after a second half substitution may leave some lingering tactical questions.

Pål André Helland played the hero with a goal and two assists in just 31 minutes of game time. Coach Trond Henriksen opted to drop Helland for more recent signees Carlo Holse, Dino Islamovic and Torgeir Børven, but in retrospect, maybe play the hot hand…er, foot.

Sporting KC 1 – 2 Minnesota United

Your mom and I got to watch the second half of this game after you boys went to bed.

We missed the bad news: a spotty defense without Ike Opara and Ozzie Alonso, and a shaky offense after both Luis Amarilla and Mason Toye caught an injury each. But we did see a stellar comeback led by Aaron Shoenfeld who drew a red card from KC keeper Tim Melia, then provided the distracting target for an equalizing own goal.

Finally a late winner worked from a cross by Roman Metanire to a redirection by Raheem Edwards and a ripping finish by Kevin Molino elicited a lot of reactions. I shouted “yes!” Your mom muttered “wow!” Broadcaster Taylor Twellman gave us 12 variations on “it wasn’t pretty, but it is a win”. And Minnesota sang Wonderwall for the first time in months.

News & Notes

Welcome Back, Man

There are increasing signs of a slightly more normal fall. COVID cases are falling in most countries and most major leagues are gearing up for a return to action in August. Social media is full of training camps from Dingwall and Grenoble to Belgrade and Guayaquil.

College Plan

One place where transmission of COVID-19 is still deeply problematic is right here in the US. While the professional leagues have kicked off with modified structures, college conferences are still mulling their options. Several big football conferences have narrowed their scope to games against regional rivals only. No word yet on if Grizzly Soccer will follow suit, but they do seem keen on making sure you mask up if you come to cheer.

Punjab Ban

There’s no plan yet for India to return to the pitch either, which offers some particularly bad news for Punjab FC. Without any matches for amusement, fans could be watching rosters for some daydream thrills. But that watch got a lot more pointless this month.

Hristan Denkovski, who ended up being much
more expensive than initially thought (Sportskeeda)

Over a year ago, former Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj signed Macedonian Hristijan Denkovski. Denkovski didn’t show so Bajaj ended the contract without paying him. Then Bajaj sold the club, COVID hit, and Denkovski still hadn’t been paid (even though Bajaj and the new owners knew they had to). Now, almost a year later, international judges levied the consequence for not paying someone who never played for you: NO MORE SIGNING ANYONE FOR A YEAR!! I’ll bet there’s another appeal coming, but surely it would’ve been easier to pay the man $18,000 and move on. Instead the club faces the soccer equivalent of having your library card set on fire because you didn’t pay six month of late fees on Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

Woman of the Matches

Sure Pål André Helland played a part in every goal against Stromsgødet, and Kevin Molino netted a late winner, but I’m of going to miss the chance to plant myself firmly in the driver seat of the Julie Blaksted Hype Train. Three goals in two games have put the Kvinner in the thick of the early title race

What’s Next

Wednesday, July 15

Thursday, July 16

1:30 Start v. Rosenborg BK (M)

Friday, July 17

9:30 Real Salt Lake v Minnesota United

Saturday, July 18

Sunday, July 19

9:00 Rosenborg BK v. Kolbotn (W)

11:00 Rosenborg BK v. Sandefjord (M)

Monday, July 20

Tuesday, July 21

Week 20: Is it true…is it really, true?

Week 20: Is it true…is it really, true?

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Scores

Soccer 1 – Boredom 0

Huzzah!! Soccer is back (for the time being). We’ve got games to watch and goals to cheer (until a spike in cases ends this little effort). Quickly! To the televised sporting events: there isn’t a moment to lose (because it could all end literally at any moment).

RB Leipzig 1- SC Frieburg 1

The first game back for our teams featured the Griffins of SC Freiburg visiting those well-heeled heels of the Bundesliga: RB Leipzig.

Despite the disparity between the teams’ bank accounts and international profiles, Freiburg managed to frustrate Leipzig in front of their home…uh…seat backs. Okay, it was weird hearing echoes of player reactions rather than the roar of the crowd, and there was clearly a lot of rust shaking loose from the players’ runs, positioning, and defending, but still, it was soccer, it was live, and it made a difference to the race for the title (keeping Leipzig behind the top two) and the Europa League (allowing Freiburg to keep in shouting distance).

Yousuf Poulson got the goal, but not the glory.

While the Red Bulls had the better run of play, peppering goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow repeatedly, Freiburg capitalized on the chances they had. A lucky deflection opened the scoring, and Schwolow’s sterling keeping kept them ahead well into the second period. Finally Leipzig got a well earned goal back (from Danish star Yousuf Poulsen…a man I’d love to steal for Minnesota United, but that’s beside the point).

A draw could have been satisfying, but midfielder Robin Koch nearly did Freiburg one better, slashing home a late winner.

Except…not…

Because he received the pass from an offside teammate so it was all bang and no bucks as the match ended 1-1.

https://youtu.be/zKlpLRIXeLs

News & Notes

Changes are Brewing

Business has begun to pick up around the world, and things are starting to settle into something like a plan.

Ecuador has joined Mexico in cancelling the spring season, preparing to kick off again for the fall campaign.

Scotland joined France and India in cancelling the rest of their season. The league won’t add any more teams so Ross County won’t suffer any short fall from two fewer visits from radical road fans from Rangers or Celtic.

