It was a momentous night for Indian football on Wednesday. Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan defeated Singaporean club Tampines Rovers at the Salt Lake Stadium in the first qualifying round of the 2016 AFC Champions League. This is the first time that an Indian club has won a game at the AFC Champions League, the most prestigious tournament in club football in Asia. (video above)
Unfortunately, this historic moment hardly had an audience. The Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata had a sparse attendance of 12,640 people. Even the match was not telecast on any major sports channel – it was left to a regional Bengali news channel, 24 Ghanta, to telecast it with Bengali commentary.
Mohun Bagan put in a performance to make themselves as well as the country proud. They raced off the blocks with a fifth minute goal from Jeje Lalpekhlua and went further in front just before half-time from a Cornell Glen strike. The Rovers did get one back before half-time, but the Kolkata giants defended well and settled it with a 83rd minute strike from Katusmi Yusa to win 3-1.
No other Indian club has managed to win a game at the AFC Champions League, the Asian equivalent of the UEFA Champions League. Goan club Dempo FC entered the qualifiers in 2009 and 2011 but were knocked out both times. Churchill Brothers (2010), Pune FC (2014) and Bengaluru FC (2015) were also eliminated at the preliminary stage.
Mohun Bagan will now travel to China to play their second preliminary round match against Shandong Luneng.
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