At an East Bengal fan club meet, it is natural for everyone to be united by the love of their red and gold club; but in the World Cup season is the same group divided by the countries they support?
East Bengal the Real Power (EBRP), the football club’s official fan club, recently held a tournament at New Town’s NKDA Stadium, where many a heart were found to be beating for Brazil and England but also mourning for Argentina and Germany.
“EBRP holds games, social events and the like but we’ve never held World Cup screening for ourselves. It might be risky, don’t you think? Fans could turn aggressive in a Brazil-Argentina match. As it is, all my friends argue over the comparative greatness of Pele and Maradona,” laughed
Rahool Dey, a young England fan who even went to Russia to catch the England-Belgium game on June 28 and did a Facebook “live” session for EBRP from the game.
Suvadeep Basu, a die-hard Argentina fan, recalls the 1998 World Cup final when Brazil lost 0-3 to France. “My father is all for Brazil and I danced before the TV for every goal they conceded. Dad was livid,” he laughs.
“There’s a reason our city splits into two every four years,” said Sudipto Pal, a founder-member of the club. Explaining the Brazil-Argentina fan following, he said: “Brazil won the city over by winning the World Cup thrice in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Then Pele, the jewel in their crown, himself came to city in 1977.”
But back in the day Brazil’s game could only be followed over the printed word. By the mid-80s, Indians started getting access to TV sets and the 1986 World Cup was watched widely. “Watching Maradona’s skills, part of the Brazil fan club defected to Argentina,” explained Sudipto. “And that loyalty continues to be handed down from father to son.”
East Bengal before Brazil
Most of Monami Das’s family and even boyfriend (Sayantan Ghosh) are sworn Brazil supporters but if Brazil ever had a match against EB, her loyalties would switch to the latter. “Brazil’s not my country. I support it as India doesn’t have a team playing,” she said. “I cheered for India in the U-17 World Cup, for instance.”
EB is called “Germany” in jest and Avijit Polley felt it is this association that subconsciously makes him support Germany in the World Cup. “Like the Germans, EB never gives up. We fight till the last minute,” he said.
Young fans like Suvadeep were not even born when the legendary Pele came to Calcutta in 1977 with his team New York Cosmos. But he knows they played against EB’s arch-rival Mohun Bagan and that the score card read 2-2. It’s not like Suvadeep declares EB would have beaten Cosmos had they played the game, but he emphasises that EB had reached dizzy heights in the early 70s. “We had beaten teams from various countries and who knows, we might have beaten Cosmos too.”
The eight teams playing at the EBRP tournament were named after the club’s legacy, such as Pancha Pandava.
In the final, Derby Dynamites beat Burning Torch and Sumit Roy of Burning Torch won player of the tournament. They also held an exhibition match for the visually-impaired. They kicked the ball judging from the sound of a bell inside it and were guided by sighted coaches from the sidelines.
“Our members may support different teams during the World Cup or other tournaments but it’s East Bengal that binds us,” said Rabi Shankar Sen. “We had started our group in 2006 on the social networking site Orkut and started these tournaments from 2011. That year we had just one game. This year we had over 20, involving 120 players and over a thousand spectators.”
