WORLD SERVICEWednesdayOctober 7
FRANCE:Eduardo Camavinga
becomes France’s youngest
goalscorer in over100 years
in the 7-1 victory over Ukraine –
the worst defeat in their history.
45-year-old keeper Oleksandr
Shovkovskiy comes out of
retirement to appear on the bench
after three other keepers tested
positive for COVID-19.
ANDORRA:England U21s are
held to a shock 3-3 draw by
minnows Andorra after Christian
Garcia scores a 91st-minute
equaliser for the hosts.
ThursdayOctober 8
FIFA:FIFA rejects Sevilla forwardMunir El Haddadi’s request to
switch from Spain to Morocco.
EUROPE:Northern Ireland,
Scotland and Slovakia book
their places in the European
Championship play-off finals
thanks to penalty shoot-out
wins, while Serbia also qualify
by beating Norway 2-1.
SOUTH AMERICA:South
American qualifying for the
2022 World Cup begins. Uruguay
and Argentina both pick up wins,
while Paraguay and Peru play
out an action-packed draw.INDIA:Bhawanipore kick
off the 2020-21 I-League
qualifiers with a 2-0 win
over Bengaluru United, while
Mohammedan Sporting Club
strike in stoppage-time against
Garhwal as competitive football
finally returns in India.
FridayOctober 9
ENGLAND:Premier League
announces plans to show all
fixtures on television, but with
an extra pay-per-view charge
of £14.95 for selected matches.crowds close to100,000. It was unthinkable that
the pair would not be in the top tier.
That has been solved. InJanuary, Mohun Bagan
merged with ISL club ATK to become known as ATK
Mohun Bagan. East Bengal, were confirmed as team
number11 in September.
It means the ISL will have the traditional Kolkata
derby for the first time after all, though it won’t be
very traditional. Instead of the usual massive crowd
there will be an empty arena in Goa. The entire
season will be played in this west-coast region
known internationally more for beautiful beaches
than the beautiful game, though it is actually one
of the subcontinent’s football hotbeds.
FC Goa actually finished top of the standings last
season (and booked a place in the group stage of
the 2021 Asian Champions League, another sign
that the ISL is the main show in town) but lost out in
the first game of the final series to Chennaiyin. The
southerners went on to lose the final to ATK, who
had defeated Bengaluru in the other semi-final.
Those four should be in the mix once more. Goa,
a former Portuguese enclave, have a strong Spanish
streak with coachJuan Ferrando preparing for his
first season with a number of compatriots to choose
from – though Ferran Corominas, the ex-Espanyol
striker who has scored almost a goal a game in the
past three seasons, looks to be leaving.
Bengaluru, apart from the two Kolkata clubs,
the only other team to make the move from the
I-League, are led by Indian icon Sunil Chhetri and
international goalkeeper and just-named Player
of the Year Gupreet Singh at the other end.
ATK Mohun Bagan have last year’s joint-top
scorer, Fiji forward Roy Krishna while Chennaiyin
have lost their Lithuanian goal getter, Nerijus Valskis.
He has joinedJamshedpur, now coached by Owen
Coyle, and the team, established by steel giant Tata
in 2017, has assembled a well-balanced squad that
has ambitions of a top-four finish and a place in the
play-offs.
AlleyeswillofficiallybeontheISLforthe
first time but with the coronavirus still around,
just finishing the season without too many
complications will be enough, for now.Kolkata derby...
East Bengal v
ATK Mohun Bagan
will finally take
place in the ISLISL launch...Pires
and Zico boosted the
league’s profile after
joining Goa in 2014Les Bleus
young gun...
Camavinga