First Indian CLUB to Qualify at Asian Club Cup Finals

East Bengal Club became the first Indian club to represent the country in the finals of Asian Club Cup Championship in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in 1985-86 after their triumph in the preliminary round in Colombo.

The Asian Club Cup Group Stage 3 Qualifying Round was played in Sri Lanka. East Bengal was clubbed with New Road Club of Nepal, Abahani Krira Chakra of Bangladesh, Pakistan Airlines, Valencia Club of Maldives and Sanders Club of Sri Lanka.

On 2nd August East Bengal played their first match against New Road Club of Nepal. East Bengal thrashed the Nepal side by 7-0. For East Bengal Biswajit Bhattachrya scored 4 goals. Debashis Roy scored two goals. One Own Goal was scored by Birebdra Pradhan. Next on 5th August East Bengal played their Second match against Abahani Krira Chakra of Bangladesh. East Bengal won the match by 1-0. Debashis Roy scored the winning goal. On 7th August East Bengal played their third match against Pakistan Airlines. East Bengal won the match by 2-0. Debashis Roy and Biswajit Bhattachrya scored one goal each. On 10th August East Bengal played their fourth match against Valencia Club. East Bengal thrashed their opponents by 9-0. This was the highest margin victory for East Bengal against Foreign Clubs. For East Bengal, Debashis Roy scored 3 goals, Jamshed Nasiri and Monojit Das scored two goals each, Debashis Mishra and Samer Choudhury scored one goal each. On 17th August East Bengal played their final group match against Sanders Club. East Bengal won the match by 1-0. Jamshed Nasiri scored the goal.  Thus East Bengal finished as the Group Champions and qualified for Final of Asian Cup Championship.

East Bengal scored 20 goals in 5 matches without conceding a goal.

Compiled By: Rajarshi Ghosh