Al Faisaly?s Qusai Md Mah?d Abu Alieh being challenged by East Bengal?s M. Suresh (left) and Climax Lawrence in their AFC Cup match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday. Qusai was later shown the red card, earned through two bookings. (Below) Hatem Md Yousef Aqel, who got the winner. Pictures by Pradip Sanyal and Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: East Bengal?s pretentious mask came off pretty quickly at the Salt Lake Stadium Wednesday. Coach Subhas Bhowmick never tires of talking of their ASEAN triumph. When a star-shorn (four of the best stayed back) Al Faisaly of Jordan played cat-and-mouse with the red-golds for most of the 90-minute AFC Cup engagement, Bhowmick was in denial.

The coach even tried to defend his bold face of Tuesday, when he had announced that he was going to ?rest? Bhaichung Bhutia and Alvito D?Cunha, bringing both on in the latter session of play.

The Jordan team, gasping in the heat and humidity, pushed through a number of offensives, and then earned a penalty when M. Suresh tripped an attacker. Hatem Md Yousef Aqel converted easily.

Even after Al Faisaly were reduced to ten men with Qusai Md Mah?d Abu Alieh getting marching orders from Uzbekistan referee Irmatov Ravshan with a double-booking, the visitors held sway. The insertion of Bhaichung and Alvito saw both (soon after their entries) being booked and some rough play ensued.

However, more than the players? inability, it was clearly a lack of strategy in place that took the breath away from East Bengal. Defensive, that they started, they had no inkling as to how to ?tackle? a rival side also pretty unwilling to raise sweat. They had clearly sized up the East Bengal prowess in their 5-0 win back home and had also realised the pure hot air that goes in the name of strategy.

That was clear when at a press briefing Tuesday they had placed even Bangladesh?s Muktijioddha Sansad above East Bengal in strength. Today the visitors were in no hurry to draw. The victory was the bonus!

Perhaps it is necessary to keep the ASEAN victory in a casket marked ?past?. Perhaps it is necessary today to try and make erudite, comparative studies between the well and the world. And perhaps it is also necessary to demystify ?football coaching? and bring it down from the rocket technology grade. It is necessary for the player in the ranks to clearly understand what his duty is. It clearly wasn?t as clear on this day.

Lazy-looking as they were, the Faisaly attacks started early. In the 12th minute, off a goalmouth melee Hatem Md Yousef Aqel?s volley went just over the bar.

The goal came in the 30th minute when Saman Jehad Saman Malasa was tripped inside the box by M. Suresh. There was a clamour for ?justice? when referee Ravshan pointed at the dreaded spot. But this wasn?t a National Football League match (coach Bhowmick?s No. 1 priority) and Hatem went ahead with the ?kill?.

That the immediacy of the work was lost on the players was clear a minute from the break. Syed Rahim Nabi, from top of the box, lobbed to the left to an unmarked Sasthi Duley. Duley needed to trap, control and shoot in from a position where the defence was blind and goalkeeper Lo?Al Salem A. Elamarieh was out of charge. He headed a ?pass? so to say, back to the goalkeeper. It was clear that the words ?attack? or ?win? weren?t drilled into the players? minds as priority before the match. A clear case of obtuse strategising.

Bringing in Bhaichung immediately after the break was no more than a knee-jerk reaction to the pathetic first-half display. A player of Bhaichung?s calibre is able to tear through any defence line. Then he is kept out of the action, only to be brought in as an afterthought.

Ball possession wasn?t East Bengal?s. Yet the players tried their individual way. That was the only way out for them. In the 44th minute Alvito (another star who was kept on the sidelines till the 72nd minute through some brilliant strategising), moved into rival territory. Ernest Jeremiah was around at the goalmouth and headed goalwards. It was ill-directed and a couple more offensives came off defenders. It was a bad miss.

In the end, though, Faisaly, walked away legitimate and moral victors.

TEAMS

Al Faisaly: Lo?Al Salem A. Elamarieh, A Md A Alshuaibat (Arkan N. Shamoun, 89), Md K Rajeh Khamees (A Md Ali Almaharmeh, 23), Saman Jehad Saman Malasa, Khaled SS Almalta?Ah, Qusai Md Mah?d Abu Alieh, Sharif Adnan S Nassar, HatemMd Yousef Aqel, Md Zuhair H. Shawish, Abdulelah YA Alhanahneh, Hussein Ziad H. Odtallah.

East Bengal: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, M. Suresh, Debjit Ghosh, Ernest Jeremiah, Gurpreet Singh (Sasthi Duley, 40), Selwyn Fernandes, Syed Rahim Nabi, Sandip Das (Alvito D?Cunha, 72), Marcos Secco, Bijen Singh (Bhaichung Bhutia, 46), Climax Lawrence.

Referee: Irmatov Ravshan (Uzbekistan).