AFC CUP 2005

East Bengal Club will play all its home matches at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta

Dempo SC will play all its home matches at the Nehru Stadium, Margao (Goa)

May 25, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group A - Matchday 6
East Bengal Club 3-2 Nebitchi FC, TURKMENISTAN
Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta
Goals: 1-0,2-1,3-1 Earnest Jeremiah (30',56',62'), 1-1 Farhat Bazarov (55'), 3-2 Hoja Ahmet Arazov (87').
East Bengal Club: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Syed Rahim Nabi, Marcos Secco, Debjit Ghosh, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Selwyn Fernandes, Sandip Das (60' Chandan Das), Climax Lawrence (85' Bhola Prasad), Shylo Malswam Tulunga, Ernest Jeremiah, Bijen Singh (76' Dipankar Roy)
Nebitchi: Retepberoi Bagabernyev, Rahman Guly Baliyev, Oraznepes Orazov, Vitaliy Alikperov, Yagmyrmyrat Annamyradov, Zarif Ereshov, Geldimyrat Garakanov (40' Farhat Bazarov), Yazguly Hojageldiyev, Yakup Beraiyev, Hoja Ahmet Arazov; Yaygeniy Tkachenko
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
match report: East Bengal ended their AFC Cup Group A campaign with a 3-2 win against Nebitchi FC from Turkmenistan on a hot and humid afternoon at the Saltlake Stadium in Calcutta. With today's win East Bengal ended on seven points from six matches, while Nebitchi FC remain ahead of them on eight points, but both missed out on a chance to reach the quarterfinal knockout stage.
The final score suggests a close tie, but if East Bengal had used the chances that came their way, then the red-and-gold could have scored a dozen goals. On the other side one has to question the Turkmen's professionality as they came with only 12 players, the 12th being their second goalkeeper Farhat Bazarov. Bazarov actually had to come on as a field player and even scored a goal.
East Bengal played an attacking game, but the chances that came their way were wasted far too often. But there was Nigerian Earnest Jeremiah who scored all three East Bengal goals on the day to show what he is capable off. Jeremiah gave his team the lead on the half hour mark when the Nigerian worked his fast past a few Nebitchi defenders and he scored with a left-footer. Disaster struck for Nebitchi in the 40.minute when Geldimyrat Garakanov had to be taken off due to dehydration and on came goalkeeper Farhat Bazarov as a field player. And in the second half Bazarov went on to score a surprise equaliser for his team. In the 52.minute Bazarov pushed in of a cross from the left as the East Bengal defence wasn't able to clear the danger. But East Bengal went ahead again four minutes later when Jeremiah scored his second with Syed Rahim Nabi and Malswam Tulunga doing the spade work and in the 62.minute Jeremiah scored his teams third with the attack once more set-up by Nabi. Three minutes from time Debjit Ghosh fumbled a Chandan Das backpass letting Hoja Ahmet Arazov utilise the chance to reduce the deficit for Nebitchi.

May 11, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group A - Matchday 5
Mukti Joddha KC, BANGLADESH 0-1 East Bengal Club
Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka
Goal: 0-1 Bijen Singh (75').
Mukti Joddha: Aminul Haque, Charles Ghansa Benin, Rajani Kanta Barman, Hassan Al Mamun, Mohammed Iqbal (54' Mohammed Azmul Hossain Bidduth), Kanchan Rokonuzzaman, H Hery, Firoj Mahmud Hossain Titu, Mohammed Rasheed Ahmed Pappu (67' Mohammed Saiful Islam), Rana Amin (79' Mohammed Rony), Sheikh Belal Ahmed
East Bengal Club: Sangram Mukherjee, Surya Bikash Chakraboty, Muttath Suresh, Madhab Das, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Syed Rahim Nabi, Sandip Das, Subash Chakraborty (56' Chandan Das), Climax Lawrence, Malswam Tulunga (67' Bijen Singh, 87' Nitin Pradhan), Earnest Jeremiah
Referee: Kadyrbek Chynybekov (Kyrgyzstan)
Attendence: 6.000
match report: Indian champions East Bengal Club earned their first victory in the AFC Cup 2005 Group A, a 1-0 win against Bangladeshi-side Mukti Joddha KC at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. After five matches played the red-and-gold remain bottom of the four team group with a worse goal difference than their Bangladeshi opponents as both teams have four points.
East Bengal were without a number of regulars with Baichung Bhutia and Alvito D'Cunha injured, Selwyn Fernandes and Marcos Secco suspended, and Debjit Ghosh forced to sit just before the start out with muscular problems, still East Bengal were the better of the two sides on the day infront of about 6.000 spectators.
Mukti Joddha had the first good chances of the match, but they were denied by an alert East Bengal keeper Sangram Mukherjee. The best chance was a Hassan Al Mamun shot. The longer the match went on the more control of the midfield and proceedings East Bengal got. In the last 10 minutes of the first half East Bengal had three good chances. Two were wasted by Nigerian striker Earnest Jeremiah, one went wide and the other hit the crossbar, while a Subhas Chakraborty shot was saved by Mukti Joddha keeper Aminul Haque.
Mukti Joddha made a couple of substitutions in the second half to strengthen their midfield, but the East Bengal defenders stood their ground. East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick brought on Bijen Singh in the 67.minute and only eight minutes later Bijen scored the winner of a chip over keeper Animul Haque inside the box. In the 84.minute East Bengal could have doubled their lead as Climax Lawrence first beat keeper Animul, but he recovered in time to deny Climax.

