East Bengal starts Asian Campaign without key Foreigners

2026 Durand Cup champions East Bengal will play Al Hussein on 16th September at Amaan International stadium. However, there are several concerns among the Torchbearer's thinktank due to absence of some key foreigners including forward player Chris Ikonimidis, who couldn't travel with the squad due to high fever. And, their star midfielder Mohammed Rashid also in doubt as he has a slight injury, but he travelled with the squad to Jordonian capital, Amman. Thus, head coach Habas will have to re-evaluate his attacking options before wednesday clash.

Although East Bengal has a handful of good Indian attacking options like Edmund, Vishnu PV, David Lalhlansanga etc, who can prove themselves at the continental stage. Habas who is known for his counter attacking football, will have only one foreign option in the midfield, that is Dani Ramirez, who has plenty for experience of playing for Valencia, Getafe, he was also a part of Real Madrid B team during his early career. In the absence of M Rashid, Ramirez will have plenty of responsibilities to control the midfield and produce forward pasess for the Indian teammates. Jeakson Singh, the Indian national team midfielder will most probably start along with Ramirez.

On the other hand, Al Hussain is more stronger on paper, they are the defending Jordanian Pro League champions. But in recent time, their performance is going a bit low with 2 losses and 1 draw in the last three matches. Their head coach Ahmad Hayel resigned just before their match against East Bengal, Bashar Bni Yasin will take over the team from here. They have experienced Nigerian and Colombian forward players who will definitely be a threat for the East Bengal defence. Also, Al Hussain have 12 players who regularly playes for the Jordon national team, one of them is their captain Mahmoud Al Mardi, who had shown a excellent performance in the Asian Cup 2023 where Jordon made it to the final of the tournament.

It is indeed a very tough challenge ahead of East Bengal in Amman, the pressure will certainly be high playing away from home, but let's see what in store for the defending ISL champions at the Asian stage.