East Bengal vs Odisha LIVE
Aaditya Narayan
Follow along for live updates of East Bengal vs Odisha in the 2024 Super Cup final.
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East Bengal vs Odisha – Preview
Anirudh Menon
East Bengal vs Odisha FC may be a new-ish rivalry, but Carles Cuadrat vs Sergio Lobera is certainly not. A somewhat strange Super Cup, conducted while India’s best players were off at the AFC Asian Cup, will come to an end on Sunday with a final between the two best teams in the tournament. In this context, that’s two teams that have taken this tournament with utmost seriousness, valuing the AFC Cup slot that lies at the end of the rainbow.
East Bengal got here by first topping a group that included great rivals Mohun Bagan while Odisha did that by finishing above the in-form team of this season, and one of Lobera’s previous employers FC Goa. In the semifinals, Cuadrat outwitted Khalid Jamil and his Jamshedpur FC while Lobera eased his team past another former employer, Mumbai City.
The two teams have stayed true to their manager’s philosophy and with their squads not too severely impacted by India’s participation in the AFC Asian Cup, they’ve been able to put their best foot forwards. While Cleiton Silva’s goals have powered East Bengal along, Odisha’s have come from various sources including forward Diego Mauricio and centre-back Mourtada Fall (who scored a brace en-route Odisha beating Goa 3-2).
With the Super Cup allowing six foreigners to take the field instead of the league’s stipulated four, expect strong XIs to be put out by the managers. Cuadrat will have the additional advantage of having Mahesh Singh and Lalchungnunga rejoin the squad after their Qatar adventure. Mahesh especially could be an X factor from the bench.