May 11, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group B - Matchday 5
Dempo SC 0-1 Al-Ahed, LEBANON
Nehru Stadium, Margao
Goal: 0-1 Hassan Maatouk (72')
Dempo: Abhijit Mondal, Pio Rodrigues, Stanley Colaco, Majekodumni Bolaji, Raju Singh, Clifford Miranda, Mario Soares, Jose Colaco (Nacimento Silveira), Ranty Martins Soleye, Ishfaq Ahmed, Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya.
Al-Ahed: Bilal Mohammad Hachem, ?, ?, ?, ?, Youssef Ali Salman, ?, Riyadh Qassem al Qubeissi, ?, Armen Shahgeldyan, Essam Ghaleb Ayoub
Yellow Cards: Raju Singh, Ranty Martins Soleye, Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya (all Dempo)
Referee: Ram Krishna Ghosh (Bangladesh)
match report: Indian Federation Cup champions Dempo SC also lost their fourth and last AFC Cup match in Group B, this time a lone goal loss at home to Al-Ahed from Lebanon at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. With today's loss Dempo ended their AFC Cup campaign with four losses and having scored no goals, conceeding seven.

April 20, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group A - Matchday 4
East Bengal Club 0-1 Al-Faysali, JORDAN
Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta
Goal: 0-1 Hatem Mohammed Yousef Aqel (30')
East Bengal Club: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Muttath Suresh, Debjit Ghosh, Selwyn Fernandes, Gurpreet Singh (40' Sasthi Duley), Syed Rahim Nabi, Sandip Das (72' Alvito D'Cunha), Climax Lawrence, Marcos Secco, Bijen Singh (46' Baichung Bhutia), Earnest Jeremiah
Al-Faysali: Lo'Al Salem A Elamarieh, A Mohammed A Alshuaibat (89' Arkan N Shamoun), Mohammed K Rajeh Khamees (23' A Mohammed Ali Almaharmeh), Saman Jehad Saman Malasa, Khaled SS Almalta'Ah, Qusai Mohammed Mah'd Abu Alieh, Sharif Adnan S Nassar, Hatem Mohammed Yousef Aqel, Mohammed Zuhair H Shawish, Abdulelah YA Alhanahneh, Hussein Ziad H Odtallah
Yellow-Red Card: Qusai Mohammed Mah'd Abu Alieh (Al-Faysali)
Yellow Cards: Marcos Secco (33'), Selwyn Fernandes (40', both East Bengal); Qusai Mohammed Mah'd Abu Alieh (53'), Arkan N Shamoun (89', both Al-Faysali)
Referee: Irmatov Ravshan (Uzbekistan)
match report: Indian champions East Bengal Club suffered a 0-1 home defeat at the hands of Jordanian giants Al-Faysali in a Group A match of the AFC Cup at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Al-Faysali remain top of Group A with now 10 points, while East Bengal remain on only one point and are out of contention for a quarterfinal place.
It was a hot and humid afternoon in Calcutta, which seemed to be a bigger problem for Al-Faysali then their Indian opponents. East Bengal fielded a number of their fringe players and adopted an ultra-defensive approach not to allow the Jordanians to take the lead. The strategy didn't payoff as Al-Faysali took the lead in the 30.minute of a penalty taken by captain Hatem Mohammed Yousef Aqel, after Saman Jehad Saman Malasa was brought down in the area by Muttath Suresh. Earlier Aqel's shot in the 12.minute had sailed over the crossbar. East Bengal's best chance came a minute from the break when Syed Rahim Nabi played the ball to Sasthi Duley, but his header went straight to the keeper.
East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick reacted in the second half, first bringing on Baichung Bhutia at the restart and later in the match Alvito D'Cunha to strengthen the attack. Alvito came on just after Jordanian Qusai Mohammed Mah'd Abu Alieh received his marching orders for his second yellow card of the match. East Bengal could have equalised late in the match, but it just wasn't to be. The best chance came a minute from time for Nigerian striker Earnest Jeremiah, but he just couldn't score.

