Kolkata : The season 2024-25 was year to forget for Bengal Giants East Bengal. Be it ISL, Durand Cup, the senior men’s team lacked behind without any success. However, this year with fresh team, head coach Oscar Bruzon eyes strong start.
After great player signings, East Bengal are all set to kick start their season in Durand Cup 2025 against debutant team South United FC.
5 East Bengal foreigners are already in the town and assistant coach Bino George has started training with all of them. Ahead of the clash in Durand Cup, Oscar opened up on East Bengal and opponent South United FC in press conference.
Since, South United is a relatively new team full of youngsters, Oscar doesn’t want any surprise or upset in the tournament hence he won’t take the opponent lightly and probably would start with best team possible for East Bengal.
“South United has many young footballers. As a result, we are also trying to field the best team. We have to prove that we are a good team on the field. The season has just begun. We still have to work hard on fitness. Bino has started working with Indian footballers. This time we have started with foreign and Indian footballers. There is no room for mistakes in Durand“, said Oscar.
The Red – Yellow brigade head coach stated that there’s no pressure on the team despite last season’s outcome. Accepting previous year’s flaws, he assured the fans that East Bengal will play their best Football in all tournaments.
Oscar said, “There is no pressure on us, we’re superior team. The more we play, the more responsibility we will have. We know how much the fans expect from us. We know what to do on the field. East Bengal will play to give their best in all tournaments. Last season, we should have been sharper in attack. We missed out on scoring opportunities. Since I came in, we won more matches than we lost and finished at 6. We have just started training this season. As a result, it is not possible to say what will happen in the rest of the season. However, there is a lot of time before Durand’s next match.”
As per Oscar, East Bengal will only play 3 overseas – Saul Crespo, Dimitri Diamantakos, Md Rashid since Kevil Sibelle and Miguel haven’t received necessary documents. Souvik Chakraborty isn’t available due to injury. On the other hand, Oscar is not willing to give up even if the ISL is postponed. He believes that the ISL will start and since they are able to field almost the entire team in Durand, East Bengal will be able to prepare well for the pre-season.
