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Calcutta: For Kingfisher East Bengal, Wednesday’s IFA Shield Group A tie against ONGC, in Siliguri, might be a passage to the semi-finals.
Having won their first match, against Pailan Arrows, another win could be enough for East Bengal to be semis. And for that, ONGC, the last-minute replacements for Bangladesh’s Muktijodhha, could just prove to be the ideal opponent.
Why? Because one assumes that ONGC are not perfectly prepared for the contest. Firstly, the team arrived in Siliguri only on Tuesday afternoon and, though they went to the ground, they could not practice for too long under fading light.
What makes the situation worse for ONGC is that their coach Santosh Kashyap couldn’t accompany the team because of ticket problems.
East Bengal are likely to rest Penn Orji and would be looking to start with Andrew Barisic and Edeh Chidi.
East Bengal have again expressed their displeasure over refereeing, after match commissioner had issued a warning to them for their on-field fracas with Arrows in their last match.
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