India, Aug. 15 -- When Anthony Andrews spoke of challenges ahead of the preliminary round of the AFC Women's Champions League, the East Bengal head coach meant missing key players and hoping one didn't miss connections from Casablanca to Sabah in Malaysia before Monday's opening game.

To say East Bengal could be hard hit by Fazila Ikwaput's absence is understating the obvious. The Uganda international was prolific in the 2025-26 Indian Women's League scoring 18 goals in 13 matches as defending champions East Bengal made the title race a procession, finishing the season 14 points ahead of second-placed Sethu FC. It earned them a berth in Asia for the second successive season.

It was a goal and an assist from Ikwaput, 25, that took East B...