There’s been plenty of bad news for Kolkata football of late: Mohun Bagan, the city’s oldest team, is in dire straits, the local IFA league isn’t doing much better. So now Kolkata’s football-mad public finally have a reason to celebrate, they are doing it in style. When East Bengal play Thailand’s Bec Toro Sasana in the final of the Asean cup in Jakarta tomorrow, millions of Kolkatans will be watching them. It is the first time any Indian club has reached the final of an international tournament and the city is gearing up to make it a special occasion. Leading the way is Kolkata’s reigning sporting icon, Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly. A football fan and a mean player in his college days, Ganguly will probably watch the game on television. ‘‘It’s thrilling. I hope East Bengal wins. I will definitely try to watch the match,’’ Ganguly told The Indian Express. While Bec Toro are said to be a strong team, those looking for signs of hope point to the fact that India’s last major international victory was in Jakarta, at the 1962 Asiad. Indeed, the buzz is reminiscent of the ICC World Cup final in March. But there’s one difference: It’s now hilsa season and the fish — traditionally eaten by East Bengal supporters in celebration — is virtually sold out in Kolkata markets. ‘‘It reminds me of the football craze of the ’60s and 70s,’’ said Prasanta Banerjee, a star of the 1970s. ‘‘I myself bought one.’’ And, amazingly, even Mohun Bagan supporters will be backing the boys in yellow and red. That’s significant, given the deep and old rivalry the two clubs share. Says Biren Das, a shopkeeper on Prafulla Sarker Street in central Calcutta: ‘‘I have been a staunch supporter of Mohun Bagan since my youth. But now I am backing East Bengal because they are representing the country. They are as good as our national team and we are all hoping for their success.’’ The fervour has spread across the Maidan, to Mohammedan Sporting, the third part of the city’s footballing trinity. ‘‘I went to the airport to see off the East Bengal team and I’m sure they will come back with the Asean Trophy,’’ said club secretary Sultan Ahmed. East Bengal’s performance in Jakarta has coincided with the Indian under-18 team’s showing at the Milk Cup tournament in Northern Ireland, a top international youth competition. The team beat fancied Dynamo Kiev and County Antrim and narrowly missed out on the quarter-finals. So the Kolkata club now carries the flag for Indian football. ‘‘It will provide a tremendous boost to the game here,’’ says Atanu Bhattacharya, a former India goalkeeper and now a coach at Mohun Bagan. ‘‘Even if East Bengal lose, Indian football will move far ahead and its Fifa ranking will move up,’’ Bhatacharya said. And they would have lifted the mood of the city they call home.
