EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE DELHI THE HINDU 20 SPORT THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2019 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Flamengo beats Al Hilal the hard way I-League: Kolkata Comes back from a first half deficit to make the final derby postponed CLUB WORLD CUP took the lead in the 18th mi­ panic near the goalmouth. nute when Aldawsari The Brazilian champion’s New date will be announced later sneaked inside the box to ploy to exert more pressure Ayon Sengupta connect a strong right­footer in the second half on its tir­ Special Correspondent announced later. Doha past a diving Diego Alves — ing opponent finally bore KOLKATA “After a detailed Flamengo’s run to FIFA Club left flat­footed following a de­ fruit, offering the team a way The I­League match discussion, the Police World Cup final was not as flection off Pablo Mari — after out from a difficult situation. featuring the two city Authorities informed us easy as its canter to the Brazi­ Alburayk had run into space Summing up the contrast­ giants Mohun Bagan and that the match should be lian Serie A title, which it on the right before playing a ing nature of the two halves, East Bengal has been organised on a limited won by a 16­point margin — teasing ground pass towards Henrique said: “In the first postponed owing to the scale and that sale of the highest in recent times. his team­mate. half we were not playing that fragile political situation in tickets should be The South American side bad. the state. restricted. Subsequently, had to overcome a first­half Asserting dominance “However, we knew that The match was we wrote to AIFF to deficit to inflict a 3­1 loss on Flamengo had to wait till the they (Al Hilal) did not have scheduled to be held on apprise them of the Asian champion Al Hilal. break to assert its domi­ the physical strength to play Sunday. According to a situation and told them Former Benfica coach nance and almost imme­ with the same intensity for release from host Mohun that the derby is the Jorge Jesus with the help of a diately after the restart Gior­ 90 minutes and we were able Bagan, the police flagship match of the string of veteran Brazilians gian De Arrascaeta equalised to create more opportunities authority responsible for League. with European experience with an easy tap­in. in the second session, play­ the security match “Football lovers look up has tried creating a modern With the Asian side show­ ing as a team.” advised of allowing a to this match and to team — valuing the ethos of ing signs of fatigue, Flamen­ With a chance now to col­ restricted number of restrict this capacity pressing football — unlike the go took control of the game lect the world title, manager spectators. would be to deprive the pragmatic approach of and found the lead when Jesus called the final to be With the Kolkata Derby thousands of football coaches like Luiz Felipe Sco­ Bruno Henrique, running in­ the “most important match attracting more than crazy people from seeing lari and Dunga, which has Heading ahead: Bruno Henrique puts Flamengo in front against Al Hilal with this strike on to the box, was left un­ of his career”. 50,000 spectators on the match. The AIFF long been prevalent in Brazi­ Tuesday. * AP marked and placed his head­ “I am always impressed average, the Mohun Bagan taking stock of the lian club football. er on the back of the net after with European football. I management did not situation and considering While the new methods Here, too, the Brazilians who played on the left of a move with his guile and turn, a curling cross from the right know Liverpool is favourite, agree to the advice of the importance of the have offered grand success at started listlessly with too ma­ midfield three, and his fellow exploiting the space opened by De Arrascaeta in the 78th but it has to win the next restricting the number of Derby Match in the larger home, Flamengo has found it ny mispasses in the middle Saudi Arabian international up by the burly forward Bafe­ minute. match. We have reached the fans and approached the interest of the game have hard to deal with teams from as Al Hilal looked happy to Mohammed Alburayk, oper­ timbi Gomis, who did well to More misfortunes were to final and it will be one of the organiser, All India granted our request to outside the country as was concede possession and hit ating as a right­wing back. hold the ball and draw defen­ come Al Hilal’s way as Ali Al­ most important match of my Football Federation, postpone the match to a evident during its laborious its more