East Bengal on the brink of history
Can make the final if we are careful in midfield, says coach Falopa VITAL STATS
KOLKATA: With a chance to make history, East Bengal coach Marcos Falopa wants the fullthroated support of the ‘12th player’ to help them reach the final of the AFC Cup.
East Bengal play defending champions Kuwait SC in the return-leg of the semifinal here on October 22. They need a minimum 2-0 verdict to be the first Indian club to make the titleround. Trailing 0-4, they ultimately lost 2-4 after Uga Okapra and Lalrindika Ralte scored in Kuwait City on Tuesday.
That ended East Bengal’s nine-game winning streak in the AFC Cup.
“Our supporters are part of the team. They complete us; they are the 12th player for our team. If they create a good atmosphere, it will be a huge psychological boost,” said Falopa, speaking over the phone from Holiday Inn Downtown in Kuwait SC on Wednesday.
Falopa, 64, said he wanted a full house at Salt lake stadium. The average turnout for Kuwait SC’S home games in the AFC Cup has been less than 1000 and what could also go against the visitors is the artificial turf at the stadium here.
What Falopa wants has never happened in the stadium that can hold 1,20,000. The closest it has come to being full for a club game that wasn’t a Kolkata derby was for the 1997 Federation Cup final when nearly 80,000 fetched up to see East Bengal lose to Salgaocar. When Mohun Bagan won the 2008 Federation Cup beating Dempo, some 60,000 were present.
Falopa said East Bengal have a good chance to qualify “if we are a little bit more careful in the midfield.”
Claiming that Kuwait SC’S first goal was scored from an off-side position, Falopa said “that stunned our team and disturbed composure in the midfield. It’s not easy when that happens against a good team, and Kuwait SC are a good team. Their Brazilian forward (Rogerio Coutinho) is excellent, the Tunisian striker is the tournament’s highest goalscorer and they have a solid midfield.”
Kuwait SC had qualified for the Asian Champions League beating Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad’s 7-0 over two legs but couldn’t play Asia’s apex competition because they hadn’t fulfilled club licensing criteria now made mandatory by AFC.
“We were much better in the second half because after the negative goals, we needed to create opportunities and Baljit (Sahni) and (Cavin) Lobo did that… I didn’t start them because I think they are still not fit to play 90 minutes,” he said.