Bagan take last shot at storied derby
KOLKATA:SUNDAY’S Kolkata derby, unarguably the most followed match in Indian club football, is the first of one and the last of another. It will be the first time Mohun Bagan play East Bengal after announcing a merger with ATK. And the last time 130-yearold Mohun Bagan host East Bengal as a standalone entity. From June 1, 2020, Mohun Bagan will become Atk-mohun Bagan and play in the Indian Super League.
This match in 2019-20 I-league will be another chapter in a 95-year-old rivalry, one where it may not matter that it is being played between teams first and sixth in the standings.
East Bengal, who may give new signings defender Abhas Thapa and midfielder Edmund Lalrindika game time on Sunday, lost to Churchill Brothers and Gokulam Kerala in their last two rounds. On eight points from six games, they have also struggled with injuries.
None of that will matter, said Lalrindika Ralte. “In 2016, we were in top form and expected to beat Mohun Bagan easily. The match was drawn. All derbies are 50-50,” said the East Bengal midfielder. “Every derby has a special dynamic,” said Mohun Bagan coach Kibu Vicuna.
Sunday’s match will also be the first time in the I-league that Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have seven Spaniards available for selection. Mohun Bagan have three, East Bengal have four. Both teams have Spanish coaches, another first in the I-league for them. Had the match been held on December 22, as was scheduled, there could have been three more Spaniards. Since then, East Bengal’s defensive lynchpin Borja Gomez has gone home to be with his son who is ill. And Mohun Bagan have released Salva Chamorro and Julen Colinas. They have singed strikers Baba Diwara, who played for Levante and Sevilla, and attacking player Komron Tursunov in the January window.
“We have a good connection professionally and personally,” said Vicuna after talking to Alejandro Menendez Garcia, his counterpart at East Bengal, and Josep Ferre, East Bengal’s assistant coach on Saturday. “The players know each better. Some have families here and their children play together,” said Vicuna.
Joseba Beitia is one the Spanish players who could be the cynosure on Sunday. Beitia is the heart and soul of league leaders (14 points from seven games) Mohun Bagan’s attack and scored away to Real Kashmir.
“He is part of a generation of good players at Real Sociedad, one that produced Antoine Griezmann,” said Vicuna.
Beitia was at Real Sociedad for nine years playing 92 games and scoring 69 goals for the B team. “I joined when I was 15. It was a superb experience,” said Beitia. “My contract with Real Union (one of founders of La Liga who play in the second division now) had ended. I wanted to experience football in a different culture. Kibu called and here I am.”