Bangalore, July 26: They have already made history. A victory in the final will be the icing on the cake. When East Bengal take the field against BEC Tero Sasana of Thailand in the final of the LG Asean Club Football Championships in Jakarta on Saturday, the Bengal giants will be hoping to become the first club in the country to hold aloft the winners’ trophy at an Asian-level event.

The National Football League champions have made a mockery of all odds by reaching the final, which many would find astonishing considering the fact that East Bengal were playing some of the best club teams of the continent.
Their coach Subhas Bhowmick rightly said, ‘‘The boys did exceptionally well. We were playing the best teams from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.’’ Bhowmick, along with the star of the club Baichung Bhutia and Suley Musah, were talking to the media in a telephonic interview organised by United Breweries, the sponsors of the club, here on Friday.
An elated Bhowmick continued: ‘‘No one would have thought we would reach this far. Now that we are just a match away from the title, I want the boys to enjoy the game and the situation. Though BEC are a superior team, both technically and tactically, the boys should not get tensed up and give it their best shot. I am confident they will deliver the goods.’’
Asked about the team formation for the final, Bhowmick said: ‘‘Debjit Ghosh is ruled out after suffering from convulsions after a head injury while Mahesh Gawli, who received a red card in the semifinal, will also be missed badly. Mike Okoro, who played his first match in the last-four clash, will be fielded but only after a medical check-up.’’
East Bengal, who had lost to the same team in their opening game, albeit courtesy a disputed penalty, will no doubt have their tasks cut out. On the greener side, they will enter as underdogs against BEC, who are Asia’s No. 1 club team and boast of the Asia Cup Club title.
However, Bhutia, who continues to maintain his goal-scoring spree, netting the equaliser and later in the shoot-out in the semifinal on Thursday, said: ‘‘It has been a great team effort and all the team members have put in their best. It will be tough as we will take on Asia’s best club but we will try our best.’’
About the difference trainer Kevin Jackson made, Bhutia opined: ‘‘Jackson’s arrival has been a good thing. But we should also note that the players were willing to learn, they put in their best efforts and now the results are showing.’’
Bhutia felt there was still room for improvement, especially near the finish. ‘‘We could have won the semifinal within the 90 minutes, but we missed a lot of chances. We should be more careful.’’
Musah was forthright when he said, ‘‘No one except God knows what will happen on the morrow. Anything can happen and so far we have been lucky to reach till this stage.’’
On the standard of umpiring, Musah quipped: ‘‘As there will be no Indonesian team in the final I hope they don’t show partiality to a particular team.’’
One thing is certain. God forbid, even if they lose, they will return home heroes. Pray, let this be the beginning of the resurgence of Indian football. A shot in the arm that will take this ‘beautiful game’ a long way in the country.