They don't make 'em like Munna anymore

There was once a time when famous Bangladeshi footballers like the late Monem Munna, Sheikh Mohammad Aslam, Rizvi Karim Rumi, Kaiser Hamid, Rummon Bin Wali Sabbir and Golam Mohammad Gaus enthralled spectators in Kolkata with their everlasting performances in the Calcutta Football League. However, East Bengal team manager Swapan Kumar Ball believes that this trend has stopped in recent times because players of that quality simply do not exist in Bangladesh.

Swapan, who has been with East Bengal since 1984, is the right person to recollect the memories of those famous Bangladesh players and also to explain why Bangladeshi players are not being picked by the Kolkata clubs anymore.

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"Players like Munna, Aslam and others were game changers and they changed the complexion of the game but now there are no such players in Bangladesh anymore, perhaps not even in India either. So the clubs always try to rope in those foreign players who will have greater impact on the game," the 67-year-old told The Daily Star at the Peninsula Hotel yesterday morning.

Among all Bangladeshi players who played in India in the early 90s, former Bangladesh captain Munna is still vivid in the memory of Kolkata spectators, especially the supporters of East Bengal, who are still eager to know how Munna was honoured in Abahani, a club where Munna played till the end of his career and was also the team manager.

"Munna won our supporters' hearts with performances that helped East Bengal win the league in 1991, 1993 and 1995," Swapan said. "Munna delivered brilliant performances in all three seasons as a central midfielder along with Manaranjan and Tarun De. He was a complete team player and looked like he had been playing for East Bengal for long time."

Swapan believes the quality of footballers either side of the border has decreased due to a lack of motivation.

"I think there is a lack of motivation in the current footballers. I don't see the motivation that Munna or Manaranjan had in the present footballers," said Swapan.

Swapan, who is also a veteran organiser, did not forget to credit the Abahani officials.

"We have a historic relation with Abahani. Our former secretary Paltu Das had rapports with Abahani founder Sheikh Kamal and organiser Harunur Rashid and we are still maintaining those connections today. You can say Abahani and East Bengal are sister concerns," Swapan said, adding that the people of the former East Bengal (Bangladesh) were behind the formation of East Bengal Club, thus they always felt proud to take part in football tournaments in Bangladesh.

Swapan said that he feels emotional when he travels to Bangladesh, as his ancestors once lived in Bikrampur.