The story of the soccer team that helped achieve independence for your country

The report of India with football dates back to colonial times. Many of the fans of the sport are unaware that the Asian country was once called the “Brazil of Asia”. So great is the Indian passion for football that the rivalry between East Bengal and local clubs Mohun Bagan, It is one of the hottest classics in the world, as reported transfer market.

The story that concerns us today dates back to 1911, when a combine harvester from Bagan, with barefoot footballersmanaged to beat the British East Yorkshire Regiment side, with two goals in the last five minutes in front of the watchful eye of over 60,000 spectators.

The match is regarded as one of India’s greatest sporting victories. The feat played an important role in the Asian country’s independence from British control. In fact, director Arup Roy made a film, titled: “Egaro, the eleven immortals”. The film was released in 2011 as a tribute to those heroes.

A football country

July 29, 1911 is a special date for India. Although it may seem strange, it is a very football country and the above date is perhaps one of the few where fans of the most important clubs can meet there, we are talking about Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

These two teams have one of the biggest rivalries in football. The duel between the two brings into play control (sportingly speaking) of the third largest city in India and recognized as the spiritual home of football. Remember that the Asian country has more than 1,300 million people.

Mohun Bagan is India’s oldest club, it was founded in 1889 and has been the protagonist for more than 100 years of an enterprise that played an important role in India’s independence from British control.

immortals

In 1911, the British Raj’s word was law. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club was only 22 years old but had already earned its place in Indian football, being seen as a symbol of nationalism, the club spoke for the country.

On 29 June 1911 the Mohuns faced quite a challenge as they had to face the much better trained East Yorkshire football team of the British Army. It is worth mentioning that all Bagan players they played barefoot that legendary match.

The 11 holders of Immortal Mohun Bagan were: Hiralal Mukherjee, Bhuti Sukul, Sudhir Chatterjee, Manmohan Mukherjee, Rajen Sengupta, Nilmadhav Bhattacharya, Kanu Roy, Habul Sarkar, Abhilash Ghosh, Bijoydas Bhaduri, Shibdas B.

The weather was thick, dozens of Indians filled the Calcutta football field. It wasn’t just a football match, it was a chance to show the English at their own game that they were on their feet.

As the match began, the East Yorkshire Regiment opened the scoring. However, with just five minutes left in the match, everything changed and Mohun Bagan became a national icon. Captain Shibdas Bhaduri equalized and Abhilasha Ghosh made it 2-1 in the dying seconds.

Incredibly, Mohun Bagan defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment 2-1 in the final of the IFA Shield in 1911. This event was essential for the independence movement in India to start having more strength to achieve independence for that country years later ,

According to various chronicles, the post-victory climate was one of euphoria, the daily Reuters, in the match report, he reported, “the scene was in the description, the Bengals were tearing off their shirts and shaking them.”

A victory with a taste of freedom

The victory was perceived by the people as a triumph over the empire, making the club “synonymous with the national struggle for Vande Mataram”, a poem which was written in the late 19th century and whose first two lines were adapted into the national song of the India in 1937, before the country’s independence ten years later.

“Mohun Bagan is not a football club. It is an oppressed country, rolled in dust, which has started to raise its head,” is the team’s logo according to the club’s official website.

In memory of the team’s great success, director Arup Roy made a film called: “Egaro, The Immortal Eleven”.

“Mohun Bagan had become synonymous with the national rallying cry of Vande Mataram,” noted sports historian Boria Majumdar in 2013.