East Bengal win Durand Cup for 15th time

East Bengal scored thrice in quick succession to beat Army XI 3-0 and win the Durand Cup football tournament for the 15th time, at the Ambedkar stadium in Delhi, on Friday.

The scoreline might not indicate how closely fought the final was. But Army XI, after holding the experienced Kolkata team for more than an hour, conceded three goals in the space of ten minutes to lose the match.

The highlight of East Bengal's victory was a virtuoso performance by Mike Okoro, who was later named 'player of the tournament'.

The Nigerian striker weaved magical moves through the opponents' defence, and with the ball playing around his feet as if tied to his boots by an invisible string, made the army defenders dance to his tune.

But East Bengal, who went into the match as favourites, needed more than just Okoro's splendid display to break the army's resistance.

That extra touch of class was provided by Tushar Rakshit. In the 67th minute, Tushar, collecting the ball from Kaustav Ghosh in the centre, set up Okoro on the left with a sublime pass and the Nigerian beat the goalkeeper Abun Gobi Singh with a deft touch.

That one goal turned the match on its head. Suddenly the army's morale sagged and the next goal came within five minutes when Kulothungan, who came in for Kaustav, blasted a fierce right-footer to the top left corner of the net.

"I would have been happy even with a 1-0 win, I just wanted the players to get the cup," said a delighted Subash
Bhowmick, coach of the East Bengal team.

"Considering that we were without some of the senior players, I could not have asked for more from the team," he added.

Army XI had to be content with the achievement of entering the final for the first time. They had nothing to lose, and that showed in their game.

"We were not playing much on the wings. In fact in the first-half, we did not open on the right at all," said Army's
coach Tushar Kanti Majumdar.

"Today we could not play as much we did against Mohammedan Sporting or Vasco," he conceded.

Nevertheless, the manner in which Pradip Debnath and Saroj Gurung penetrated the East Bengal wall repeatedly was a delight to watch. If only Preetam Bahadur and Raghu Kumar upront had succeeded in finishing on their fine efforts, Army XI could have scripted a happy ending to their fantastic run in the tournament.

At the other end, Abun Gobi Singh proved a tough nut to crack for Okoro and his men. The army custodian, who was one of the five 'Promising Players of the Tournament', had proved his temperament in the semifinal win over Sporting in the penalty shoot-out the other day. Today, he was grit personified while doing an almost lone job in guarding the citadel.

As and when Okoro pierced through the flimsy defence and threatened to score, Gobi Singh rose to the occasion, by taking the forward head-on and nipping the attack at its root.

Photograph: SAAB PRESS