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Last season’s ISL champions Hyderabad FC make their Super Cup debut against former I-League champions Aizawl FC in the opening match of Group B at the Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri on Sunday, April 9 at 5pm IST.
Hyderabad FC, who finished second in this season’s league stage, were eliminated on penalties by eventual champions ATK Mohun Bagan after both semifinal legs ended goalless. In the pre-match press conference, head coach Manolo Marquez expressed his desire to end the season with silverware.
He said, “It’s been a long season. We began with the Durand Cup, the ISL, and now we have the Super Cup – the season’s last tournament. The idea is to be champions here.”
“We are 16 teams here, and each of them are here to try and do their best. We’ve got a 25-man squad, but not everyone is fully fit at the moment, like Bartholomew Ogbeche and Hitesh Sharma. But we want to play in the best way possible,” Marquez added.
The Spaniard also spoke about the format of the tournament and how there will be no margin for error even in the group stages. “Our group is very tough. Only one team qualifies for the semi-finals. So, even if you win the first two games but lose the last one, you could be out. It’s a difficult competition,” he said.
Hyderabad FC’s first opponents Aizawl FC finished seventh in the I-League but Marquez assured that there’s no hint of complacency in his squad. “Aizawl FC are an I-League team, but they’ve got some good foreigners. We’ve seen their videos and we know that they can be good.”
Although Aizawl FC failed to win any of their last seven I-League games, a battling 1-0 victory over TRAU FC in the Qualifiers ensured them a spot in Group B. The Reds’ assistant coach Victor Lalbiakmawia stated that his boys are up for the challenge.
“As an I-League team, it will not be easy. But we’ve got young and talented players who will fight for the team. We will have matches against good teams, which is very morale-boosting for us,” he said.
Lalbiakmawia will bank on the pace of youngsters Tharpuia and Amawia in attack, both of whom had an excellent debut season in the I-League. Among the foreigners, Japanese defender Akito Saito and Belarusian forward Ivan Veras will be key for the Mizo side.
The Super Cup game between Hyderabad FC and Aizawl FC will be telecast on the Sony Sports 2 channel and streamed on FanCode.
