East Bengal hire Brazilian father-son duo

Brazilian Marcos Falopa, who has been a FIFA instructor since 1996, will be the East Bengal coach for the upcoming season, the club announced here on Wednesday.

64-year-old Falopa will join the club along with his son Americo who has been appointed as the fitness trainer-cum-goalkeeping coach, East Bengal president Pranab Dasgupta said at the club tent.

In a coaching career spanning over three decades, Falopa has travelled more than 100 countries and coached various clubs and national teams including South Africa, Oman and Myanmar.

Falopa also served assistant coach of Brazilian national team in 1986-88 and later joined FIFA as a technical instructor a job profile that took him to many South Asian countries.

"When (Trevor) Morgan joined he had no clue about India. But For Falopa, it will be an advantage as he knows the football scenario in these parts," an East Bengal official said.

East Bengal picked Falopa from a lot of eight after Englishman Morgan parted ways with the club.

In the wake of the prevailing financial crisis in West Bengal, East Bengal had some budget restraints as club president Dasgupta arranged funds to sponsor the coach, secretary Kalyan Majumdar revealed.

"Finally we were able to sponsor our coach and we have not compromised on quality. He has a deep knowledge about the game and his CV is prolific. We hope to realise the unfinished dream of winning the I-League. Besides, we are keen on getting to the AFC Cup final," Majumdar said.

The father-son duo are expected to join the team by the first week of July.

Englishman Morgan had served East Bengal for three seasons as the club had a fruitful association winning the Federation Cup twice and finishing runners-up in the I-League twice.

Under Morgan, East Bengal had a historic unbeaten run in the AFC Cup as they made the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004.