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Lebanese international Ramez Dayoub probably could have lined up for East Bengal this Wednesday in the AFC Cup instead of playing against them for Malaysian club Selangor FA.
Back in 2009, Dayoub looked well set to join East Bengal and even had pre-season training with them in Puri, Orissa. But Lebanon’s Safa Sporting Club were reluctant to issue his ITC (International Transfer Certificate) and the move eventually didn’t happen.
That season, Dayoub eventually moved to Myanmar and four years on, he is in his second season at Selangor.
His AFC Cup debut for Selangor will come against East Bengal and looking back to the deal that never happened, Dayoub told Sportskeeda in an exclusive interview, “I love East Bengal and was happy to be in such a big club. Well, many problems happened that time and I was not happy to leave them. I liked them a lot but what happened is the past now.”
The 28-year-old revealed that he has an idea about the current East Bengal team and doesn’t rule out a move to India in future.
“I do follow East Bengal and I heard they are doing very well. If I have a chance I will move to India one day.”
Dayoub though is currently very happy in Malaysia but is expecting a tough AFC Cup campaign with Singapore’s Tampines Rovers and Vietnam’s Sai Gon Xuan Thanh being the other clubs in the group.
“I am very happy in Malaysia. This is my second season here and football here is better than in Lebanon. Selangor are one of the best teams in Malaysia and has a good reputation in South-East Asia. Our group is not easy and so we have to prepare very well for this competition if we want to qualify for the next stage,” he opined.
Like former Churchill Brothers duo Bilal Najjarin and Akram Moghrabi, Dayoub too lamented the lack of professionalism in Lebanese football despite the recent success of the national team at international level as they reached the fourth round of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
“We do have good players but the federation never does something for the league,” he stated.
He also revealed that both Bilal and Akram had taken his advice before moving to India but couldn’t explain why they couldn’t stay longer.
Dayoub and the rest of the Selangor squad reached Kolkata on Saturday and will have their first training session at the East Bengal ground on Sunday afternoon.
