HYDERABAD: It is the encounter that thousands of fans in the city have been waiting for, and it is finally here. After decades of obscurity, football is set to make some noise in the City of Pearls when Hyderabad FC take on Kerala Blasters FC in their first home game in ISL, on Saturday.
However, the match will be a tough nut to crack for the hosts. They have made a disastrous debut in the league, suffering two crushing defeats to be placed at the bottom of the points table.
That is not all. They have many injuries to worry about as well. Important players such as Bobo, Giles Barnes, Sahil Panwar and Rafael Gomez have all picked up niggles. It is not clear whether they will be fit to take to the GMC Balayogi Stadium field on Saturday. Nestor Gordillo’s non-availability due to a ban weakens the squad even more. However, head coach Phil Brown did not seem too worried on the eve of the match. “We have a team full of injuries but fortunately, Marcelino is not one of them. Some of our bigger players are sitting on the bench. When they are back, Robin (Singh) will get the benefit of it. Once the treatment room clears out, you will see the difference,” Brown said.
The coach stressed on the fact that Hyderabad need time to get into their groove. “Any team in the world will be deeply affected if they lose four or five of their best players. We will try to get to our best as soon as possible. We just need a little time. There are some positives to be drawn as well. Against ATK, we had a ball possession of 60 per cent,” he said.
On the other hand, Kerala too are not in that good a shape. After beginning the season with an emphatic win over ATK, Mumbai City FC thrashed them in their own backyard. Injuries have sidelined midfielder Mario Arques and central defender Sandesh Jhingan.
“Hyderabad have a lot of injuries. It is never easy when you don’t have your strongest possible set-up. We are not that worse, but I am also not playing with my strongest possible unit. All my foreign players are not fully fit,” said Kerala Blasters coach Eelco Schattorie.
Whatever may be the case, it will be a spectacle for the thousands who are expected to turn up at the stadium to witness the encounter.
Friday’s result: NorthEast United 2 (Asamoah Gyan 54, Redeem Tlang 74) FC Goa 2 (Hugo Boumous 31, Manvir Singh 90+6).