Habas’ Boys Galore: Durand is Red & Gold

Image: Debjoy Biswas\Pixel Sports

Durand Cup has become the flagship pre-season tournament of the Indian Football Calendar over the last few years. Uncertainty over the actual league and the Super Cup has not hindered the organization of this tournament around July-August. Spread across various cities of Eastern India, the two Kolkata giants- East Bengal, Mohun Bagan; and the two Northeast sides- Shillong Lajong, Northeast United- have mostly dominated the knockout stages of the tournament. The 2026 edition was no different in terms of results with three of these four sides making up the semi final lineup. Indian Army FT was the only defence team that made it through to the Quarter Final stage. They lost to East Bengal in a closely contested 1-0 defeat.

The tournament started with a Kolkata Derby at the Salt Lake Stadium on 25^th July where the Red & Gold brigade lost to their arch-rivals through a solitary Sahal Abdul Samad strike. A Kolkata derby is always a grudge affair. But the match would mostly be inconsequential for the progress of both the teams. But the pre-season had started for both the teams. And the subtexts were more important than the actual tournament. The illustrious tournament that was holding its 135^th edition had a barrage of recent history dominating the narratives. East Bengal were coming off the back of their maiden ISL win- their first top tier league win after more than 20 years. But the Torchbearers had failed to hold on to their talismanic coach Oscar Bruzon as well as their two top bill foreign players- Miguel and Kevin Sibille. To add insult to injury, Mohun Bagan had successfully signed Miguel before the start of the season.

Mohun Bagan were going through a transition of their own. Although they had retained the core of their squad and had made meaningful signings in the form of Rahul Bheke and Lalianzuala Chhangte, they had parted ways with the seasoned Sergio Lobera. Panagiotis Dilmperis (Panos)- the Greek coach was brought in from Punjab FC. Panos has made a name for himself in Indian football in the last 2 years for his attacking mindset. Naturally, everyone now expects the star-studded Mohun Bagan lineup to dominate the Indian stage under him.

East Bengal played a trick of their own in the signing market. After parting ways with Oscar, the management brought in the wily old Antonio Lopez Habas as the head coach. Habas boasts probably the most illustrious record as a coach in Indian domestic football in the last 10 years. A multiple time ISL winning coach with both ATK and Mohun Bagan Super Giants, he also tasted domestic success at the helm of Inter Kashi last year in the I League. The recent chequered history between Mohun Bagan and Habas added spice to the narrative. Because Mohun Bagan parted ways with Habas about 3 years back not on the best of terms.

So the 23^rd August final at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan carried the weight of all these multiple narratives along with it. Panos had consistently played his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation throughout the tournament. Sahal was the top scorer for the mariners. But surprising everyone, Panos dropped Sahal from the starting lineup of the final. He went with Zeljkovic, Colaco, Manvir and Jamie Maclaren in the front. The back 4 of Abhimeitei, Rahul Bheke, Alberto Rodriguez and Subhasish Bose as well as the double pivot of Apuia and Thapa remained unchanged. Habas sprang a surprise in the starting lineup. He had played the whole tournament with only two foreigners- Dani Ramirez and Rashid consistently. The Australian midfielder Chris Ikonomidis joined the squad in the middle of the tournament and was coming on as a substitute. The red and gold brigade had their own setbacks in the form of the injury of Nacho Monsalve and the passport issue of the Nigerian forward Effiong Nsungusi. But coach Habas never complained. He rather claimed to have a great squad and put his trust in the likes of Sandip Mandi, Jesin TK, PV Vishnu, Edmund Lalrindika and a young Indian contingent raring to go. Sandip Mandi had consistently started in the centre of the backline beside Anwar Ali throughout the tournament. But he had also conceded two crucial penalties in the knockout stage. On the day of the final, as the team sheet came out, we saw Sandip Mandi starting as a Left Back. Lalchungnunga was given the slot alongside Anwar. Hardik Bhatt started in the right. Jeakson and Rashid were there in the middle. But Jay Gupta was given the position of Left wing alongside Dani Ramirez and Bipin in the middle and right. Edmund Lalrindika was starting as the striker.

The crowd, media, analysts and all stakeholders were murmuring their doubts. But the first 23 minutes stunned everyone. The Mohun Bagan defence looked completely flabbergasted in the face of the pace injected through the runs of Jay Gupta and Bipin Singh on both the flanks. This enabled a lot of space in the middle for Edmund. Rashid was quick to join in the attack on multiple occasions. And it was his assist that enabled Bipin Singh to break the deadlock in the 11^th minute of the match. Almost like a postscript to the opener, East Bengal scored again just one minute later- this time through a low long ranger from Edmund. Mohun Bagan were quick to show intent in their effort to strike back. But another counter around the 23 minute mark found Edmund in the opponent box again. This time he dribbled past two defenders before going around Kaith to make it 3-0. One half of the 60000 strong crowd succumbed in hushed silence while the other half was struggling to find sufficient expressions of euphoria.

Everyone now knew that Mohun Bagan had to do something before the half time mark to have the slightest possibility of a comeback. Manvir was the pick of the players for the Mariners with his diagonal pacy runs. He scored one from a mid ranger as the match moved slowly towards the 40 minute mark. With one goal back, Mohun Bagan looked spirited now. But all spirits were punctured again around the 43 minute mark when Edmund reached the end of a Jay Gupta minus from a Rashid freekick. An Indian completing a hattrick in the Kolkata Derby- it has happened only twice in the last 30 years before this. And only once in a knockout tournament- the 1997 fed cup hattrick by a certain Bhaichung Bhutia. With the first half ending on a 4-1 scoreline- the second half looked more like a formality. Panos made some changes. Attacking reinforcements were brought in. Sahal, Chhangte, Miguel- all these changes proved fruitless as Habas asked his team now to defend deep and sit back.

The master of defensive football according to many- Antonio Lopez Habas had shown an attacking masterclass in the first half of the 2026 Durand Final. Indian National Team has been struggling for lack of genuine goalscorers after Sunil Chhetri. Could Edmund Lalrindika be the answer now? The question was surely raised as well through this historic triumph. East Bengal had last won the Durand Cup in 2004. The cup was defunct for many years in the interim period. But it is only fitting that East Bengal come back and win the Durand Cup after 24 years right after winning the top tier league after more than 20 years.

As the three historic trophies- the Durand Cup, the Simla Trophy and the Presidents’ Cup were awarded to East Bengal- the celebrations looked furthest from being that of a pre-season tournament. The historical weight subsided to give wings to the recent past where the East Bengal team has suffered multiple humiliating defeats to Mohun Bagan in the last 6 years. The redemption arc started in the 2025-26 season. Many supporters thought that the euphoria would be a short lived one with Oscar Bruzon and the foreign backbone leaving. But the beginning of the next season has shown otherwise. The begruntled Mohun Bagan players and supporters who stood watching the Red and Gold celebrations at the end of the final must be pulling themselves up in silent resolve. They are the best team of India by quite a margin if the last decade’s success is taken into account. But in football, you are always as good as the last match you played. So the squad, the management, and the fans would be hungry for revenge and resurrection in the actual season.

Such a precursor to the season demands a full-blown league and a domestic cup filled fixture. The ball is now in the court of the AIFF. They must now ensure that this eternal rivalry that has just gained momentum after almost a decade does not fade away again.