Sreenidi Deccan will be eyeing to get their first ever points in the I-League after losing 3-2 to Neroca FC on the opening day.
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The wait is over for Indian football fans, as the Hero I-League resumes on Thursday after a long gap. The domestic competition was called off after a few matches were played in December following an outbreak of COVID-19 infections. With the action resuming after a 65-day break, newcomers Sreenidi Deccan FC will face last season’s third-place side TRAU FC at Naihati Stadium on Thursday. Sreenidi Deccan will be eyeing to get their first ever points in the I-League after losing 3-2 to Neroca FC on the opening day. “During the break, we signed two more foreign players (Kheir and Ogana), which is good for the team. We couldn’t win our first game, but the break gave us more time to correct our mistakes,” said coach Fernando Santiago Varela, as per a release.
Notably, it was Girik Khosla who had netted Sreenidi’s first-ever I-League goal against Neroca. Coach Varela showered praise on him, saying, “Girik has the quality to play in any tournament in the country. He is hungry to learn new things. He is very versatile and is an important player for us.”
Speaking about their solid backline, which has the pairing of Hamza Kheir and Mohamed Awal in defence, Varela said, “For me, Hamza and Awal were the two best centre-backs in the Hero I-League last year. Both will contribute a lot with their experience.”
Meanwhile, Awal stated that irrespective of what happens in a match, they need to keep moving on by looking ahead to the next game. “We can win, lose or draw. Whatever happens, we move on because there are more games ahead. We don’t dwell on the past, we think about the next game. Most importantly, we need our first win in the league.”
The Ghanaian also added that the team doesn’t solely depend on foreigners, as he believes that everyone is part of a family. “Once we sign for the league, we are professionals. I don’t understand the difference between foreigners and local players because we’re all football players and stay as a family.”
On the other hand, TRAU FC had to settle for a goalless draw by a resolute Indian Arrows defence on Matchday 1 in December. “We were pretty disappointed with the result against Arrows as we couldn’t score. Against Sreenidi, we have to get all three points. We watched their last match and analysed them,” said assistant coach Surmani Singh.
Two Brazilian players have been added to the squad of TRAU during the break – Douglas Santana and Fernandinho. Not to mention that Gerard Williams also returned to the team after two years. “We have a lot of expectations from all the new players. We know about Williams’ quality as he was with us previously,” he added.
