Newly promoted sides Odi and Victory to meet in DPL this evening

Just over nineteen months since Odi SC defeated Victory SC 3-2 in the final of the Second Division, the two sides meet again, this time on the Dhivehi Premier League stage.

Odi have taken all six points from their opening fixtures, including a dominant victory over Valencia last week. At the same time, Victory bounced back from an opening-day defeat to claim their first win since promoting back to DPL, against Club Green Streets.

Speaking ahead of the match, Odi coach Andres Garcia Soler said his side cannot afford to be complacent despite their good start.

“I think this will be the most difficult game we will have until now. Victory is a good team, they won the last game. They compete so good. Our challenge is to keep being in this line, this path,” he said.

Garcia noted that Odi’s convincing win against Valencia was not something he expected to repeat against Victory.

“For this Thursday, I think the game will be totally different. Victory is another type of team. They play completely different. They have more players with experience, with more know-how of how to control the tempo of the game. We cannot be complacent, because we are new in this category and the teams here have more experience than us.”

With the FIFA international break arriving after this round, Garcia also said how important is it to carry the momentum forward.

“It is really important to get those three points, then we can take a breath and recover our players. Football is about momentum, and you have to take advantage of that.”

Victory’s assistant coach Adam Latheef Abdul, meanwhile, said his team is still settling but improving with each game.

“We had little time, about ten days to practice before the league kicked off. That was part of the reason we lost the first game. By the second match, many things were improved. With each day, with each game, the standard of our team will be improving,” he said.

Latheef confirmed the club has added more foreign players and will continue to build cohesion, especially during the upcoming break.

“Odi is one of the best teams in the country at the moment. But our players are familiar with Odi, and I believe it is not a game that is unmanageable for our players. Having won the second game, we are going into the third match with a positive attitude.”

Victory will continue to rely on 19-year-old goalkeeper Yaameen, with their first-choice keeper sidelined until after the break.