Durand Cup 2023: East Bengal eye knockouts berth against Punjab FC

East Bengal will aim to top the Group A in order to qualify.

After the Independence Day break, the 132nd IndiaOil Durand Cup resumes business with double-headers yet again as FC Goa (FCG) play their final Group D game against Downtown Heroes of Kashmir in Guwahati’s Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium (IGAS) and Emami East Bengal (EEB) eye knockout qualification with a win in Group A’s final fixture against Punjab FC (PFC) at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan (KBK) in Kolkata.

The first match in Guwahati begins at 3.00pm Indian Standard Time (IST) while the EEB-PFC game has a scheduled 6.00pm IST kick-off.

Emami East Bengal, if they can put it across Punjab FC in the final Group A game on Wednesday, will qualify as group toppers. Any other result would mean arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant qualify.

Spanish coach Carles Cuadrat, architect of the famous win against Mohun Bagan Super Giant last Saturday, was upbeat in his comments ahead of the important game saying, “Now as we prepare for our last group stage match against Punjab FC. It’s an important match for us and our target is to reach the quarter finals of the Durand Cup. I request all our passionate supporters to fill the Kishore Bharati Krirangan. See you all on Wednesday. And Joy East Bengal.”

Punjab’s Greek gaffer Staikos Vergatis on the other hand sounded aware that they were about to face a confident home side with momentum in their favour. He said in the pre-match chat, “We are facing one of the biggest clubs in India and we recognize the difficulties of the game. East Bengal have a squad full of quality players and are coming after a massive victory against Mohun Bagan, so, they are definitely in a good morale. From our side, we are taking the game very seriously irrespective of the outcome. We have analyzed the opponent and are entirely focused on the game to present a good challenge to East Bengal.”

Even a win will not help Punjab qualify as they currently have only one point from their two games and have not scored in the tournament so far, but the first promoted Indian Super League side are definitely capable of giving a good challenge with a balanced team and it remain to be seen how they perform in front of a raucous home crowd.

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