By Bhaskar Ganguly
I’m a little sad that this Mohun Bagan Super Giant versus East Bengal FC game is going to be played away from home, in Guwahati. The home fans miss out. But the local administration said they couldn’t make adequate security arrangements due to the Gangasagar festival, and we have to accept that. Without a full house, though, the ‘Boro Match’ (big game) loses its fervour.
The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) ineptitude continues to damage Indian football. That, however, is a different issue and we will discuss it in a separate column. As for the Kolkata derby, it also suffers from the trickle-down effect of a systematic decline of Indian football. I played for both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. I’m an East Bengal supporter. But I no longer have an emotional attachment with this game. There have been several contributing factors.
To start with, very few sons of the soil play for the two clubs these days. During our time, they used to form the core. Also, players from the other states used to embrace the local culture. They became our own. Fans had an emotional attachment with those players. Now there’s barely any connection. Even in Kolkata, the players stay in team hotels, go to the training ground, go to games and repeat the cycle. Have these players ever been to their respective club tents? I have my doubts if the current crop of players understand the legacies of these two clubs and are aware of the contributions of the legends who made Mohun Bagan and East Bengal two endearing institutions.
Moving on to the foreigners, the Indian Super League (ISL) has plenty of them. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, too, are very much dependent on their foreign recruits to get the results. Unfortunately, the majority of the foreign players here are higher-league discards and contribute very little to the development of Indian football. The Indian team is bereft of a striker and that’s because the ISL teams don’t play Indian players in that position. The Federation seemingly doesn’t care and the local talents are not nurtured.
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Pray tell me, can any of these foreign players come even close to Majid Bishkar? Even the likes of Chima (Okorie), Emeka (Ezeugo) and (Jose) Barreto had the ability to single-handedly change the course of a derby. Such foreign recruits are at a premium at the moment. As for the Indian players, there’s hardly anyone who can wow the fans. Indian football has long stopped producing the likes of Krishanu Dey and IM Vijayan.
Coming to today’s derby, Mohun Bagan are the table-toppers, with 32 points from 14 matches. They are very strong and have players who can make an impact, coming off the bench. They are riding on the momentum.
East Bengal, on the other hand, are languishing in 11th, with 14 points from as many matches and just four wins to their credit. Also, they are depleted.
All said and done, this is a battle of equals. This is a game where the underdogs punch above their weight and pull off upsets. This has happened many times in the past. I was at the receiving end of it in the 1985 Calcutta league. We had a super team and Pradip da (PK Banerjee) as our coach. Mohun Bagan were struggling. But Krishna Gopal Choudhary, a relatively unknown player, scored a blinder and they eked out a draw.
East Bengal must believe. They must take the field believing that they can win the game. Else, it would be a cakewalk for Mohun Bagan.
(As told to Shamik Chakrabarty)
● Bhaskar Ganguly, one of India’s finest-ever goalkeepers, is an East Bengal legend. He also captained the Indian football team at the 1982 Asian Games.
Also Read: From Kolkata to Guwahati: A Kolkata Derby Fuelled by Hope, Fatigue, and Fierce Rivalry
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