East Bengal’s class of 2004 better than current side – Geylang International FC coach

Gelang International coach Vedhamuthu KananPhoto Credit: Geylang International FC

Singapore’s Geylang International FC are undoubtedly the most high profile foreign team of this year’s IFA Shield as they are two-time S-League champions and also reached the semi-finals of the inaugural AFC Cup in 2004.

On their way to the AFC Cup semis ten years ago, Geylang International (called Geylang United back then) faced East Bengal twice in the group stage and failed to win on both occasions. The Indian club won a thrilling contest 3-2 in Singapore and the clash in Kolkata finished 1-1.

Geylang’s current head coach Vedhamuthu Kanan was part of Geylang’s coaching staff in 2004 also when AIFF’s current academies technical director Scott O’Donell was in charge. Geylang started their IFA Shield campaign with a 2-0 loss against East Bengal and the Kolkata club’s performance has left a great impression on Kanan but the Indian-origin coach feels the class of 2004 were a better side.

“East Bengal were simply outstanding against us. Of course we were not in great shape because the match took place just a day after our tiring trip to Kolkata but there is no doubt about their quality. It also shows how good the I-League is nowadays and I would say perhaps the standard here is even better than the S-League. But I would still say that the team we faced in 2004 was better because you know back then even Geylang was stronger. However East Bengal outplayed us,” Kanan told Sportskeeda in an exclusive chat.

The comparisons between the 2004 side and current batch of East Bengal have been made ever since the red-and-gold brigade reached the AFC Cup quarter-finals last year. The current team went one step further than the 2004 team by entering the last four but couldn’t win the I-League.

Back in June, Alvito D’Cunha, a member of the 2004 squad and the current side, opined that the class of 2013-14 is better. Kanan disagrees with Alvito but while recalling East Bengal’s 2004 side, the Geylang coach singled out the Goan as the best player.

“I still remember that very skilful Indian player Alvi… right?” he enquired before completing the name with the help of this writer, “Alvito! yes yes. How well he played in those two games. What a player! His left foot is just magic.”

Alvito is well past his peak now but still remains a major influence in the East Bengal dressing room and was used sparingly during the group stage where the red-and-gold brigade picked up seven points from three matches to qualify for the semis as Group A winners.

Geylang drew 0-0 with South Korea’s Busan Sunmoon University but will join East Bengal in the last four as group runners-up if they beat United SC on Saturday and Kanan admitted that the absence of United SC’s star striker Ranti Martins due to suspension will give the S-League side a big advantage.

“Of course his absence is a major boost for us because I saw how physically strong he is and it is very difficult for defenders to mark him. So that’s a plus point going into this game but we have to play well too and not miss chances like we did against the South Korean side,” Kanan stated.

Geylang haven’t won the S-League since 2001 and have been on the decline in recent years as they finished ninth among 12 teams last season. They have also featured in the AFC Cup only once since that semi-final run in 2004 but the club has been well run off the pitch with a very good youth system that even has Indian-origin Abneet Bharti in their under-16 side.

Kanan believes the participation in the IFA Shield will give his squad the ideal preparation ahead of the upcoming season of the S-League which starts in another two weeks.

“We couldn’t have wished for a better preparation than this. Although there were difficulties getting into this tournament due to visa and travel issues, we are eventually happy to be here because we needed this competitive action. Our club doesn’t have the biggest budget but there is a good balance of local and foreign players so hopefully we will able to do well in the S-League and our target is to be in the top three,” he concluded.

Geylang International’s virtual quarter-final against United SC is on Saturday evening with the Kolkata side only needing a draw to progress.