East Bengal rope in ex-NEUFC assistant coach Francisco Bruto Da Costa

The tactician has ample experience under his belt and can arguably be a valuable addition for the Red and Gold.

East Bengal have officially announced the arrival of Francisco Bruto Da Costa as their new coach. The club revealed this through a brief post on social media. Da Costa hails from Goa and has credible experience to his name.

He was the assistant coach of NorthEast United during Nelo Vingada’s tenure with the Highlanders in the third season of the Indian Super League. The club finished in fifth spot in the league table that term. Soon after, Vingada secured a lucrative job as the head coach of the Malaysian national football team and Costa followed him. The duo had a rather disappointing seven-month long spell before the Portuguese tactician stepped down from his role in December 2017.

The Margao-based coach is an AFC Pro License holder and has previously coached the AIFF Elite Academy too. Furthermore, he has held similar responsibilities for India’s U-14, U-17 and U-19 teams. Francisco commenced his coaching career at Salcete FC - a south Goa club. Interestingly, he was aged only 20 years back then, which demonstrates that the former NEUFC assistant coach is someone who has risen up through the ranks gradually.

It is, however, important to note that East Bengal have not particularly clarified Francisco Bruto Da Costa's role at the club. The Red and Gold had been engaged in turmoil with their former investors Quess Corp Private Limited in the past few months. It was only last week that they regained their sporting rights from the Bengaluru-based company, after the two parties parted ways at the end of May.

ALSO READ: Report: East Bengal to miss out, ISL to continue with 10 clubs in 2020-21

There has been a growing consensus for the Red and Gold to be inducted into the ISL ever since their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan merged with ATK. The new entity named ATK Mohun Bagan will be competing in the top tier of the country from the upcoming season. However, reports emerged in the last few days that East Bengal have missed the bus to play in the ISL for the next campaign at least, as they still have to finalize a deal with their new sponsors.