Apparently his signing came about after the Indian FA passed a new rule that alI I-League clubs must sign a marquee.
He'll be only the second foreign player at the club, joining fellow new signing, Nigerian striker Ranti Martins.
The manager is an Indian of Portuguese descent, Armando Colaco, from Goa who briefly managed the national team and has won the national title several times with Dempo (Goa).
East Bengal finished runners-up last season.
More detailed report on East Bengal signing Bertos:
http://www.thehardtackle.com/2014/east-bengal-sign...
I've spent time in Kolkatta and East Bengal are one of two biggest clubs there along with Mohun Bagan.
Football has traditionally been the biggest sport in Bengal (cricket has only caught up there recently) and you see football pitches everywhere ,even in small villages. Goalposts serve as clotheslines when there isn't a game on and cows often graze on the village pitch.
Lots of TV coverage of the I-League. India has specialist football channels broadcasting 24 hours with local and international leagues.
East Bengal's Salt Lake Stadium is the biggest football stadium in the world, with a 120,000 capacity, bigger than Mexico City's Azteca or Barcelona's Camp Nou (Rio's Maracana is down to 79,000 these days) and is surprisingly modern:
http://eastbengalfootballclub.com/stadium.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bengal_F.C.#Stad...
"The Salt Lake Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kolkata, West Bengal. The stadium is the second largest non-auto racing stadium in the world and the largest in India. It is currently used for mainly football matches. The stadium was built in 1984 and holds 120,000 people and has three tiers.[8]
The stadium includes a unique running track, electronic scoreboard, artificial turf, floodlighting arrangement, air conditioned VIP rest room and Conference Hall along with Medical Room & Doping Control Room.[8] Other features of the stadium are boxes for TV along with several platforms for TV cameras, press boxes, air conditioned player's changing rooms.
The Salt Lake Stadium hosts the home games of East Bengal in I-League and AFC Cup.
They have a second smaller stadium of 23,500 capacity for local Calcutta Football League matches.
134,000 - 1997 Federation Cup Semi Final between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan holds the record for the largest audience in Indian football. The match played in 13th July, 1997 at Salt Lake Stadium drew 134,000 spectators. This is a record attendance for any sport in India.
This beats the football attendance records for England and Spain.