The Site of the proposed MLS tournament. Not pictured: Mickey Mouse breaking a rookie’s heart by not signing an autograph.

Arguably the biggest changes will come right here at home. The Big Sky Conference announced that women’s soccer will not have a tournament to cap the season: it’s all about the table to get the invite to the big dance. Meanwhile, Major League Soccer is plotting to have something like a mini-tournament in June and July in Orlando, because if there’s one place you want to engage in grueling physical activity it’s the middle of Florida in the middle of the summer. Minnesota United might end up in a mini group playing about 10 games in the hopes of making a conclusive tournament. It’s nothing close to the 25th anniversary hullabaloo the league might have wanted, but it might well keep the tv money flowing and that’s nice to have too.

Following Up on Punjab FC

Last week I threw up the idea that Punjab FC might be on the verge of a major move up to India’s top league.

This week I did the responsible thing and followed up with the excellent blog The Away End where I first found the details about East Bengal’s power play. I asked author Nehal what they made of the warriors odds of joining the top flight. He didn’t quite douse the flame of hope, but it’s a lot more damp now than it was before.

 Punjab FC have held talks with the ISL folks, but I doubt it’s going to happen in the upcoming season. There isn’t much buzz around it and their lack of activity in the market is telling. All things said, I really hope they pull it off sooner rather than later. The more the merrier!

Nehal (The Away End, 5/13/2020)

Man of the Matches

With the pressure and skill of RB Leipzig in full flow, we have to tip our cap to the man who stood in their way: Alexander Schlowow. His eight saves more than doubled Freiburg’s total shots. Thank you, Alexander.

Schlowow’s sacrifice
(Photo Christian Schroedter POOL)

What’s Next

Wednesday, May 20

Thursday, May 21

Friday, May 22

Saturday, May 23

8:30 AM: SC Freiburg v Werder Bremen

Sunday, May 24

Monday, May 25

Week 19: I wanna play football with somebody…

Week 19: I wanna play football with somebody…

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Scores

Corona-virus 3.9 Million – Hope 1

As well as Corona-virus has done, this past week there were some signs of a momentum shift.

Even though we haven’t had any more matches, many leagues had athletes return to training, Serbia announced they would be back on May 30th and most relevantly of all: Germany announced that the Bundesliga would return next weekend (behind closed doors). Notably for us with SC Freiburg facing RB Leipzig on Saturday morning.

If that weren’t enough, I just found out that former World Player of the Year and current President of Liberia George Weah also released a song to educate his citizens about the virus. And, as a former World Music DJ, I gotta say: it’s a solid afropop bop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZm_beXeVzs

News & Notes

Punjab FC on the verge of Promotion?

I never fuss too much with soccer business news. But there are some transactions in India that warrant our attention.

First, India’s governing body decided, like several other shallow leagues around the world to cancel relegation and promotion for the next few years. (Note: shallow leagues is a totally made up term of mine for leagues that are relatively new and don’t have a deep well of teams, fans, or wealth leagues like India, Mexico, the US, Ghana, etc.) As fans of lower level underdogs, like Punjab and Alebrijes de Oaxaca, that stings. As fans of top tier teams who still just squeak by with minimal support, like Ross County and Minnesota United, it makes sense to protect the biggest clubs from a double financial body blow of Coronavirus and relegation.

Rajit Bajaj celebrating
(Times of India)

However you might feel about that decision, one clear consequence of that call was to make Punjab FC founder and co-owner Ranjit Bajaj sell his shares to co-owners “RoundGlass”. According to Bajaj, without the possibility of promotion or Asian continental competition, there was little point to staying in the professional game. He’s turning his attention to continuing the Minerva Academy, with the goal of developing World Cup champion calibre players in the next thirty years. Leaving RoundGlass to run the traditional club with an academy. (Sidenote: RoundGlass founder and CEO Gupreet “Sunny” Singh got his masters degrees in Bozeman, Montana!)

Meanwhile, the India Super League is seeking to grow to 12 teams next year. But as I-League Champions Mohun Bagan of Kolkata merge with ISL champion ATK, there’s no clear team to move up, let alone two. If you believe much of the online banter Mohun Bagan’s rival East Bengal will be joining the league soon.

The 12th team is unclear. To be a Super League team, you would need a major population center and a wealthy benefactor. The two sides that seem to best suit those goals would be the Delhi based Sudheva FC, but as a smaller and newer side, they might be better suited to the I-League. But Indian sports vloggers say that the 12th team could well be our own Punjab FC as it represents a new territory and has a growing set of resources.

Calvin Lobo in Punjabi camo.
(The Bridge)

To be clear: this is all conjecture at this point. The entire season may fall through. The ISL might prefer to stay at 10 teams. With East Bengal raiding rosters around the I-League including Punjab’s own Calvin Lobo, Girik Kholsa, and Dilliram Sanyasi, it’s unclear how Punjab would build up the roster to the super league calibre. So time will tell, but it’s something to look to.

Man of the Matches

With training coming back soon. It’s nice to just appreciate the fact that players missed the games as much as we did.

Translation: “#Sometimes football is finally back”

We don’t know which player that is precisely, but we know that we feel the same. So thanks FK Vozdovac social media. You know us even when we don’t know you.

What’s Next

Wednesday, May 13

Thursday, May 14

Friday, May 15

Saturday, May 16

9:30–RB Leipzig v SC Freiburg

YES REALLY!!! A REAL ACTUAL MATCH!!!

Sunday, May 17

Monday, May 18