“The Bengalis love their football,” former India coach Stephen Constantine tells me. 

“I can remember back to 2004, I think India played South Africa in a one-day cricket game on a Sunday afternoon, they had 45 or 50,000. We played Japan on a Wednesday evening, we had 90,000 and 25,000 people were outside. The interest for football has always been there, especially from the Bengalis. The two biggest clubs in India are from West Bengal. The passion for football is there.”

Tomorrow afternoon in Kolkata, an old rivalry will take on a new sporting dimension when India play their first match at the Salt Lake Stadium in eight years when they face neighbours Bangladesh in a Fifa World Cup qualification match.