EXCLUSIVE: 'Expecting a breathtaking Mohun Bagan-East Bengal derby today'

Without East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, a tournament can never be famous and glamorous. Look at ISL, after initial popularity, it lost its sheen. But now as Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have come on board you will see the league becoming famous and gaining huge popularity. If this match had happened in Kolkata today, the demand for tickets would have sky-rocketed.

Hyderabad: Former India defender Krishnendu Roy, who played 1981 Merdeka Cup and won 1985 SAFF Games gold medal, is thrilled and cannot wait for the century's first Mohun Bagan-East Bengal derby, which was first played on August 8, 1921, in the Cooch Behar Cup. Though ATK Mohun Bagan is completely a new entity in ISL after their merger, both Mohun Bagan and SC East Bengal are predominantly century-old clubs. Now as they are gearing up for their first meeting in ISL, former Mohun Bagan and East Bengal footballer Roy, a pupil of legendary PK Banerjee, talks about the famous Kolkata derby in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat.

Excerpts...

Q: The stage is ready for the first ATK Mohun Bagan-SC East Bengal derby in ISL. What does this mean for the tournament?

Krishnendu Roy:Here I must say that without East Bengal and Mohun Bagan a tournament can never be famous and glamorous. It cannot be an important tournament. Look at ISL, after initial popularity, it lost its sheen. Fans turned their back to ISL, low attendance was a proof. But now as Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have come on board you will see the league becoming famous and gaining huge popularity. You can't deny the fact that Mohun Bagan-East Bengal derby has a huge fan following. If this match had happened in Kolkata today, the demand for tickets would have sky-rocketed. I believe this match would have broken the 1997 Federation Cup semifinal record when more than 1,300,00 fans enjoyed the derby at the Salt Lake Stadium. But now we have to see it on TV, and that is my only regret.

Q: Who do you think will have an edge in today's derby?

Roy: Mohun Bagan have already played a match and won it 1-0. So, I believe they will have a psychological advantage over East Bengal. At the same time, Mohun Bagan have no idea about East Bengal's team composition, planning and strategy of their coach Robbie Fowler. This is a minus point for Mohun Bagan. At the same time, an advantage for East Bengal is that they have already seen Mohun Bagan's first match. They got an idea about their strength and weakness.

Former India, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal defender Krishnendu Roy (Left) clapping while looking at majestic Diego Maradona during the latter's India visit in Kolkata in 2008.

But you have to keep in mind that ATK Mohun Bagan didn't make too many changes to their squad from last season. So most of the players are well aware of the Indian conditions and climate. But for East Bengal players it will be a new experience. So, it has to be seen how they adapt to the Indian conditions and play the ISL. Their success will decide East Bengal's fortune in the tournament.

Q: Football legend Diego Maradona has passed away. You had played at that time when Maradona was creating magic with the ball. How do you like to remember him?

Roy: I was lucky to meet him when Maradona came to Kolkata for the first time in 2008 to inaugurate a school football competition at Batanagar, Maheshtala. At that time, he wanted me to accompany him. I was there on the left side. He was a superstar. Getting an opportunity to meet him and touch him is a feeling that can't be forgotten. Whenever we talk about world football, it always revolves around Pele and Maradona. Since the 1986 World Cup, a fan club was formed for Maradona and Argentina. And because of Maradona Kolkata was divided into two fan groups. Just like a rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, there has been always a rivalry between Argentina and Brazil fans since that World Cup. And Maradona is the reason for this rivalry. This is very unfortunate to lose him at such a young age. We didn't expect that he would leave us so soon.

Q: Did you enjoy ATK Mohun Bagan's victory in the first match of the season?

Roy: ATK Mohun Bagan won their first match, but it was not a good game. Kerala Blasters were regularly creating pressure on Mohun Bagan defence. Mohun Bagan could have conceded a goal any time.

But I can't blame players. We must stop blaming players now. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all the teams couldn't get much time for pre-season training. So, players' physical conditioning didn't happen. But with time and playing more matches, players will reach that level.

Krishnendu Roy played the 1981 Merdeka Cup under legendary PK Banerjee.

At the same time, I want to thank West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for taking the initiative to help Mohun Bagan and East Bengal play ISL. I also thank ISL organisers for organising the league at this unprecedented time.

Q: You have seen Antonio Habas' coaching. Robbie Fowler is a new coach in India. How do you compare two coaches?

Roy: We have seen Habas' coaching style in ISL before. I have noticed that he focuses a lot on keeping his back-line strong. His attack starts from the defence. His top priority is a strong defence. On the other hand, Fowler was an attacking footballer himself. He owns the record of the fastest hat-trick in EPL. In 1994, he scored a hat-trick within 4 minutes 33 seconds in an EPL game against Arsenal. But it is difficult to say whether he will opt to play an attacking game against Mohun Bagan in East Bengal's very first match. And I don't think that will be a good idea too as Mohun Bagan strikers will not waste time to put the ball into the goal if they get space. But Fowler has himself picked some good foreign players like Anthony Pilkington and Jacques Maghoma for his side.

Q: What are you expecting from this derby?

Roy: I want to see a breathtaking match from Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. But I can't expect great football at this moment as both sides have players who didn't play for a long time. They are rusty. In the meantime, most of the East Bengal players and even their coach have no experience of playing derby. Mohun Bagan players may have as their coach and a few of their players know what Kolkata derby is. But this East Bengal team is new. So, I am not expecting something special from this match. But this derby has a history of proving everyone wrong. In this match, all the pre-match planning and prediction can fall flat to the expectations of the fans. Though my mind doesn't have any high expectation from this match, my heart would love to enjoy a breathtaking game today.

--- By Sudipta Biswas