The first ‘Kolkata Derby’ between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan Super Giants in the coming season might take place in the Durand Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium on 9th August.
Durand Cup is going to take place from 22nd July to 25th August across six venues which are Kolkata (VYBK/Kishore Bharati Krirangan), Imphal (Khuman Lampak Stadium), Ranchi (Morhabadi Stadium) Jamshedpur (JRD Tata Sports Complex), Shillong (JLN Stadium) and Kokrajhar (Sai Stadium).
Significantly, The prestigious tournament which will witness 14 teams from the ISL, I-league and two teams from Indian Army, has been granted Rs 25 lakh by the Union Sports Ministry for the organization of the tournament.
It is believed that Mohun Bagan Super Giants management has decided to field the club’s reserve squad that will have a few experienced footballers who took part in the ISL. On the other hand, East Bengal which is in the process of building up the team are likely to participate in the competition with full strength, to salvage some pride from their last season’s overall misery. It is also learned that East Bengal has already signed a preliminary contract with a Palestinian professional footballer Mohammed Rashid.
According to Husam Younis, the assistant coach of Palestine youth team, Rashid is very hard working boy. He is a fighter of the game, a true warrior. He always looks for challenges. No matter how difficult the challenge is, he always wants to win challenge.
