All India Football Federation (AIFF) rechristened the National football league as I-League with ten teams in top division. NFL was introduced back in 1996, but failed to perform to a satisfactory level. Several problems regarding, regulating the norms setup by the organizing body was felt in the past. Quota for foreign player which was set as maximum of three in a particular squad was thoroughly neglected by several clubs. The prepared fixture never goes as it was intended, as matches were rescheduled too often annoying the viewer's. Poor telecast of matches seriously ripped the interest of the viewer's if there were any.

With the introduction of I-League and broadcasting rights in the hand of Zee Sports and Graeme Le Saux in the commentary box there is a glimmer of hope that this time Indian football will not disappoint its fan's. The kick off was scheduled on 24th November involving Dempo and Salgaocar, both of the clubs hold a high rank in the Indian League. The provision of relegation is set with two teams being relegated to the second tier and 4 teams will come up from the lower division. The I- League is aimed to provide bigger pool of talented player's for the National team which currently ranks 145th in the world.

With growing popularity of foreign leagues in India , it will be very difficult for the I - League to pull the attention of the masses, which are used to the high standard display of foreign leagues like EPL, Serie A. The condition of pitches over which matches will be held too are in a grim state with smooth passing almost impossible and significant amount of effort from players and coaches is still required to lift the aerial game.

The names that associate a fan to his club is quite popular all over the world. One feel proud to be called as Citizens (Man City) or Saints (Southhampton). The scenario is more or less same in India also with teams having nickname which associate their fans with the unique thing that belong to a club or its place.

The pilots - Air India
Mariners - Mohan Bagan
Hilsa - East Bengal
The Millmen - Jct
Neelapadda - Viva Kerala
The Whites - Dempo
Flaming Oranje - Sporting Club de Goa

Hilsa(Fish) is quite popular in Bengal.

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As the Pundits say if you want to play in EPL get ready to be assaulted by fearsome tackles and be prepared to take the bruises, because the game played here is physical. The fast paced game played in EPL gives little room for players to show their creativity. Often we see player's flying up in the air all thanks to the nasty challenges that goes around frequently.Manchester United player Evra said in an interview "once i receive the ball and lift my head up i see player's rushing towards me in no time, game here is more physical compared to the French league". With teams like Bolton and Blackburn which are famous for their physical play makes premiership a delight for those people who love to watch rough games with an electric atmosphere electrified with nasty challenges.

The harder you play more you are prone to the injuries. Recently a survey showed that chances of getting injured increases as you grow older. The ability of the muscles to take on the cyclic fatigue decreases as a player goes down in his career. The physically demanding game of EPL is evident from the fact that there is a greater pool of aged player's in leagues across the Europe apart from EPL. Imagine Costacurta who retired at an age of around forty playing in premiership, but what aged player lack in their physical attributes they cover it up with their experience, as Ryan Giggs said "now I better know when I have to make a run".

Coming to injuries the pool of players that are currently injured is vast and comes out to be very critical for some clubs. Often we see club signing a new player and accidentally he gets injured in a training session which is quite annoying. The climatic condition in England too make the players more susceptible to injuries.
Here we see the recent top five injuries that have plagued EPL.

But if we look at the brighter side, which is rapid technological improvement in the medical ward of the high profile clubs, that makes it easier for the player to recover quickly. Take the case of Wayne Rooney who was plagued with Metatarsal and ankle injuries; he was stretchered off the field in Manchester United's 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, following a challenge by the Chelsea full-back Paulo Ferreira. The striker was ready for the world cup earlier than the expected date, all thanks to a removable plastic pneumatic boot that he used over the traditional plaster cast. The removable boot is far superior, because the boot can be removed for physiotherapy treatment, which is aimed at preventing stiffness in the ankle and foot. The injuries which ended the career in the past now pose a lesser threat and recovery time too is shorter.

Quite often we see player's flying on the pitch due to some nasty challenges and at times its the same age old childish scuba diving. The player get criticized over this but quit few of us know, that it is the best way to avoid injuries(apart from that diving stuff). More you go rigid higher will be the risk of getting yourself injured. But mind you if you fly, get your landing right :) .

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Remember G-14, the association of clubs across the Europe that has won most of the trophies, which Europe has to offer. Presently G-14 is an agglomeration of Europe's eighteen most prestigious clubs. In the present scenario, a serious of action taken by UEFA president "Platini" to change the structure of European champions league, infuriated the G-14 as they were kept at bay and were totally neglected on the proposed changes.

Retaliation was expected and it was quite threatening as the G-14 body tried to rattle UEFA by proposing a new rebel league, involving the entire European heavyweight in it. In an attempt to strengthen the G-14 association, the president of the group himself, Olympique Lyonnais chairman Jean-Michel Aulas announced to expand the group by injecting sixteen more clubs.

The above scenario is less likely to happen in the near future, but guess if it ever happened and a new rebel league is put forth.
Clashes between the old war horses which were very unpredictable, as who would be meeting whom in the finals of ECL will become predictable as they will be meeting to often in the proposed league. Surely the charm and charisma of these big clashes will lose its shine and would turn out to be just a next match.
Secondly just evaluate this fact that a team like Celtic, has to travel to Milan to play a match and on the next fixture, comes out to be in Barcelona. The travel and uneven climatic condition will take its toll on the player's, leading to higher fatigue rate which may turn them to play with less enthusiasm.

G-14 is opposing UEFA just for the fact that Platini wants to involve teams from smaller league to play in European Champions League (ECL), which will degrade the quality of ECL. But guess what these small clubs itself are the poaching grounds for bigger clubs to snatch the players who want to be associated with big clubs and will be eager to play in Europe (ECL) by signing any damn contract. On the other side as the smaller clubs will now get a chance to show their mettle in ECL, as per to new proposal by Platini ... surely that will gave higher clubs a stiff neck during transfer negotiations.

In some cases Platini is right on his proposed changes in ECL, as it will give a chance to the smaller teams across the Europe to emerge in a broader picture . But this step might take the fizz out of ECL, as most of the matches will be predictable and miraculous escapes by smaller teams from a relatively heavy team will be less as god has a very small quota for that .

Both parties are right in their own grounds but the matter must be sorted peacefully before football is dragged into dirty political grounds.
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Samir Nasri is touted as the next Zidane the Marseille maniac has shown the signs of emulating zidane with his terrific display. Check the video below showing signs of Zizou in Nasri.


Check on youtube

Keep checking sportsegg for more on Nasri.

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