The footballers of "Arkadag" have made a significant bid to reach the semifinals of the AFC Challenge League by winning the first quarterfinal match away against Indian "East Bengal" with a score of 1:0.
The AFC Challenge League is the third most important club tournament in Asia, featuring weaker teams compared to those in the elite AFC Champions League and AFC Champions League 2. It was established for ambitious teams to showcase their football talents.
In the 2024/25 season, 18 clubs competed for the AFC Challenge League trophy in the initial stage, divided geographically into two zones: West and East. Following the group stage, eight teams advanced to the quarterfinals, including "Arkadag" as the winner of Group B and "East Bengal" as the winner of Group A, who met in the quarterfinals.
"East Bengal," the holder of the Indian Super Cup, is a club with a rich history dating back to 1920. From 2004 to 2015, it unsuccessfully participated in the AFC Cup, and in January 2024, it won its first national trophy in 12 years and returned to Asian cup competitions after a nine-year absence.
Last August, "East Bengal" lost in the preliminary round of the AFC Champions League 2 to Turkmenistan's "Altyn Asyr" with a score of 2:3 and was forced to drop to the lower-ranked AFC Challenge League.
The first quarterfinal match between "Arkadag" and "East Bengal" took place in Kolkata at the Salt Lake Stadium, officially known as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in honor of the famous monk, philosopher, writer, religious teacher, with a capacity of 68,000 spectators. The opponents approached the game with different statuses: "East Bengal" currently ranks eighth in the Indian Super League among 13 clubs, while the two-time national champion "Kopetdag" recently won the Turkmenistan Football Federation Cup, topping a national tournament among six top-league teams.
In the first half, the home team outperformed the visitors in possession almost twofold – 63 to 37 percent. However, the first attack by "Arkadag" was successful. In the 10th minute, Yazgylych Gurbanov received a pass from a teammate and accurately shot from under a defender from 20 meters past the advancing goalkeeper Prabh Sukhan Singh into the lower left corner.
In the second half, "East Bengal" continued to maintain possession advantage (56 to 44 percent). However, the Indian club could not capitalize on this. "Arkadag" had a good opportunity to increase the score in the 59th minute, but the ball after Mirza Beknazarov's shot hit the crossbar.
The return match against "East Bengal" will take place on March 12 at the stadium in Arkadag. The winner of the two matches will play in the semifinals against the winner of the pair "Al-Arabi" (Kuwait) – "Al-Sib" (Oman). The first game between these opponents in Kuwait ended with a minimal victory for "Al-Arabi" – 1:0. The winning goal in extra time in the 91st minute was scored by Bandar Al Salama.
In other first quarterfinal matches in the Eastern zone, the following results were recorded: "Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng" (Cambodia) – "Shan United" (Myanmar) – 6:2, "Tainan City" (Taiwan) – "Madura United" (Indonesia) – 0:0.
The semifinals are scheduled from April 9 to 17, 2025, and the final is planned for May 10, 2025.
