Northeast United fans not optimistic about Durand Cup victory despite excellent run

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Northeast United FC have made it to the semifinals of the Durand Cup 2023. After a hard-fought victory over Indian Army on Thursday (August 24), NEFC have sealed their berth for the last four of the tournament.

They will be taking on Kolkata giants East Bengal on Tuesday (August 29) at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.

After a poor outing in the Indian Super League last season, the performance of the Highlanders in this tournament has raised a lot of eyebrows. They have been excellent in this tournament and have beaten the odds to reach the last four.

They beat Shillong Lajong 4-0, and then drew with FC Goa 2-2, then followed it up with another 3-1 victory over Downtown Heroes and qualified as one of the two best 2nd placed teams in the group stages.

The Highlanders have looked decent so far and there is a marked improvement in their offensive play. But as they prepare for a bigger challenge against East Bengal, the fans are not that much optimistic, quite strangely.

MyKhel spoke with a few of the Northeast United supporters but the majority of them think the Durand Cup run may get over on Tuesday against East Bengal.

"We are not that hopeful. Beating East Bengal in Kolkata will not be easy, with all their supporters cheering for them," a fan in Guwahati said on Saturday.

While a set of fans believe East Bengal will be too big for them to overcome, another set of fans are disgruntled by the venue of the tournament, and thinks one of the semifinals should have been hosted by Guwahati.

"The fans of Guwahati deserved to see one semifinal at least, and both semifinal matches happening in Kolkata is not ideal. Yes, the Final should be played in Kolkata with the big stadium, but with Northeast in the semis, it would have been better had we played here," a fan named Junaid said.

It is to be seen if the Highlanders can topple East Bengal, but their record against the Kolkata team is pretty decent to be honest. In the last five meets, Northeast have won 3 matches while the Red and Gold Brigade have just managed one win. Even in the last meet in Kolkata, Northeast drew 3-3 against East Bengal.

And echoing that stats, one Northeast fan says that Romain Philippoteaux and co will be comfortable winners in the semifinals.

"We will beat East Bengal, mark my words. The way we have been playing, I can see us reaching the Final for sure," the fan said.