East Bengal is not only one of the oldest active football clubs in India, but also one of the most successful. Most Calcutta Football League titles, second largest number of Durand Cup trophies and a host of silverware adorn the trophy room.
But one title, the I-League, formerly India’s top flight, has eluded him, with the last trophy coming in the Premier Division in 2004, when it was still called the National Football League.
It has come close several times in the I-League, be it losing the race on the final day of play after a 1-1 draw against NEROCA in 2018, or seeing the trophy slip away despite the 2-1 win over Gokulam Kerala a year later.
The top flight changed to the Indian Super League, but fortune still did not smile on the Red and Gold Brigade. That curse is what Oscar Bruzon, the current East Bengal coach, wants to break this season.
The club has undergone a remarkable turnaround under his leadership. When he took charge this season, he rose from the bottom of the table to the top of the table with two rounds remaining.
«From my very first day, I think apart from being a coach and focusing on the technical things, I am a passionate man so I have internalized the colors of East Bengal. I am not going to hide it,» he said.
«I know what happened in East Bengal over the last few years, the struggles and attempts to come back. I even know what happened in the last I-League match in the 2018-19 season when the last match of the season was a failure (in the title race),» he added.
Bruzon took charge in October 2024 and almost built a team from scratch – East Bengal are the only team to do so three times in the past six seasons – and finally found consistency and form in the 2025-26 season, reaching the finals of the IFA Shield and AIFF Super Cup, losing both on penalties.
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«I know what happened this season when we made a huge effort to win a trophy and we lost two finals. It seems like it’s a story of pain,» he said.
But he and his boys will try to bury that memory when they take on reigning Indian Super League (ISL) champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant here on Sunday. The Spaniard had arrived in East Bengal hours before the Kolkata derby, where he saw his team lose 0-2.
Since then, his team has lost just once in the next five derbies in Kolkata in regular time. And Sunday’s derby offers him the opportunity to complete the circle of his expeditions with the Red and Gold Brigade.
“Tomorrow will be my last derby and I hope this is the moment when we can let go of that negative tendency,” he said.
«I will never forget that I came here and East Bengal were at the bottom of the table. A year and a half later, when we are about to end the season, we have the opportunity to talk to you all about the title. Football is sometimes not about technicalities, players or systems; it is about mentality. So that is the biggest change in East Bengal,» Bruzon added.
Bruzon was full of praise for his team’s arch-rival, but stated that his boys have a lot of confidence based on their performances. Both Bagan and East Bengal have lost just once this season, while the latter has scored more (27 vs. 20) and has a higher goal difference (+18 vs. +13).
“We have built a unit of winners and I hope we will use that winning mentality every day,” Bruzon said a day before the match.
«On Mohun Bagan’s side, they are the current champions. They have the biggest budget, both in the domestic contingent and the foreign contingent. They have a squad that was prepared to play in international competitions. But if we have to talk about performance, that is our side. I am confident, determined and really believe that our boys can play a good match tomorrow and we can take the three points,» he added.
Bruzon has been a consistent winner in club football in Bangladesh and the Maldives. But in the Indian Super League, like East Bengal, he is yet to break the duck. And next Sunday would be the perfect setting to change that in Kolkata.
Published on May 16, 2026
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