East Bengal FC are on a high at the moment. Returning to the Asian stage after a gap of 9 long years and after announcing the transfer coupe of the season – Anwar Ali – prying away the star Indian defender from rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giants.
The Kalinga Super Cup champions take on Turkmenistan’s Altyn-Asyr FC in a Preliminary 1 tie on Wednesday. A victory would see them advance to the group stages of the AFC Champions League Two, where they would join arch-rival Mohun Bagan Super Giant, who have already secured their qualification, while the loser would drop down to the AFC Challenger League.
The Kolkata giants have been training hard for a month and a half for this all-important game and have shown their match-readiness with two wins in two in their Durand Cup campaign so far.
Ahead of the play-off clash against the Turkmenistan club, East Bengal Carles Cuadrat did not want to play up his team’s chances despite having the single-leg match at home.
“It’s a very important match for the club. It has been a long time since we haven’t played in Asia. We are ready for that and it will be a difficult test. They are a good team and it’s going to be a challenge for us to show that we are also at the level,” Cuadrat said at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“We have to be realistic. I am a very pragmatic coach. A lot of players of our team will play their first AFC match, they have players who have played 20 or more matches in the competition. We are going to fight but it is very clear that we need support from our home fans,” he added.
Equipped with the firepower that last Indian Super League season’s top-scorer Dimitri Diamantakos and highest assist provider Madih Talal, East Bengal look like a team with renewed vigour. Cuadrat though still feels East Bengal are the underdogs against Altyn-Asyr.
“We are not favourites. We are playing in Asia after 9 years. But one thing is very clear. East Bengal always have a never-say-die attitude and we are going to go for that. I have to say that Altyn Asyr was very superior five years ago. For us, it’s a new thing. We have a wonderful opportunity to make it happen in front of our fans. So we will try to go for that,” Cuadrat said.
The East Bengal boss confirmed that star Cleiton Silva is available for the crucial game but Nishu Kumar will be out due to an injury.
Nandha Kumar was also present for the press conference and highlighted the importance of the chance to play in Asia, a first for many in the East Bengal squad.
“I am very excited to play in this match. This is my first AFC game and we are ready to accept this challenge. The players are excited and we are hungry to play. We have a great challenge in front of us. We are ready for the match,” Nandha said.
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Altyn-Asyr FC, who are former AFC Cup (what the rebranded ACL Two was previously known as) finalists, finished second in the Turkmen league last season and are looking to join their rivals Arkadag FC in the ACL Two group stage, just like East Bengal.
Even though they are in the middle of their domestic league season, the Turkmenistan side comes into the game on the back six-match unbeaten streak but their last competitive game was back in May.
Cuadrat has faced the side from Turkmenistan while with Bengaluru FC but that game did not end in the favour of the Indian team. The current East Bengal manager feels even though his side is not the favourites, but will give it their all in front of home fans for the win.
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