Ze Roberto in action at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: The setting could not have been more sumptuous. A crowd of 1,20,000 thronged the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday to bid farewell to a great goalkeeper and watch some of the world’s best footballers in action.

They did get to witness some magical skill as Bayern Munich demolished Mohun Bagan 3-0, but also had to leave the ground with a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.

The exhibition match, supposed to have been organised as part of the German team’s “social responsibilities” towards the Asian nations, turned bitter when Bayern’s Brazilian defender Breno got into an ugly fight with Mohun Bagan substitute striker Branco Cardozo eight minutes before the final whistle.

It all started when the Mohun Bagan striker fouled the under-21 Brazil skipper, Breno. The Bayern defender immediately gave it back to the Goan. They got into a scuffle and as referee Subroto Sarkar rushed in to separate the two, he, too, was pushed around a bit. Players from both sides ran in and it almost turned into a full-fledged brawl.

While the offending duo received marching orders, a point was perhaps proved. The unfortunate incident also showed the passion and intensity with which both teams took to the field. It could have been an exhibition tie organised by Bengal Peerless, but both teams were quite serious.

Though the limelight was solely on Oliver Khan, it was good to see that never for a moment did the Germans forget what they were here for. Though the conditions were too hot and humid for the visitors, still they executed some stunning passes that left the Mohun Bagan defence completely stumped.

Ironically, Kahn, the centre of all attraction, remained idle for most of part of his 54-minute stay on the field. He hardly had to face any serious challenges from Bagan strikers and touched the ball less than half a dozen times in the first session.

The class was evident when Ze Roberto, the veteran World Cupper from Brazil, scored the second goal in the 37th minute. The brilliant free-kick, taken with the left foot, swung past the wall created by Bagan defenders. Sangram Mukherjee, the Mohun Bagan custodian, didn’t even get the chance to react. The shot left him rooted to the lines.

Truth to tell, Mohun Bagan gave a good account of themselves, at least whatever was possible under the current circumstances. With Mark van Bommel, Jan Schlaudraff and Ze Roberto in full flow, Habibur Rehman and Co. found it difficult to thwart the quality attacks that stormed their defence time and again.

Mohun Bagan did stitch a few attacks and a couple of them could have resulted in goals. But the Bayern defence knew when to intervene and did it firmly when the situation demanded.

Frankly, had Bayern played in full pace, they could have scored many more. Schlaudraff opened the scoring in the 19th minute when he cashed in on a defensive lapse. He scored the third goal too, taking his tally in the Asian tour to five.

Bayern’s Dutch star Van Bommel said the heat was a hindrance to good football. “This wasn’t the best weather to show your skill,” he said. “But, then, it was a great experience to play in Calcutta. I thank all the football fans here to come and support us with such great enthusiasm.”

However, the question remains that what these bunch of youngsters from Mohun Bagan, who played with great guts and vigour against much superior opponents, would take home by way of positives. The one-off show proved that the Indians, given the right exposure, could make up for their lack of skill and experience.

TEAMS

Bayern Munich: Oliver Kahn (Michael Rensing 55); Breno, Christian Lell, Uwe Schlottner, Andreas Ottl, Mark van Bommel, Ze Roberto (Taygun Kuru 77), Jose Ernesto Sosa (Diego Contento 46), Viktor Bopp (Gianluca Simari 68); Toni Kroos, Jan Schlaudraff.

Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee (Chirodeep Chattopadhyay 89); Habibur Rehman Mondal (Naveen Kumar 70), Anand Vasin, Rakesh Masih, Rahul Kumar; James Singh, Lalkamal Bhowmick, S. James Singh, Ishfaq Ahmed, Henry Gangte (Tapan Maity 59); P.C. Lalawmpuiya (Branco Cardozo 64).

Referee: Subroto Sarkar