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Sreenidi Deccan FC will take on Gokulam Kerala FC in Matchweek 11 of the I-League 2023-24 at the Deccan Arena Stadium on Tuesday, December 19 before the Indian football season takes a month-long break in lieu of the AFC Asian Cup and the Kalinga Super Cup in January. The Deccan Warriors are currently second in the I-League standings with 20 points from 10 matches while the Malabarians are sixth with 14 points.
Sreenidi Deccan FC head coach Carlos Vaz Pinto and defender Eli Sabia addressed the media ahead of the game. Reflecting on the 1-0 win over Delhi FC in the previous game, Vaz Pinto said, “Sometimes, it does not matter whether we win 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0 as long as we win. There are some games when we can play good football and some games when we just need to win and this was one of them. The competitiveness in the league has increased and at this point, any team is capable of beating of any team.”
Gokulam Kerala started the season with a bang but have not managed to win in their last six matches. “I don’t look at Gokulam Kerala as an out of form team but as a club which has become a champion of this league before. All teams can go through such patches but we respect them and are expecting a tough game tomorrow,” said Vaz Pinto.
Eli Sabia has made a positive impression since joining Sreenidi Deccan FC from ISL team Jamshedpur FC in the summer, helping the Deccan Warriors to five clean sheets so far this season. He is also looking forward to lock horns against an old ISL rival – Gokulam Kerala midfielder Edu Bedia. “The team and I are in a good moment but we will take it one game at a time as this is a difficult league,” he said. “I played against Edu a lot of times in ISL when he was with FC Goa and he is a quality player. But they have other good players as well and we must focus on them as a team.”
The match will kick off at 3pm IST on Tuesday and will be telecast live on Eurosport India, the Indian Football YouTube channel and the FanCode App.
