I-League: East Bengal face Dempo in Kolkata tomorrow

The fourth round of the 2012/13 I-League will witness a clash between last seasons runners-up East Bengal Club and champions Dempo SC at the Salt Lake Stadium tomorrow afternoon. Currently, Dempo are top of the I-League with three wins out of three matches, while East Bengal are fourth with seven points from as many matches.Some have termed the East Bengal vs Dempo SC match as India’s El Clasico with the better end often for the red-and-gold.Over the last few years East Bengal have made the Federation Cup their tournament, while Dempo have won five of the last eight NFL/I-League titles. But this season, having beaten Dempo in the Fed Cup final, the red-and-gold will want to finally bring the I-League trophy back to Kolkata, having now won it in eight years. Dempo’s dominance on the competition started the year after East Bengal last won the title.

As the Federation Cup final a few weeks ago showed, matches between these two sides are close contests with the game also being a match-up of two of the most successful coaches in Indian club football in recent years, Trevor James Morgan (East Bengal) and Armando Colaco (Dempo), both of whom have a lot of respect and high regard for each other.

And their tactical acumen will surely be on display tomorrow. It will be a midfield battle between the two sides. Be it Mehtab Hossain, Ishfaq Ahmed and Nigerian Orji Penn for the hosts or while Climax Lawrence and Clifford Miranda will look for support among foreigners Rohan Ricketts and Ryuji Sueoka.

But both coaches have options in their squads, which could lead to them springing a surprise for their opponents.

After his team’s final training session Trevor Morgan said:

“There is absolutely nothing between us. On any given day they (Dempo) can beat us, while we are capable of beating them. So the question is who makes the least number of mistakes or is prepared to take the more chances.”