February 13, 2004

Home United coach Steve Darby has declared Indian Kingpin East Bengal as the favourite for the AFC Cup.

The reigning S-League champions demolished Hong Kong side Happy Valley 5-1 reinforcing common opinion that the Protectors are 1 of the favourites for the inaugural AFC Cup but Steve Darby is keen to dismiss the tag.

He believed the performance of Indian Kingpin East Bengal 3-2 victory over Geylang United was far better & that the tag of favourite should be on them.

He admitted that he did not know where the favourites tag came from & that Home United still have a long way to go.

It is therefore naive to predict if Home United can win the Cup or if they could be 1 of the 2 finalists as it was in long time away in November.

He felt that East Bengal boasting 9 Internationals, including Indian star striker Baichung Bhutia, along with foreigners like the deadly Brazilian import Christiano Junior as well as teams from Syria & Oman were a threat to any teams in the AFC Cup.

Therefore his views were Home United cannot be a 1 of the favourites for the AFC Cup.