April 20, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group B - Matchday 4
Al-Hussein, JORDAN 2-0 Dempo SC
Irbit City Stadium
Goals: 1-0 Ibrahim Hamad Al-Riahna (53'), 2-0 Anas Khleef Ahmad Al-Zboun (80')
Al-Hussein: Abdallah Yousef, Othman Obeidat, Shadi Al-Khateeb, Omar Athamnah, Hatem Talal Bani Hani, Mouneef Ababneh, Ahmad Hatamleh, Mazin A Muhsen, Abdallah Al-Sheyab, Ibrahim Hamad Al-Riahna, Anas Khleef Ahmad Al-Zbou
Dempo: VP Satish Kumar, Pio rodrigues, Stanley Colaco, Majekodumni Bolaji, Melwyn Rodrigues, Johnny D'Cruz, Mario Soares, Riston Rodrigues, Clifford Miranda, RC Prakash (Ishfaq Ahmed), Ranty Martins Soleye
Referee: Fareed Ali Mohammad Al Marzouqi (United Arab Emirates)
match report: Jordanians Al-Hussein beat Indian Federation Cup champions Dempo SC 2-0 at home in a Group B match of the AFC Cup at the Al Hassan international stadium in Irbid City, northwestern Jordan. With this win Al-Hussein qualified for the quarterfinal knockout stage, while Dempo where eliminated from the competition.

April 6, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group A - Matchday 3
Al-Faysali, JORDAN 5-0 East Bengal Club
Goals: 1-0,2-0,5-0 Mohayyed Mansour Salim (12',42',69'), 3-0 Sama'n Halaseh (54'), 3-0 Mohammed Mahadeen (66')
Al-Faysali: unknown
East Bengal Club: unknown
Referee: unknown
match report: Indian champions East Bengal suffered their worst defeat in an Asian continental competition in recent history, one of the worst ever, a humiliating 5-0 trashing at the hands of Jordanian giants Al-Faysali at the Amman International Stadium.

April 6, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group B - Matchday 3
Dempo SC 0-3 Al-Hussein, JORDAN
Goals: 0-1 Anas Khleef Ahmad Al-Zboun (33'), 0-2 Ahmad Hatamleh (75'), 0-3 Mohammad Ehmoud (90+')
Dempo: VP Satish Kumar, Valeriano Rebello, Dominic Noronha, Majekodumni Bolaji, Melwyn Rodrigues, Clifford Miranda (Ishfaq Ahmed), Riston Rodrigues, Nacimento Silveira, Johnny D'Cruz, RC Prakash, Ranty Martins Soleye
Al-Hussein: Abdallah Yousef, ?, ?, ?, Hatem Talal Bani Hani, ?, Ahmad Hatamleh, Mazin A Muhsen, Abdallah Al-Sheyab, Ibrahim Hamad Al-Riahna, Anas Khleef Ahmad Al-Zboun
Referee: Emil Busurmankulov (Kyrgyzstan)
Yellow-Red Card: Nacimento Silveira (36' Dempo)
match report: Dempo SC suffered a 0-3 loss against a superior opponent in Al-Hussein from Jordan in an AFC Cup Group B home match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. After having both played two matches, Al-Hussein are top of the group with six points, while Dempo are bottom of the three team group with no points so far.
Al-Hussein made a strong start into the match having three good chances in the first 10 minutes with the best being a shot from Abdallah Al-Sheyab which was cleared by a strong Satish Kumar in the Dempo goal. Dempo having a strong vocal crowd support had their first look at the Al-Hussein goal in the 14.minute when RC Prakash set-up Nigerian striker Ranty Martins Soleye, but his shot went wide. The longer the match lasted the more control of proceedings Al-Hussein. Their top striker of the day Anas Khleef Ahmad Al-Zboun had a good chance in the 28.minute as he dribbled past Majekodumni Bolaji and shot goalwards but Satish Kumar blocked his shot. Al-Hussein got the deserved lead in the 33.minute when Anas Khleef Ahmad Al-Zboun scored off a pass from Hatem Talal Bani Hani. Dempo's chances of getting back into the match were worsened in just a few minutes later as Nacimento Silveira received his marching orders for a second bookable offence by the Kyrgyzsian referee Emil Busurmankulov.
After the breather Al-Hussein continued to dominate with Dempo also having their chances. Abdallah Al-Sheyab and Ibrahim Hamad Al-Riahna could have doubled the lead of the Jordanian, but their chances were wasted as those of RC Prakash and Johnny D'Cruz who could have given Dempo the equaliser. It was an Ahmad Hatamleh shot in the 75.minute which gave Al-Hussein a 2-0 lead. Hatamleh was set-up by Al-Zboun, who also set-up the third goal of his team in injury time when substitute Mohammad Ehmoud scored.

