“Not happy with the result”, Antonio Lopez Habas expresses disappointment after East Bengal’s close loss over Al-Shorta

Kolkata : East Bengal after a brave fight fell short to Iraq Al-Shorta 2-3 at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata in AFC Champions League 2 Group Stage encounter, despite leading and also creating numerous opportunities but eventually failed to convert any. This created a hurdle for the Red and Yellow brigade ahead of Round of 16 Qualification and East Bengal Head coach Antonio Lopez Habas had nothing but words of criticisms in post match press conference.

The veteran Spaniard didn’t hide his disappointment and criticized the missed opportunities that made him “unhappy” and costed East Bengal 3 crucial points.

He said, “‘I am not happy with the result. However, I think we had enough chances to win the match today. We created at least five-six clear goal opportunities. We were not behind in the fight with the opponent either. But despite creating so many opportunities, we scored only two goals. On the other hand, the opponent used the opportunity to score. That is what made the difference in today’s match”

“East Bengal didn’t deserve to win the match. We had 10 chances and kept on missing goals. They scored from set pieces and took their opportunities. But we have to continue and we need our supporters by our side”, Habas added.

After launching a storm of attacks in the first half, with David Lalhlansanga scoring a brace inside 40 minutes, and East Bengal leading 2-1, the second half was a bit calmer and eventually Al-Shorta scored 2 goals to come in lead and win the game. However, East Bengal got numerous chances across both halves, but they could not take advantage of them, else, atleast five goals were guaranteed.

In this context, Habas said, “We could not win the match in the second half. Even though we had enough time to score a goal. But we could not take advantage of that opportunity. I told the footballers at the break that we have to play more carefully. Especially the first few minutes of the second half were very important. I think if we could have given our best for two or three minutes at the end of the match, the result could have been different”.

Since only about 12000 tickets were released for this game, Salt Lake Stadium was almost empty despite the vital stage for East Bengal who were representing India. Therefore, Habas urged the fans to support the team irrespective of the result.

Habas said, “The support of the audience is also very important to us. When the team is going through difficult times, it is most necessary to be by the side of the fans. Not only when the team wins, but also when it loses, the fans should be by its side”.

Apart from missed opportunities, East Bengal defense especially in the second half didn’t perform as per expectations and conceded two goals. Habas remarked these as lack of concentration and responsibility and slammed the tactics.

He stated, “We made some stupid mistakes in defense. At a few moments, the lack of concentration, responsibility and caution among the footballers was clear. These mistakes cannot be made while handling the defense. The matter is very clear”.

Despite this performance and collecting only one point after two group games, Habas remains confident of his team and is hopeful to turn things around in remaining games.

“I am confident. We still have two away matches and two home matches left. Therefore, there is a chance to turn things around”, Habas said refusing to give up.

East Bengal’s performance irrespective of the result against the Iraqi giant Al-Shorta filled with World Cuppers was no doubt will fall short of words. The Red and Yellow brigade will now focus on Indian Super League (ISL) 2026-27 where they’ll face Churchill Brothers (October 18) and Inter Kashi (October 23) before travelling to Seeb for facing Al-Seeb on October 27 in ACL 2 clash.