East Bengal's Mehtab Hussain won a double at the Indian Football Awards, organised by the Football Players Association of India, in a glitzy ceremony here on Monday. The midfielder won the Best Indian Player Award and also the Fans Player of the Year Award through online voting.
Mehtab was instrumental in East Bengal's stupendous success last season in which the club won the Federation Cup, local league and finished runner-up in the I-League.
The midfielder thanked Morgan for bringing the best out of him. “I thank my coach for playing me in the creative position in midfield. I also thank my teammates. I thought I could not play anymore because of this groin injury, but my wife supported me fully. I thank the Almighty and then you fans for supporting me all these years,” he said.
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FPAI President Baichung Bhutia could not attend the function because of bad weather in Gangtok. “Because of bad weather, I could not make it to the event. But I wish the event all the success,” he said in a message. Bhutia's national jersey was auctioned and it fetched Rs.50,000.
Indian tennis star Leander Paes also signed a football to be auctioned for the earthquake victims in Sikkim.
Moroccan Karim Bencherifa, who coached Salgaocar SC to the I-League title last season, was presented with the Best Coach trophy. Promising Pune FC striker Jeje Lalpekhula won the Best Young Player Award.
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Churchill Alemao, patron of Churchill Brothers, was also felicitated on the occasion and he thanked the ailing former AIFF President Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi for the development of Indian football.
The winners: Best Indian Player: Mehtab Hussain (East Bengal); Best Foreign Player: Roberto ‘Beto' Mendes Silva (Dempo SC); Best Coach: Karim Bencherifa (Salgaocar SC); Best Young Player: Jeje Lalpekhula (Pune FC); Fans Player of Asian Cup (online voting): Subrata Paul (Pune FC); Fans Player of the Year (online voting): Mehtab Hussain (East Bengal).