AFC Cup: Reaching the final will be the greatest achievement in EB’s 93-year history

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?