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History favours East Bengal

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLKATA SEPT. 27. Mohun Bagan will seek to utilise the depleted strength of Kingfisher East Bengal in the final of the 109th IFA Shield, which will come up at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday.

East Bengal, the ASEAN club champion, has been hit by injuries to a number of key players, whose absence has halved the team's strength. The bench will have its test in the final as coach Subhas Bhowmick faces a tough task of replacing the likes of Alvito D' Cunha, Devjit Ghosh, Mahesh Gawli, M. Suresh, who have been nursing injuries.

Added to this is the absence of star-striker Baichung Bhutia, who is away playing in Malaysia, and the suspension of Brazilian game-maker Douglas Da Silva, who received his second booking of the tournament in the semifinal against Ever-Ready on Friday and will have to sit out in the crucial encounter.

History favours East Bengal, which won the title on 27 occasions, while Bagan has earned claimed the title on 19 times. The statistics of the season too sides with the red-and-gold brigade, which beat Bagan 3-0 in the first meeting while the second encounter in the Super Division had the two teams drawing 1-1.

The encounter on Sunday puts Bagan in an advantageous position as it is coming with full strength. East Bengal has always been a gritty side no matter whatever be its strength and it will be interesting to see how Bagan, led by its Brazilian spearhead Jose Barreto, utilises the theoretical edge in the crucial battle of nerves.

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