EB’S mantra: simple play with good defence
Coach Falopa insists his team is mentally prepared for the semis despite three of his players arriving late in Kuwait due to visa delay
KUWAIT CITY: Playing the defending champions and two-time winners of the AFC Cup, Kuwait SC, at home in the first-leg of the semifinal here on Tuesday, would have looked an uphill task for East Bengal at the best of times.
Adding to the steep difficulty quotient is travel fatigue for a team that has spent a lot of time on flights over the past week. What was worse was that three key players --- skipper and central midfielder Mehtab Hossain, first-choice central defender Arnab Mondal and the best replacement in that area, Gurwinder Singh --- reached here on Monday morning giving them one night less to get match-ready.
UNSETTLED UNIT
And with the domestic season having just kicked-off, East Bengal look far from settled under new coach Marcos Falopa.
East Bengal wrote to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and even got the All India Football Federation to back their appeal to defer this match by a day but it hasn’t worked.
“We got less preparation time as we had to travel to Kuwait just after the match in Indonesia,” said Falopa here on Monday. “We are mentally prepared and will give a good fight to the Kuwaiti team who are a stronger side. We are the underdogs and we will play simple football with good defence.”
This is the first team from west Asia East Bengal are playing in the current edition and a lot would hinge on the ability to defend well. In Issam Jemma, Kuwait SC have Tunisia’s alltime highest goalscorer. Jemma has also played for Auxerre and Lens in France.
Apart from a slew of regulars in the national team ---- Kuwait played the World Cup in 1982 and are currently ranked 109 on the Fifa list, 46 places above India --- the hosts also have Brazilian Rogerinho who was adjudged best player in the 2012 AFC Cup.
Kuwait internationals Waleed Ali, Abdullah Al Buraiki and Tunisian medio Chadi Hammami too are capable of scoring, meaning East Bengal’s backline and the midfield would have to absorb a lot of pressure to prevent the return-leg on October 22 from being a nocontest.
How Falopa organises his backline and the middle third would, therefore, be crucial. East Bengal are likely to keep James Moga, whose equaliser against Semen Padang kept them alive in this competition, and Edeh Chidi in front but both will have to try and break down Kuwait SC’S build-ups while looking for opportunities to hit on the counter.
East Bengal are the only team in the penultimate round who are unbeaten so far in the 2013 AFC Cup. They will need to punch above their weight to keep it that way.