Kolkata : East Bengal were held 0-0 by Group D table bottomer – Oman’s Al-Seeb at Muscat in AFC Champions League 2 clash, creating major hurdles in East Bengal’s road to next round qualification amidst threats of Al-Hussein and Al-Shorta. East Bengal coach Antonio Habas being disappointed stated tiredness of players as a major factor for the underperformance on October 27.
Both East Bengal and Al-Seeb counter attacked in each other’s half, creating multiple opportunities but eventually failing to convert. ISL 2025 champion East Bengal who’s coming after defeating Churchill Brothers and Inter Kash in ISL 2026-27, scoring goals against Al-Shorta, Al-Hussein in previous games failed to score a single goal against Al-Seeb despite getting ample chances to score.
Habas stated that tiredness was one of the key factors behind this unexpected game. He admitted that there was no intensity from Red and Yellow brigade and it was a bad performance.
Previously, Habas complained about packed scheduling in Indian Football where East Bengal had to play Calcutta Football League, IFA Shield, Indian Super League, AFC Champions League 2 (ACL 2) in very less days gap. In the month of October, East Bengal had to play IFA Shield, simultaneously preparing for home and away games of ACL 2 with final of the Shield being held on October 8 where they faced 1-0 defeat against arch rivals Mohun Bagan. Then East Bengal hosted Al-Shorta at Kolkata just 5 days later. Despite leading 2-1, they lost to the Iraq based side 3-2. Then in next 10 days they played Churchill Brothers (18th October – 0-4 win) and Inter Kashi (23rd October – 1-5 win) in away games at Margao and Pune respectively. Then East Bengal travelled to Muscat, Oman for the away game against Al-Seeb. Throughout in the recent past, Habas expressed disappointment with these tight scheduling of Indian Football where players hardly got rest, along with playing surfaces, and referee selection that made him feel like “circus animal” and showed a lack of respect for professionals.
And after yesterday’s goalless draw too, Habas pointed out the tiredness of players, besides stating lack of intensity and crediting Al-Seeb for good performance.
“It’s a bad performance from my team. I think my team were tired, too tired. There was no intensity and the opponent performed well. It was difficult for us”, admitted Habas.
Focusing on importance of recovery and East Bengal’s excess travel Habas still remains positive of the team’s improvement. East Bengal will host Al-Seeb for round fixture at Salt Lake Stadium on November 3 and the Spaniard is full confident of his team’s comeback.
He said, “But we have to recover now. We have been out of Kolkata for a week and there has been a lot of travel, but we have to improve for the next match. I’m absolutely 100℅ sure that the team will improve their level for the next match, we’ve to play Al-Seeb immediately “.
Habas on a positive note stated that instead of losing it was better to get away with a point. In his words, ” Today anyone could win but the result was goalless. We’ve to think match by match and can’t think too far ahead in future. It is better to get a point instead of losing the match”.
East Bengal are currently placed in Number 3 at Group D points table behind giants like Al-Shorta and Al-Hussein.The Red and Yellow brigade are in desperate search of first win of the coveted tournament , with just 2 points in 3 games. Habas and his men should now aim to win all and also depend on a few results of other teams going in their favour. Despite hurdles being created, a comeback could just be on cards for East Bengal.
