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Sreenidi Deccan FC and Hyderabad FC will officially meet for the first time on Friday in the last Group A fixture of the Kalinga Super Cup taking place at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Both sides have been eliminated from the tournament having lost their opening two games against Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal FC so there will be only pride to play for.
As the official draw for the Kalinga Super Cup concluded last month, all the attention was naturally drawn to the fact that Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will play another Kolkata derby in Group A. But the same group also got a southern flavour with the two city powerhouses Sreenidi Deccan FC and Hyderabad FC scheduled to meet on January 19, kickstarting a new era for Telangana football.
“We have played a few unofficial practice matches against Hyderabad FC in the last couple of years but as this is the first official competitive game, it will be a special occasion,” said Carlos Vaz Pinto, head coach of Sreenidi Deccan FC.
The two Hyderabad teams compete in different leagues – Sreenidi Deccan in the I-League and Hyderabad FC in the Indian Super League – so they are yet to compete against each other in an official match. But being in such proximity, they have played four practice matches over the last two years, all of which have ended in draws.
“As football in Telangana continues to develop, this derby will take on more and more significance in the years to come and to begin this story, we want to win the first one,” said Vaz Pinto.
The match will kick off at 2pm IST and will be streamed live on the Jio Cinema App.
