After ISL double, will Mohun Bagan Super Giant gun for Asian glory? 

The scenes of delirious joy among Mohun Bagan Super Giant fans as they went home close to midnight on Saturday evoked mixed emotions for me. While the celebrations on their team landing their first ‘double’ of the Indian Super League (ISL) Shield and Cup showed passion for the game is very much alive and kicking in the football city, it was somewhat ironic that it had to coincide with a time when the country’s football fortunes have plummeted to a new low.

The Indian men's team is now languishing at 126 in the FIFA rankings after a high of 99 in 2023, having gone winless for the whole of last year. Mohun Bagan, a team bankrolled by industrial baron Sanjeev Goenka on the other hand, are reaping the benefits of a clutch of quality overseas recruits and a selection of the best available talent in the country. It’s time they raise the bar and have a shot at Asian glory as that could, by default, raise the country’s profile in club football at the continental level.

Replying to a query about ‘what next’ for the club after the final at Salt Lake Stadium, Goenka said while he wanted the sweet taste of the double to sink in with the team and fans, the next target would be the AFC Cup. “It is not just about winning in India,” said Goenka, also the owner of IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants. “We need to make a mark at the Asian level as well. I am conscious it is not going to be easy. No Indian team has ever done so but there is always a start and that’s our next target.”

Commitment of this kind from the club owner must be music to the ears of fans after Mohun Bagan were considered to have ‘withdrawn’ from AFC Champions League Tier II (erstwhile AFC Cup) last year. The Asian football body had issued the ruling after some players had refused to travel to Iran for their match against Tractor SC on 2 October citing the ‘security situation’ in the Islamic country. The Kolkata giants had qualified to represent India in the continental event last year as well after becoming ISL Shield champions in the 2023-24 season.

The AFC Champions League II, as the name suggests, comprises clubs from lower-ranked footballing countries as well as their finishing positions in the league, while the AFC Champions League comprises the elite teams. Incidentally, Bengaluru FC, then coached by Albert Roca, covered themselves with pride in 2016 when they beat teams from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia in Asia’s second-tier competition that year, before falling to Iraq’s Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the final in Doha.

Prodded by National Herald at a media conference ahead of the ISL Cup final on Friday, head coach Jose Molina and captain Suvashis Bose seemed somewhat coy about their Asian dreams. ‘’It all depends on what the club management wants,’’ was all Bose would say, and Molina nooded in agreement. It may still be early days to spare a thought about Asian-level goals as MBSG’s main team is going to disband for a vacation now until it reassembles for the season-ending ISL Super Cup in Odisha.

A period of more than six months between now and the Asian event can be a long time, and the draw in the coming months will determine how feasible the challenge will be. It will also be presumptuous to work out the future of the leading overseas professionals of the club, who have flagged off the Mohun Bagan brand in style in recent times — be it former Australian World Cuppers Jason Cummings, Jamie McLaren, Dimitrios Petratos, or coach Molina himself.

It’s not often that Mohun Bagan has been able to bring on board a decorated coach like the Spaniard, a former national team goalkeeper. Asked whether the double of ISL Shield and Cup represents the coaching pinnacle of his career, Molina said in his halting English: ‘’I don’t know. May be, my best moment as a coach is yet to come.’’

Will Mohun Bagan’s extraordinary bow at the Asian level under Molina be it? One needs to wait and watch but this squad seems to have the wherewithal to give it a go!