March 16, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group A - Matchday 2
Nebitchi FC, TURKMENISTAN 3-2 East Bengal Club
Goals: 1-0 Vitaliy Alikperov (1'), 1-1 Marcos Secco (51'), 2-1 Rowshen Meredov (66'), 3-1 Hojaamet Arazov (83'), 3-2 Baichung Bhutia (88')
Nebitchi FC: unknown
East Bengal Club: unknown
Referee: unknown
match report: Indian champions East Bengal suffered their first defeat of the AFC Cup 2005 campaign away to Nebitchi FC of Turkmenistan in a Group A match at the Nebitchi Stadium, Balkanabat. Nebitchi FC won 3-2 against East Bengal in unfamiliar weather conditions for an Indian team.

March 9, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group A - Matchday 1
East Bengal Club 0-0 Mukti Joddha KC, BANGLADESH
Goals: none
East Bengal Club: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Marcos Secco, Debjit Ghosh, Selwyn Fernandes, Syed Rahim Nabi, Climax Lawrence (85' Muttath Suresh), Chandan Das, Shylo Malsawmtluanga (68' Dipankar Roy), Earnest Jeremiah, Baichung Bhutia, Juliano Martins (46' Alvito D'Cunha)
Mukti Joddha KC: Titumir Chowdhury, Charles Ghansa Benin, Rajani Kanta Barman, Mohammed Arman, Mohammed Saiful Islam (84' Mohammed Rony), Rokonuzzaman Kanchan, Habimana Hery, Mohammed Azmul Hossain Bidduth, Saifur Rahman Moni, Mohammed Rasheed Ahmed Pappu, Sheikh Belal Ahmed (58' Firoj Mahmud H Titu)
Referee: Kadyrbek Chynybekov (Kyrgyzstan)
Attendence: unknown
match report: Indian champions East Bengal Club were held to a goalless draw by Bangladesh Federation Cup winners Mukti Joddha KC in the AFC Cup 2005 Group A opener at the Saltlake Stadium. As the other match between Al Faysali of Jordan and Nebitchi FC from Turkmenistan also ended in a draw, all four teams in the group ended matchday one with one point.
An expected easy outing turned out to be much more difficult for the red-and-gold brigade against a very disciplined side from Dhaka, who organised their defence first and then also ventured out to score a goal. East Bengal's forward trio upfront of Baichung Bhutia, Juliano Martins and Earnest Jemeriah weren't as sharp as they have been lately in an East Bengal team, which didn't play to it's true potential. Surely East Bengal had more of the exchanges, especially in the second half where Mukti Joddha went into a defensive shell. But what should worry East Bengal is that Mukti Joddha had the better chances on the day, where East Bengal's chances often ended in the box with the Mukti Joddha defenders blocking the attacks.
East Bengal could have gone ahead in the 16.minute when Brazilian striker Juliano centred the ball in the 16.minute, but it ended in a mess infront of the opponents goal, who were able to clear. In the 27.minute Mukti Joddha had the best chance of the day. A surprise long throw-in by Sheikh Belal Ahmed was headed on by Kanchan, but the ball hit the post. And the surprise factor remained in Belal's throw-in's on a number occasions later in the match, but keeper Rajat Ghosh Dasdidar later in the match intercepted the possible danger. Subhas Bhowmick reacted and brought on Alvito D'Cunha to strengthen the midfield and it paid off for the midfielder, who got more control of the match, but the strikers just couldn't score. Mukti Joddha had another good chance in the 53.minute when Saifur Rahman Moni shot goalwards, but luckily debutant Brazilian defender Marcos Secco dived to save the shot.

March 9, 2004: AFC Cup 2005 - Group B - Matchday 1
Al-Ahed, LEBANON 1-0 Dempo SC
Goal: 1-0 Armen Halgedian (54' - penalty)
Al-Ahed: unknown
Dempo: unknown
Referee: unknown
Attendence: unknown
match report: Federation Cup champions Dempo SC made a unsuccessful debut in the continental AFC Cup with a lone goal defeat at the hands of Lebanese side Al-Ahed in a Group B match at the Beirut Municipal Stadium. After a goalless first half, the winner for Al-Ahed came in the 54.minute courtesy of a penalty, which Armenian striker Armen Halgedian scored against a depleted Dempo side which missed six regular players.