AFC Cup Round of 16 Preview: East Bengal vs Yangon United

Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
Kick-off: Wednesday, May 15, 18:00 IST

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“Biggest game of my tenure here”

“I try to win every game but considering the reward that is at stake for the club, this is probably the biggest game of my tenure here”. That was Trevor Morgan’s key words at the pre-match press conference and it summed up the occasion pretty well. It’s actually East Bengal’s biggest game in nine years because they haven’t played in an AFC Cup knockout tie since 2004 and victory in this match will see Morgan’s squad match the class of Subhash Bhowmick’s highly-successful team who reached the last eight nine years ago.

In a way, Morgan’s boys have already surpassed the achievement of Bhowmick’s squad in the AFC Cup because they won their group after being unbeaten in the group stage, the first Indian club to do so. When East Bengal made it to the quarters in 2004, it was only an 18-team competition while 32 are participating this time. However, under Bhowmick, East Bengal had won the domestic league, something which Morgan has failed and thus must compensate for it by going as far as possible in Asia’s Europa League.

However, this could be Morgan’s last AFC Cup game as he is expected to leave at the end of the season and the next round of this competition doesn’t take place until September. The Englishman, however, wasn’t on a reflective mood ahead of the match and is instead determined to take the club to the quarter-finals. “More than India, I want to put East Bengal on the Asian map. Even at this stage of the season, we have everything to play for and that is fantastic,” Morgan stated.

East Bengal are a force in Asia again

Home advantage does make East Bengal favourites for this one-legged tie, but they probably reduced their advantage a bit by agreeing not to have an afternoon kickoff. Besides the suspended Manandeep Singh and injured Harmanjot Singh Khabra, the English coach has a fully fit squad to choose from, with the regulars being given a much needed breather at the weekend.

The sub-plot of this fixture is the India-Myanmar rivalry with the South-East Asian nation beating Wim Koevermans’ side back in March to qualify for the AFC Challenge Cup. “That was a massive disappointment. Maybe we can reduce that pain a bit by winning tomorrow,” said India international Mehtab Hossain.

Win for East Bengal would be revenge for Team India also (Photo Credit: AIFF Media)

Besides Mehtab, Raju Gaikwad and Robin Singh played in India’s defeat to Myanmar but the latter two are unlikely to start. The key for East Bengal will be the performance of their foreign strike pairing of Edeh Chidi and Andrew Barisic because the duo have destroyed teams on the counter attacks so far in this competition, while attacking midfielder Penn Orji is also back in form.

The I-League remains elusive for the Kolkata club but it has been a record-breaking campaign in the AFC Cup so far and a fourth straight home win tomorrow will see them reach new heights in the continent.

Underdogs

Yangon United’s Bulgarian coach believes its an unfair format

Yangon United recorded more wins and more points than East Bengal in the group stage, but still have to play their one-legged round of 16 tie away from home as they finished second on goal difference in Group F behind Maldives’ New Radiant. In the AFC Cup, only quarter-finals and semi-finals are played over two legs and as discussed by Sportskeeda yesterday, Indian clubs have failed in the round of 16 previously, especially because they didn’t have home advantage and Yangon’s Bulgarian coach Ivan Venkov Kolev was critical of this format.

“I think it’s very unfair and in truth I didn’t know about it at the start but of course we are here to give our best and qualify for the next stage,” said Kolev, who took charge of Yangon in 2012 and guided them to domestic success in his very first season.

The club are actually eyeing a hattrick of domestic league titles and are currently fourth and one point off the top in the 12-team table after 11 rounds. Like East Bengal, Yangon have also been mostly playing thrice a week for the last two months but crucially, this is only their 18th match of the season compared to East Bengal’s 57th, as the season in Myanmar only started in January. So, physically the Myanmar club should be in much better shape but they would still be wary of the artificial turf and humidity in Kolkata.

Kyi Lin – the next big thing of Myanmar football

Myanmar have a very good combination of local and foreign talent, with six members of their team being part of the Myanmar squad at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers including 20-year-old attacking midfielder Kyi Lin. The youngster, who is considered to be the next big thing in Myanmar football, is a product of the highly rated Yangon United youth system.

In Adama Kone, Yangon have one of the most in-form strikers in the AFC Cup as the Ivorian netted in every game of the group stage while Brazilian attacker Cesar Augusto is also a key figure. The big loss will be the absence of Ivory Coast central defender Gnonsian Oulou due to double booking and thus there will be a lot more responsibility on Australian center back Michael Cvetkovski.

The key battle though will be in midfield as several Myanmar internationals like Lin, Yan Aung Kyaw and David Htan will go head to head against their Indian counterparts Mehtab, Ishfaq Ahmed and Lalrindika Ralte.

The Yangon United squad having a small jog in Kolkata (Photo Credit: Yangon United)

The only meeting between the two clubs came back in 2009 in a pre-season friendly, with East Bengal winning 3-1 in Myanmar but four years on, both sides look much different. Technically, Yangon United are slightly better but overall, they will be the underdogs as they are the visitors and don’t have the experience of this East Bengal squad, who are playing their third straight AFC Cup campaign under Morgan.

Form Guide

East Bengal: DWDWL

The red-and-gold brigade have been invincible in the AFC Cup so far but their form in the closing stages of the I-League was very poor as they managed just one win in seven matches, including a 1-0 defeat against Shillong Lajong in their last fixture.

Yangon United: WWWWD

After going through a poor run of one win in five matches in all competitions until early April, Yangon once again have form on their side with the catalyst being the 7-1 win over Persibo in Indonesia on April 24. Since then the Myanmar club have conceded just twice in four matches, winning three of them.

Key Men

East Bengal: Edeh Chidi

Photo Credit: AIFF Media

The Nigerian has been East Bengal’s best player this season scoring 14 goals in 17 starts in the I-League and AFC Cup in 2013. Only three of those goals have come in the Asian competition but Chidi’s overall performances have been outstanding and if he is at his best Yangon will have a big problem.

Yangon United: Adama Kone

Adama Kone (left)

The Ivory Coast striker was the second highest scorer of the group stage with a staggering return of nine goals in six matches. However this will be the biggest test for the 26-year-old and he will be looking to maintain his record of scoring in every AFC Cup game this season and inspire Yangon to the quarters.