{"id":1916,"date":"2012-01-06T10:53:23","date_gmt":"2012-01-06T10:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916"},"modified":"2012-01-06T10:53:23","modified_gmt":"2012-01-06T10:53:23","slug":"i-league-no-favorites-after-half-way-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916","title":{"rendered":"I-League: No favorites after half way stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Delhi: <\/strong>After 13 rounds of I-League <\/a>and only one point separating the top three clubs it has thrown the Championship wide open and has led to speculation as to who would emerge glorious. In the current standings Dempo SC is leading the pack with 27 points and both Churchill Brothers and Kingfisher East Bengal have 26 points but Churchill stays ahead on a head-to-head ratio and also have a game in end.<\/p>\n

Far away from being predictable the first-leg proves that smaller teams are not far behind in terms of competence and quality of play. Big-budgets don\u2019t always win you matches.<\/p>\n

Prayag United have been a revelation and Pune FC\u2019s <\/a>upsurge towards the last stages of the first-leg where they accounted for heavyweight counterparts of the likes of Dempo and Mohun Bagan provides that glimmer of hope that we can have a new club winning the League.<\/p>\n

Pune Coach Derrick Pereira credited his boys for his team\u2019s meteoric rise.\u00a0 \u201cWe were not off to a dream start but we now stay in contention. I think the understanding among the players and the presence of Jeje Lalpekhlua and Mondjou Keita\u2019s upfront have turned our fortunes,\u201d said Derrick.<\/p>\n

Refusing to name any specific player, he added: \u201cFootball is a team game and pin pointing any single player would not be right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to take one match at a time and I expect my players to stay focussed in the second phase.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prayag United stays the other team to have made an impact with a shoe-string budget. Coach Sanjoy Sen maintained the aim of the team is \u201cTo finish in the top 5,\u201d only to add: \u201cWe are not away from our aim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their victory against Dempo has thrown open the League. \u201cWe were determined to beat Dempo on their home soil and my players responded to the call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big spenders McDowell Mohun Bagan <\/a>does remain in the fray but the injuries to inspirational Captain Jose Barreto has hit them hard. They stay a bit dependent on maverick striker Odafa Okolie and the defensive woes continue. Don\u2019t rule them out as you can never doubt the quality in their side \u2013 the same manner in which you can\u2019t ever rule out defending champions Salgaocar.<\/p>\n

By Indian Sports News Network
<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Delhi: <\/strong>After 13 rounds of I-League <\/a>and only one point separating the top three clubs it has thrown the Championship wide open and has led to speculation as to who would emerge glorious. In the current standings Dempo SC is leading the pack with 27 points and both Churchill Brothers and Kingfisher East Bengal have 26 points but Churchill stays ahead on a head-to-head ratio and also have a game in end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-football-football"],"yoast_head":"\nI-League: No favorites after half way stage - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I-League: No favorites after half way stage - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Delhi: After 13 rounds of I-League and only one point separating the top three clubs it has thrown the Championship wide open and has led to speculation as to who would emerge glorious. In the current standings Dempo SC is leading the pack with 27 points and both Churchill Brothers and Kingfisher East Bengal have 26 points but Churchill stays ahead on a head-to-head ratio and also have a game in end.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-06T10:53:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\"},\"headline\":\"I-League: No favorites after half way stage\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-06T10:53:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Football\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916\",\"name\":\"I-League: No favorites after half way stage - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-06T10:53:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=1916#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I-League: No favorites after half way stage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/\",\"name\":\"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I-League: No favorites after half way stage - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I-League: No favorites after half way stage - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","og_description":"New Delhi: After 13 rounds of I-League and only one point separating the top three clubs it has thrown the Championship wide open and has led to speculation as to who would emerge glorious. In the current standings Dempo SC is leading the pack with 27 points and both Churchill Brothers and Kingfisher East Bengal have 26 points but Churchill stays ahead on a head-to-head ratio and also have a game in end.","og_url":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916","og_site_name":"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","article_published_time":"2012-01-06T10:53:23+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646"},"headline":"I-League: No favorites after half way stage","datePublished":"2012-01-06T10:53:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916"},"wordCount":389,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Football"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916","url":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916","name":"I-League: No favorites after half way stage - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-01-06T10:53:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=1916#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I-League: No favorites after half way stage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#website","url":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/","name":"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in"],"url":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}