Abhijit Ray
Some trophies are won in 90 minutes.Others take a generation.
On Wednesday night at Kishore Bharati Krirangan,East Bengal FC reclaimed both.
With a 2-1 comeback against Inter Kashi, the club won its first Indian Super League title and ended a 22-year famine for a top-tier national crown.
The script began cruelly.Alfred Planas put Inter Kashi ahead in the 15th minute,and the ghosts of six lost finals circled the stands.This was a club that knew heartbreak.
But legacy does not forget how to fight:
Golden Boot winner Youssef Ezzejjari struck for every voice that had gone hoarse shouting “East Bengal” into empty seasons. In the 78th minute, Mohammed Rashid found space and found history. 2-1. The Moshāl flared to life.
A Century in Ninety Minutes and this is East Bengal:
Born in 1920 out of rejection, forged in victories over British regiments,Chinese armies,and Iranian champions. No Indian club has defeated more foreign sides.That defiance is stitched into every red and gold thread.
For 22 years,that thread had no national trophy to carry. Children grew up hearing of 2004 but never seeing its equal. Until now.
Oscar Bruzon’s men finished with 26 points from 13 games, level with Mohun Bagan Super Giant but ahead on goal difference. Football’s narrowest margin delivered its widest joy.
Bruzon stood amid the chaos at full time, shirt soaked, voice frayed.We play for the men who beat foreign clubs when India had nothing else,”he said, fighting tears.
“This belongs to the fans who buried fathers and still brought sons to the gallery. For the 22 years.The Moshāl burns again.”
Kolkata -the city refused sleep.Conch shells rang from Salt Lake to Shyambazar.Old men in faded jerseys held up grandchildren who will never know the wait.
East Bengal did not just win the ISL.They stitched 1920 to 2026.They honored a legacy written in victories over foreign soil,and finally gave it a domestic crown to match.The drought is over.The defiance remains.
