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East Bengal have a rich and illustrious history which includes success both home and abroad. So much so that they have often been branded as the torchbearers of Indian football as their influence has gone beyond football matches. The groundbreaking tour to Romania in 1953 or the several exhibition matches that they played in 1951 to aid the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund are just two examples to illustrate the aforementioned point.
Even these days when Indian football fails to catch the attention of the masses, East Bengal remain one of the most followed sports teams in the country with more than 9 lakh likes on their official Facebook page as well.On Tuesday they were also one of the top trending topics on Twitter in India, a rarity for Indian football teams.
That happened after they made India and Indian football proud by reaching the semi-finals of the AFC Cup. East Bengal have matched Dempo’s 2008 feat and will now aim to beat defending champions Kuwait SC over two legs and become the first Indian club to reach the final of the AFC Cup.
If Marcos Falopa’s side manages to achieve that, then it should be considered as the greatest achievement in the club’s 93-year history. In this article, Sportskeeda will explain why.
How Big is the AFC Cup?
It wouldn’t be unfair to say that besides the regular Indian football followers, which in truth are a small percentage of our total population, not many in India are fully aware about the importance and magnitude of the AFC Cup. So let’s revise what exactly is this tournament all about.
To make it simple for football fans in general, the AFC Cup is the equivalent of the Europa League in Asia. So it’s the second best club competition in Asia but unlike its European equivalent, the tournament doesn’t feature teams from top-ranked countries or leagues of the continent at all.
But the standard of the competition is still much higher than India’s domestic league and that is why we have seen only two Indian teams reach the semi-finals of the tournament since its inception in 2004. The majority of countries that are represented in this tournament are ranked higher than India in the FIFA Rankings and also have much better domestic leagues. And that is why East Bengal’s run to the semi-finals is a truly remarkable achievement.
Unbeaten East Bengal have been outstanding in this year’s AFC Cup; Photo Credit: Kingfisher East Bengal
It is true that the Kolkata club still hasn’t faced a team from West Asia in this edition but that can’t take away any credit from them. East Bengal did the double over the domestic champions of Singapore, a country that the Indian national team have failed to beat in their last two meetings. They have also beaten the champions of Indonesia, Myanmar and a team each from Malaysia and Vietnam.
In some of these games, like the wins over Vietnam’s Sai Gon Xuan Thanh and Myanmar’s Yangon United, East Bengal haven’t just won but have thrashed their opponents, something the senior India national team fails to do against any nation at international level.
The argument that club sides have foreigners unlike the national team doesn’t have much importance because clubs of other Asian countries also enjoy that luxury so maybe the quality of foreigners in East Bengal and I-League in general is better than other AFC Cup-participating nations.
Another fascinating statistic about East Bengal in the AFC Cup this season is the fact they are still unbeaten in nine matches and, in fact, they are the only semi-finalist not to have lost a game in this edition. They are also the only club with a 100 percent record at home, having won each of their five games.
Why reaching AFC Cup final will be greater than the ASEAN triumph
The 2003 ASEAN triumph was a great achievementPhoto Credit: Kingfisher East Bengal
The 2003 ASEAN Cup triumph still remains East Bengal’s greatest achievement on foreign soil and many regard it to be the greatest ever.
Some argue that the six straight Calcutta Football League titles and five consecutive IFA Shield triumphs in the 1970s are greater feats as it was achieved over a longer period of time but winning a competition outside India by beating teams from Indonesia and the second-best team of Asia that time, BEC Tero Sasana, certainly overshadows any domestic honour.
East Bengal have enjoyed a few other notable results over foreign opposition like the win over Iran’s PAS Club in the 1970 IFA Shield final, victory against North Korea’s Pyongyang City Club in the 1973 IFA Shield final and the 6-2 thumping of Iraq’s Al Zawraa in the 1993-94 Asian Cup Winners’ Cup. But all those wins came at home.
East Bengal jointly hold the record of appearing in most (seven) AFC Cup editions along with Jordan duo Al Faisaly and Al Wehdat. They have recorded very few notable away results though with the 2-0 win over Wehdat in 2008 being the only win over West Asian opposition in this tournament.
In order to reach the final, East Bengal might have to register their second-ever victory against a West Asian club and the reason why it would surpass the ASEAN triumph is because the level of competition in the AFC Cup is much higher.
The ASEAN tournament only had 11 teams and took place over two weeks while the AFC Cup comprises 32 teams from 17 different countries and happens over a period of nine months. So the level of consistency and quality of a team in Asia’s Europa League gets tested over a longer period of time and teams also have to cope with the change of players and like in East Bengal’s case, the coach too.
The standard and level of competition in the AFC Cup is higher than it was in the 2003 ASEAN Cup
East Bengal will also have to overcome a team from West Asia in the AFC Cup unlike the ASEAN tournament and that is a massive hurdle considering the superior standards of the Gulf countries.
History will also be against East Bengal too when they face Kuwait SC as no Indian club has ever beaten Kuwaiti opposition in an Asian competition and to do that over two legs is an even tougher task. It’s a daunting challenge for East Bengal so if they pass it will have to be considered their greatest achievement.
Mission Impossible?
On paper, it does sound mission impossible because there is not only a gulf in class between the two sides but Kuwait SC are also the cup holders. They also won the trophy in 2009 and finished runners-up in 2011 and quality-wise, they are possibly too good for the AFC Cup. The mammoth 12-2 win over Maldives’ New Radiant in the quarter-finals was another reminder of their class and quality.
But then again no one expected Mohun Bagan to beat British opposition and become the first Indian club to win the IFA Shield in 1911 while Mohammedan Sporting’s dominance in the 1930s was unthinkable earlier. More recently in 2003, Subhash Bhowmick’s suggestion that East Bengal could win the ASEAN Cup was laughed off.
East Bengal will be the overwhelming underdogs against Kuwait SC and historically that has always played in their favour. So can they do the impossible and create history again?
