East Bengal draw 2-2 with Al-Hussein; Saumik Dey leads club in AFC appearances
East Bengal drew 2-2 with Jordan-based Al-Hussein SC in their opening match of the AFC Champions League Two 2026-27, with Dani Ramirez and Anwar Ali giving East Bengal a 2-0 first-half lead. Almardi pulled one back in the second half and Ahmad Assaf levelled late to complete the comeback.
Ramirez scored in the 9th minute and Anwar Ali doubled the advantage in the 40th minute, while Almardi netted for Al-Hussein in the 60th minute. East Bengal right back Ahmad Assaf, who was substituted in the 85th minute, scored in the 87th minute to tie the game. "FT | Well fought, boys ✊Plenty of takeaways from the game 🔴🟡#JoyEastBengal #ACLTwo #EBFCInAsia pic.twitter.com/ACjeHJA5Hs"
Looking at the match, it felt that even in a fast-evolving world of football, experience is the final key to winning. With that in mind, this article takes a look at the players with the most appearances for East Bengal FC in AFC competitions. Saumik Dey, Uga Okpara and Mehtab Hossain feature prominently among those with the highest appearance totals.
Saumik Dey is a former Indian international who played for East Bengal between 2006 and 2016 and also turned out for Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League. He served as East Bengal's starting left-back and earned seven caps for India. Saumik featured across five editions of the AFC Cup and was part of the East Bengal squad that reached the 2013 semi-finals. His AFC Cup appearance breakdown is 4 in 2010, 4 in 2011, 2 in 2012, 10 in 2013 and one appearance in 2015 against Balestier Khalsa FC.
Uga Okpara, a former Nigerian defender, spent five seasons with East Bengal after joining in 2009 and left following the 2013-14 season, having played over 150 games for the club. His debut came against Syrian side Al-Ittihad Aleppo, when he completed 90 minutes and received a yellow card. In AFC Cup competition he played four of six matches in 2010, four of six in 2011 and three of six in 2012, being benched for East Bengal's final game that season. During East Bengal's 2013 run to the semi-finals he played in 10 of 11 matches and scored in the first leg of the semi-final tie.
Mehtab Hossain, another former India international with more than 30 caps, was at East Bengal from 2006 to 2016 and featured in six editions of the AFC Cup. In 2010 he played the full length of every match except one against Al-Ahli SC, and in 2011 he was selected for five of the six matches East Bengal played. He appeared in the last four group-stage matches in 2012 after missing the first two games, and made 10 of a possible 11 appearances in the 2013 campaign, scoring in the Round of 16 against Yangon United FC. In his second last season with the club, which was also his final AFC Cup involvement with East Bengal, Mehtab made four appearances out of a possible six; the top scorer for East Bengal FC in AFC competitions is Bhaichung Bhutia.
East Bengal will next face Al-Shorta on 13th October, 2026, from 19:15 IST at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.