Baichung Bhutia is a living icon of Indian football, having achievements credited to his name like no other footballer from India. Last season Baichung Bhutia returned to Calcutta giants East Bengal Club after three years with English second Division club Bury FC and an unsuccessful season with city rivals Mohun Bagan AC.
Being back at East Bengal, Baichung helped the club win the inaugural ASEAN Club Cup, retain the National Football League title and reach the quarterfinals of the AFC Cup.
IndianFootball.Com editor Rohit Goyal caught-up with Baichung in Singapore, during his time in Singapore doing expert analysis of Euro2004 for ESPN-Star Sports, to do an exclusive interview for EastBengalFC.Com.

How was it coming back to East Bengal in year 2003 after having had two previous spells at the club?

Coming back to East Bengal was obviously like coming back home. Coming back to the club was very exciting as I knew club, people and environment well. So it wasn't difficult for me to adjust to the life at the club.

East Bengal had a slow start into the Indian season. So what different approach did you take going into crucial NFL game against Mahindra United in December and rest of the games after it?

I think we changed our style of play to more attacking football. We started playing regularly with two strikers upfront. Also the addition of Brazilian Cristiano Junior really helped us as we had a good partnership upfront.

You had a tremendous partnership with Cristiano much to the nightmare of defenders round the country and South-East Asia. Can you elaborate more on the partnership?

It's always good to have both strikers in a team scoring goals and playing well! Both of us complemented each other very well. We understood each other very well in terms of our style of play, runs, etc. This understanding helped the team a lot.

Nigerian Mike Okoro played behind both the strikers and complemented you well. So did the rest of the midfield. How will you rate the midfield which supported strikers well?

Mike Okoro helped us a lot as he was very versatile in midfield and could play in a variety of positions. Also he created lot of passes and crosses for us. We had a good attacking midfield which supported the strikers very well. What we lacked was an anchorman who can drop deep in midfield but whenever Douglas was fit, he did that job well for us.

Personally, what was the biggest highlight of the season for you?

Personally, winning the ASEAN Club Cup was the biggest highlight of last season for me.

We are seeing a sort of phenomenon for East Bengal for numerous factors both on and off the field. Impressive performances both domestically and in Asia along with a club partnership with Leicester City FC, a tournament against likes the of LCFC, Real Mallorca… It sounds a dream for any Indian club, isn't it?

I think East Bengal is the most organized club in India. In my opinion the club has got more ambitions and wants to do well both domestically and internationally. Moreover it has good people running the club with a lot of proper organization and planning. The management wants to take the club forward and to another level which is good. This really helped the team in performing well domestically and internationally. Compared to other clubs, East Bengal officials and management had lot of unity in terms of ambitions and vision. At the moment they are the most professional and forward looking club in India.

One big question that remains. Is Baichung staying at East Bengal?

Its too early to comment as it depends on offers I get. If I get opportunity for trials abroad (meaning Europe), I will definitely look into that. But if I play in India, I would definitely consider East Bengal.

There has been news linking you to Cypriot club AEL Limassol?

There is a club in Cyprus which wants me to go for trials. Nothing has been finalized yet. Negotiations are going on and India coach Stephen Constantine has been helping me on this issue. But it's still in early stage.

You have been linked with various other Asian clubs like Perak FC from Malaysia this season. Whats the truth behind all these rumours?

I have been in talks with them. So let's see how the talks go. I will definitely like to play for a good and an ambitious club. However there are other factors like finances, etc.

We hope that you still have many years of football left in you. But have you thought about what you want to do in future after retiring? As a coach or as an administrator or commentator? Baichung Bhutia in the AIFF would be something for Indian football to look forward to. Isn't it?

I have seriously not thought about the future. I have never planned things in life like what I want to do. To be honest, I don't know much about this. At the moment options are open and let's see what comes...

Having reached a level where no Indian footballer has ever reached before, how will you look at your illustrious career? Any special moments?

I would say it's been a mixture of both fun and hard moments. Simply, it has been mix of everything. Not only had it good memories but it has loads of bad memories as well. But I have taken it in my stride and I have enjoyed every moment of it. I have worked hard and struggled, that's the way life goes… For me the biggest highlight would be playing for Bury FC in England for three seasons. It was a good experience as I improved lot of aspects of my game. I have improved my physical game, attitude wise I am more aggressive.

We know Baichung on the field. Now we are seeing the other side of Baichung i.e. as a commentator?

I have enjoyed commentating. And in future if I get time I would definitely do it. Working with the likes of Jerry Armstrong has been a good experience as these guys know their football well and have got lot of good experience.

Barring the last two World Cup qualifying results, Indian football has improved. India won the LG Cup in Vietnam, did well in the Afro-Asian Games. Also East Bengal has done magnificently well in Asia. Are we really moving in a positive direction?

We are progressing with the national team. The last two matches against Japan and Oman were against very good sides. Against Japan we did not have our three main defenders which led to some poor defending. On the whole our football is moving forward and everyone knows that. But sadly people look into these two results and point out "What have we been doing for last two years". It's sad to hear comments like this especially from ex-footballers and coaches. There has been a change in attitude not only in India but abroad in the way people look at Indian football. In Asia, wherever we play, we get due respect and people appreciate and support our football. Many countries know that Indian football is changing and nobody takes us lightly as before. We have some promising players coming up like Debabrata Roy and Habibur Rehman Mondal in the national side. They are good, talented players. But they will need to work on other aspects of their game like strength to become quality players.

What areas do we really need to work on to bring the bright days of Indian football back?

We need to nurture quality and talented youngsters through good academies and training programs.

Besides you no Indian player has played abroad. What do you think is the main reason behind this?

I think playing abroad is a huge learning experience. You get to learn lot of things. The players should try to play abroad. But before this they need to change the attitude and need to become more ambitious.

A word about football in your home state of Sikkim?

Sikkim football is improving. We have started working from the grassroots level like there is a very good academy in Sikkim. Despite the problems, we have been progressing very well. Two of the players are playing in the under-17 national team. So in future, I expect Sikkim to do well.

Any message to Indian football fans about the upcoming World Cup qualifiers?

We will be going to do better than what we did in the last two qualifiers. That's a guarantee. We won't concede any cheap goals like we did previously.

Thank you Baichung for the interview!