East Bengal’s defensive resilience will be tested by SC Delhi’s free-flowing attack when the two sides clash in the first semifinal of the Durand Cup on Wednesday, with the 16-time champions starting as favourites in front of their home crowd. The other semifinal will see East Bengal’s arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant take on Northeast United FC in Shillong on Thursday, with a potential summit clash between the Kolkata giants — and a repeat of the 2023 final — in sight. Mohun Bagan had beaten East Bengal 1-0 in that final. East Bengal have scored 14 goals and conceded just once in the tournament, that solitary goal coming in their 0-1 defeat to Mohun Bagan in the opening game of Group A.
Captain Rashid believes East Bengal have an opportunity to go one step further after missing out on the final last season. “We still regret missing out on the Durand Cup final last season. This is one of the first semi-finals, or perhaps the first semi-final, for the club. The Portuguese coach also described the semifinal as a contest between two footballing cities and ambitious clubs.
Because we are a newly created club, “For our club, Sporting Club Delhi, this is a historic achievement. They topped Group C with nine points after beating Jamshedpur FC 2-1, Defenders FC 7-0 and Indian Air Force FT 7-1, before recovering from an early setback to beat FC Raengdai 5-1 in the quarterfinals.
However, it’s a brilliant opportunity for us to go a step further and win our first title of the season,” Rashid said. But we want more,” he said.
