I-League: Team Of The Week- Round 11

Felix D’Souza (Sporting Clube de Goa)-GK- Sporting share the best defensive record in the I-League with Mohun Bagan and Felix has been the main reason for it. The 28 year old was in fine form against JCT as he made crucial saves to ensure three points for his team.

Syed Rahim Nabi (East Bengal)-RB- Injuries has forced Nabi to move back in defense and despite playing out of position Nabi was one of the better players for East Bengal even though they suffered a third consecutive defeat.

Samananda Singh (Sporting Clube de Goa)-CB- He has been one of the most consistent defenders of the league. He did pretty well against Eduardo and others and will be looking to continue his good form in the upcoming Federation Cup.

Gouramangi Singh (Churchill Brothers)-CB- The young international makes his first appearance in the team of the week after a strong showing against East Bengal. Gouramangi didn’t start well in the I-League but has started to put in good performances in the last few rounds.

Peter Odafe (Mohun Bagan)-LB- None of the left backs impressed in the 11th round. So we decided to go for Odafe who was once again in brilliant form. With Manju and Mondal out, Odafe took more responsibility against Chirag and put in a solid performance.

Agnelo D’Souza (Vasco SC)-RM- It is not often a player from a bottom club makes it to the team of the week but Agnelo’s brilliant performance against Air India earns him a place in the team. Vasco got their first win of the league campaign and Agnelo played a big part in the win.

Ogba Kalu Nnanna (Churchill Brothers)-CM- Kalu got the crucial equalizer for Churchill and then dominated proceedings in midfield to win both the man of the match and also a place in the team of the week.

Jagpreet Singh (JCT)-CM- The 20-year old has been in good form recently and against Sporting he brought his team back into the game by scoring a brilliant goal.

Joseph Periera (Sporting Clube de Goa)-LM-The midfielder keeps his place in the team of the week after another fine display. He caused a lot of problems for the JCT defense and played a big part in the first goal of the game.

Jose Ramirez Barreto (Mohun Bagan)-FW- The Brazilian’s performances this season has proved that he is still a top class player. He scored one against Chirag and made an assist in the second to complete a comprehensive victory.

Junior Obagbemiro (Sporting Clube de Goa)-FW- The striker has surprised many this season by scoring seven goals in the league which makes him second highest scorer behind Odafa. His brace restored Sporting’s four point lead at the top.

Special Mentions:

There were other players who did well in the 11th round but narrowly missed out from making it into the eleven. Here are a few of them:

Covan Lawrence (CB, Vasco)- The experienced defender was man of the match in his team’s first win of the season.

Chandrashekhar Chinta (CB, Sporting Clube de Goa)- His partnership with Samananda was pretty good against JCT.

Marcos Pereira (CM, Mohun Bagan)- The Brazilian once again narrowly misses out in the first eleven.

Bibiano Fernandes (CM, Sporting Clube de Goa)- He seems to be getting back to his best as he had another assist, this time against JCT.

Naoba Singh (RM, Churchill Brothers)- He has always looked a better player while going forward and against East Bengal he was given the freedom to venture forward as he was played in midfield where he played really well.

Baichung Bhutia (FW, Mohun Bagan)- The Indian captain scored the second goal for Bagan and his return to goal scoring form is good news for Bagan fans.  

Amoy Ghoshal