What
an exciting match between the two biggies of Indian football, East Bengal and
Mohun Bagan! Once again, it is proved that the Indian derby can easily compete
with the most popular derby matches of the world in terms of attendance and
hype.
The
two arch rivals faced each other on 17th March 2013 at the Salt Lake
Stadium of Kolkata. The occasion was the
semi-final of the prestigious IFA Shield. The match started at 5:30 pm (India
time) with a full house. The ‘colourful’ supporters of both teams started
cheering their players from the very first minute. The match started with lots
of expectations, with attacks and counter attacks, with speed and movements. East
Bengal, slowly, captured the midfield and started pushing the Bagan’s defence. However, their strikers could not beat the
pillar of Mohun Bagan, Eche. On the
other hand, the ‘King Cobra’, Odafa Okoli, tried to penetrate the defence of
East Bengal, but unable to overcome the ‘Chinese Wall’ of East’s defence,
Okpara. The first half ended without scoring a goal.
The
second half started with a surprise! Mohun Bagan scored the first goal of the
match. Sabith, the Bagan’s striker, scored from a pass from Odafa. It was
really a jolt to East Bengal players, coach and fans. The next few minutes of
the match was truly dominated by Mohun Bagan. Trevor Morgan, the East Bengal
Coach, who is known for his methodical tactics, substituted two players, Robin
Singh and Penn, by two strikers, Baljit Singh Sahni and Andrew Barisic. East
Bengal started their ‘super- attacking’ game with a 4-3-3 formation. The strategy
gave the desirable result on the 88th minute of the match when Barisic
scored a brilliant goal from the top of the penalty box. The scheduled time
ended in a one all draw.
The
Extra Time started with the same pace. However, the 30 minutes of Extra Time
could not produce any result. It was indeed a ‘nail-biting’ moment for the fans.
The penalty shoot-out started to break the tie. The tall custodian of East
Bengal, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, saved the first two kicks. East Bengal players,
on the contrary, scored two. The fate of the match was written then. Naoba
Singh missed the third opportunity to score for East Bengal, but Baljit Singh Sahni
did not miss the fourth. East Bengal won the match by 4-2 and progressed to the
final in which they will meet Prayag United on 20th March 2013.
In
future, many more derby matches will be played between these two clubs which
will surely attract millions of fans. The news will be covered by regional and
national media. I strongly believe that the matches like this should be marketed
well to make people aware of Indian football. If we cannot popularize all
domestic football matches of India, at least a few matches of great rivalry, should
be selected and marketed. Theses matches have the abilities to change the perception
and make a turnaround for Indian football.
