Al Jaish goalkeeper Mohammed Radwan Al Azhar in an aerial duel with East Bengal?s Bijen Singh as Climax Lawrence and Suley Musah look on in their AFC Cup quarter final at Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Calcutta: Miles away from live action at the Salt Lake Stadium and nursing his injured leg back home in Sikkim, Bhaichung Bhutia was frequently taking stock of the East Bengal-Al Jaish match through the mobile of his India teammate Rennedy Singh. As the home team was searching for a goal that never came their way, Rennedy once told Bhaichung: ?I wonder who?ll score.?

The AFC Cup quarter final match ended goalless on Wednesday and Rennedy?s words found expression in Subhas Bhowmick?s lament in post-match press conference: ?I wish I had a striker who could convert half chances. I wish Bhaichung was fit today.?

The East Bengal coach insisted that he didn?t believe in ?ifs and buts? in the game of football. But in the shadow of his key striker?s absence, the way Dipankar Roy and Shylo Malsawmtluanga goofed up two clearest of chances, Bhowmick must have left the field in despair and ruing the failure of clinching any home advantage.

The first of the chances ended in a Bijen Singh conversion, but was later disallowed by the referee. Bhowmick, making a departure from his stand, came down strongly on the decision. ?Both the referee and his assistant ruled it a goal and they suddenly changed the decision after a protest from them. It seemed ridiculous,? he argued.

And it?s the refereeing that makes Bhowmick uneasy as he now prepares for the away leg in Damascus on September 22. He made his fear clear by saying: ?they will kill us there, if this is the refereeing.?

P.K. Banerjee came out in Bhowmick?s support. ?To me, that was a clear goal. But Syrian team and officials always take undue advantage. If the referee can disallow a goal like this here, East Bengal should nurture very little hope back in Syria,? remarked the Indian legend.

Bhowmick, however, refused to let hope go away untried. ?I?m not giving up hope. If they don?t take other means, they can?t beat us easily,? he stated.

Bhowmick?s opposite, Romanian Costica Stefanescu, meanwhile, spelled out his agenda when the two teams meet again in Syria.

Dubbing Wednesday?s verdict ?satisfying? given the ground conditions, the Al Jaish coach said the next encounter would be held in ?better conditions? and promised ?true football?.

?Here tactical and technical aspects of the game were not at play owing to poor ground conditions. But in Syria, we?ll play in a better field. The level of quality will be higher and you?ll see true football. No doubt, we should win there,? Stefanescu said.

The Romanian was impressed with Douglas da Silva. Dipak Mondal and Sasthi Duley were also good, he said. And he also backed the referee?s decision of disallowing the Bijen goal.

And all this hardly sounded like music to Bhowmick?s ears. He mused: ?Goalscoring is a specialised job, like wicketkeeping or opening an innings. That?s why the strikers are pampered?.

The shadow of Bhaichung lingered long after the match was over as Bhowmick drove his car away and the disappointed fans returned home, discussing the ?ifs and buts? of the match, despite their coach?s disinterest in those trivialities.