illustrious opponent Former Italian interna­ ders his way. Bulayhi conceded an own professional career. Winning seeking a fresh date. The later date,” the Bagan Copa Libertadores final win on the counter, using the tional Sebastian Giovinco, The Saudi side, cheered goal four minutes later as a this trophy will be a great ho­ new date will be release said. over Argentina’s River Plate. pace of Salem Aldawsari, too, orchestrated some fine on by pockets of faithfuls, shot from Henrique caused nour,” he said. Bengaluru FC regains its rhythm Yet another learning opportunity Goes to the top of the standings with win over NEUFC India under­17 girls take on Sweden in final crosspiece instead of finding viewed as an opportunity for World Cup at venues across Sweden will offer the third ISL net. Subhasish did a nice job FOOTBALL the Shilky Devi­captained the nation. and final chance for the in the 39th minute cutting off squad to show how far they Chief coach Thomas Den­ home team performers. Ma­ Amitabha Das Sharma a Rahul Bheke header to Nandakumar Marar can learn from mistakes, nerby is fortunate to have the verick strikers like Lynda GUWAHATI keep the scoreline MUMBAI when in possession of the raw material to work with Kom, Sumati Kumari, Sunita Bengaluru FC pumped in unchanged. One goal after two league ball approaching the goal­ straightaway. Stout and intel­ Munda to name a few first­ two late goals against host The host missed the ser­ matches (against Sweden, mouth, besides continuation ligent defenders, hard­work­ choice probables, no longer NorthEast United FC to re­ vices of injured Ghanaian Thailand back­to­back) does of impressive work in the ing midfielders, tearaway carry the surprise element. gain its winning rhythm, at Wold Cupper Asamoah Gyan not speak much about the In­ backline, supported by goal­ wingers and a no­frills goal­ India’s lightning counter­ the Indira Gandhi Stadium and struggled to get its feet dia under­17 girls’ finishing keeper Manju Ganjhu. keeper. Football talent is rea­ attacks from almost the cen­ here on Wednesday. in the striking zone. capacity. The U­17 women’s football dy and willing to be moulded treline deep into rival territo­ This was a nice comeback Bengaluru FC enjoyed Three goals conceded (all tournament, supported by into a crack combination by ry is a thrilling spectacle. for the defending champion, more space upfront after the scored by Sweden) is no em­ AFC Assist and conducted by November 2020 when the Ruthless finishing which con­ which seemed to have change of ends and it was a barrassment either to the col­ the All India Football Federa­ curtain goes up. vert all the ball possession by slipped a bit after suffering matter of time before it lective defensive work by the tion, is only the first of a se­ The display over two the players into goals will be its first loss of the tourna­ found the break. home side so far. The final ries of competitive expe­ matches by the Indian proba­ celebrated by fans. ment in the previous match This happened in the 67th face­off against the Swedes at riences designed to gear up bles was a mix of endurance The final will be streamed at home against Mumbai City minute when NorthEast de­ the Mumbai Football Arena the girls for next year’s big and elegance, speed and live on Facebook from 5.30 FC. fender Reagan Singh was on Thursday evening can be one — the FIFA women U­17 skill. The deciding tie against p.m. onwards. Captain Sunil Chhetri hauled up for handling the opened the account midway ball inside its own box while through the second half Over the moon: BFC defender Albert Serran celebrates after trying to clear an Udanta through a penalty before scoring the second goal against NEUFC. * RITU RAJ KONWAR Singh cross. Spanish defender Albert Ser­ Chhetri made no mistake ran moved up to find the in­ test in the midfield in the a sure chance to bring up the from the spot. Bengaluru surance goal in the final opening half with NorthEast lead in the 32nd minute took the game beyond the quarter of the action. dominating the first quarter when Kuruniyan set him up reach of the host on an 81st With the tournament but as the action wore on with a nice lob that had just minute counter­attack as Al­ about to reach the half­way Bengaluru started asserting to be nodded home. bert Serran nodded home a stage, the win took the hol­ itself with Ashique Kruniyan With the NorthEast goal­ cross from Erik Partalu. der to the top of the stand­ excelling from the left. keeper Subhasish Roy The result: ings with 16 points from nine Chowdhury caught com­ NorthEast United FC 0 lost outings.