| | Alvito D’Cunha |  | | Bhaichung |
Jakarta: East Bengal stormed into the
quarter finals of the ASEAN Club Championship here onWednesday demolishing Army
FC of the Philippines 6-0 in their final group D match. Bhaichung
Bhutia put to rest the Doubting Thomases slamming in the first five goals with
Mahesh Gawli netting in the other. However, at the post-match press conference,
Bhaichung claimed the sixth strike too was his, saying that the ball touched him
on its way to the goal. The star striker’s hattrick
was the second by an Indian in international matches at the senior level. Neville
D’Souza had struck a hattrick against Australia at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.
Ajay Singh, however, has a double hattrick to
his name in the Asia Cup versus Maldives in Dhaka, but that was at the under-16
level. East Bengal rested Sasthi Duley, the diminutive
midfielder while Dipak Mondal, who received a booking in their opening game, was
also not risked a second booking ahead of their quarter final clash. The
Army FC side found it hard to come to terms with their rivals, far superior to
them in fitness, stamina and skill. The Philippines team was thus reduced to defending
most of the time. East Bengal had to contend with eight, and at times nine players,
inside the striking zone. The Filipinos, however, did finally crumble under a
barrage of attacks. Bhaichung was heavily guarded
and often found it tough to break free in the initial stages. It was only after
the first goal in the 22nd minute off a penalty — following a handball by a Philippines
player inside the box — that he seemed to be back in his elements. Combining
well with the hard working Alvito D’Cunha he went on the rampage and netted the
second soon after. Bhaichung managed to put it past the goalkeeper from a melee
following a corner from the left. Bhaichung completed
his hattrick in the 50th minute and continued his rampage with goals in the 53rd
and 70th minutes. The five goals he scored today may well be enough to help him
secure the Best Striker award here. It was only
in the 75th minute that East Bengal had another player on the scoresheet when
Gawli scored from the top of the box with a firm right footer. East
Bengal were clearly not satisfied with the two goals till the breather and went
in search of more. Eduard Sacapano, the Army FC goalkeeper was, however, responsible
for denying the Indians on at least a couple of occasions. There was some drama
on the pitch when midfielder Douglas Da Silva argued his replacement in the 30th
minute. Not risking a second booking — the Brazilian
was shown the yellow in the previous game — coach Subhas Bhowmick had taken him
off but Douglas showed his discontent on the field. He
refused to sit in the reserve bench and it was left to an East Bengal official
to finally cool his nerves. East Bengal, who are likely to be second behind Sasana
in group D, will then meet the group C champions in the quarter final on Monday. TEAMS East
Bengal: Sandip Nandy, M. Suresh, Suley Musah, Shylo Malsawmtluanga (Kulothungan,
67), Debjit Ghosh, Alvito D’Cunha (Bijen Singh, 76), Bhaichung Bhutia, Douglas
Da Silva (Chandan Das, 30), Mahesh Gawli, Sur Kumar Singh, Subhas Chakraborty
Army FC: Eduard Sacapano, Efren Pabilona,
Richard Braga (Brendon Morata, 65), Rocky Garciano, Nolan Madali (Richard Betita,
75), Jeoffrey Lobaton, Wilson Dela Cruz, Philip Cesar Caballero (Judy Salura,
55), Billy Estrella, Roel Gener, Allan Palma Referee:
Jimmy Namitupulu | 
