On Sunday, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will play in the final of a Durand Cup after 19 years and in the summit round of a major tournament after 13. This is also the first time since 2000 when the Kolkata giants meet in a home derby in the title round.
East Bengal have won all those games. They beat Mohun Bagan 2-1 for the Durand Cup in 2004, 1-0 in the Federation Cup final in 2010 and won the 2000 IFA Shield on penalties after open play ended 1-1.
For a match this rare, the 66,000-odd Salt Lake stadium could be filled twice over. Police have had to be called in to deal with fans and members being turned away. Serpentine queues formed from early Friday, hours after Mohun Bagan Super Giant, riding a contentious penalty, came from behind to beat FC Goa in the semi-final. East Bengal had overcome a 0-2 deficit to beat NorthEast United on Tuesday, thereby setting the stage for a second Kolkata derby in the 132nd Durand Cup in 22 days.
That East Bengal won the first 1-0 through a Nandhakumar Sekar screamer has helped the hype. “Seeing fans crying with joy after we won meant so much to us,” said East Bengal’s Spanish midfielder Borja Herrera. Mohun Bagan have also done their bit, beating the champions of Nepal and Bangladesh to qualify for the AFC Cup and subduing ISL shield winners Mumbai City in the Durand Cup quarter-final.
By Friday evening, Durand Cup organisers announced that all tickets had been sold out. This is a pre-season tournament that feels like anything but. “A final is a final,” said Herrera.
“If they lose again, it will be the first time since 2016 that we would have two consecutive victories against them. That can be difficult for them,” said East Bengal coach Carles Cuadrat on Saturday.
Ahead of the season’s first derby on August 12, Mohun Bagan coach Juan Ferrando said their focus was on making the AFC Cup group stages. “It’s a totally different situation now.” Between then and now, Mohun Bagan qualified for Asia’s second-tier competition defeating Nepal’s Machhindra FC and Abahani Dhaka.
As much as the players, the referee will be under scrutiny. Mohun Bagan have benefitted from referring decisions against Mumbai City FC and FC Goa. Manolo Marquez, the FC Goa coach, has said they were used to such things in India when playing big teams. Cuadrat said he would have preferred a foreign referee who would be free of pressure in a job he has to do without assistance from television cameras.
That may be true but one of the biggest refereeing howlers in domestic football in recent times happened on the watch of Ravshan Irmatov, who has officiated a record 11 games in World Cup finals. The Uzbek official missed a goal ‘scored’ by ATK’s Luis Garcia against Kerala Blasters in 2014. Initially reluctant to get into the debate, Ferrando said if football has to grow in India, Indian referees need to be given more opportunities.
ISL champions Mohun Bagan have not won the Durand Cup since 2000 but the final will be their fourth game in 13 days and eighth in one month. Fatigue, especially for players who have played all four games beginning with the AFC Cup play-off against Abahani on August 22, could be a concern, said Ferrando. That’s two matches more than East Bengal who began the Durand Cup with a 2-2 draw against a Bangladesh Army team.
Not being able to protect a 2-0 lead against 10 players in that game, created “negative dynamics” and led to a locker room conversation, said Cuadrat. “And then we won the derby which was a special moment for us and the supporters. This is the start of a new project. Barring Cleiton (Silva), I have not worked with most (foreign) players.” We know where we were, said Cuadrat, referring to three underwhelming seasons. “And that is not going to change in a month.”
East Bengal have not won the Durand Cup since 2004 and a major trophy after the 2012 Federation Cup. But they have been unbeaten in Asia’s oldest and the world’s third oldest tournament this time, a run which included a tie-breaker win in the semi-finals. They will miss midfielder Souvik Chakraborty, who is suspended, in the final but “it’s been a special Durand Cup,” said Cuadrat.
