Buoyed by the ASEAN Club Cup success, East Bengal coach Subash Bhowmick is asking club officials to arrange for the team's participation in the King's Cup in Dhaka.
"The King's Cup is a good competition as we have teams from all over Asia, but I'm still not sure if we can participate," Bhowmick told rediff.com.
The coach wants to compete in the Bangladeshi tournament as "it would be a good preparation for the National League".
But for the moment he wants to concentrate on winning the ongoing Federation Cup and then defending the National League crown it won last season.
East Bengal's participation in the King's Cup will depend on whether the tournament is postponed, as is being planned by its organisers. In that case, it will clash with the National League dates and the red-and-yellow brigade will have to miss out on more international exposure.
Bhowmick, who is reportedly being considered for the honour of 'AFC coach of the month', is reluctant to talk much about his successful ASEAN Cup campaign.
"Yes, a lot of preparation went into the tournament by way of planning, fitness training and strategies," the coach says, making it clear that the appointment of South African physical trainer Kevin Jackson added great value to the team.
Bhowmick is being lauded for his insistence on hiring Jackson and undertaking a rigorous training session for the players before departing for Jakarta.
"The boys showed tremendous physical stamina and it is because of the stress that has been laid on fitness training," he says.
"The biggest achievement from the ASEAN Cup campaign has been the change in attitude of the players -- that 'we too can win'. The victory has induced in them a spirit of togetherness, a competitiveness that can come only by playing more often abroad.
"Remember, we beat the team that reached the final of AFC League Championship last season. And all the boys realise that," Bhowmick says.
Bhowmick says the secret of his success was a strong psychological training for the players, because only mental toughness makes the difference between a good and a champion side.
"We planned game by game, studying the strengths and weaknesses of each team. For the final, we had to do something different as we had lost to BEC Tero Sasana. I'll say the whole team contributed to the triumph.
"It is not one Bhaichung Bhutia or Douglas (Da Silva). To me the revelations [of the tournament] were Sasthi Duley, Sur Kumar, M. Suresh."
Bhowmick was bitter about the Indian mission in Jakarta. "None of them came even one day to visit us at the hotel or at the ground."
So angry was the coach with the official cold-shoulder that he stormed out of a dinner after the final when officials from the embassy arrived.
Bhowmick feels "everybody should now get over the ASEAN Cup and think about the next campaign".
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