KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — Kedah head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak is expecting a tough time when his team meet Pahang in the first round of the Malaysia Cup competition next weekend.
He is clearly speaking through experience, having seen his five-time champions edging Pahang on the away goals rule in last year’s semi-finals after both teams were tied 8-8 on aggregate. Kedah, however, lost 3-0 to Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in the final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Aidil believes that the recent 2-1 loss to Pahang in the Super League was also a blessing in disguise as his players would not underestimate the Elephants this time.
“I think not only the players, but fans from both teams as a whole, are looking forward to this match as it will be an interesting first-round match-up,” he said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, Pahang head coach Dollah Salleh said his players were primed for the Malaysia Cup.
“Our performance is actually at a satisfactory level, although luck hasn’t been on our side. So the Malaysia Cup will be where our luck, hopefully, changes as my goal is to help Pahang become champions,” he said.
Terengganu FC head coach Nafuzi Zain too is expecting a tricky time against Petaling Jaya (PJ) City FC after both teams were drawn to meet in the first round of the knockout competition.
“I think everyone knows that PJ City FC are full of surprises, like how they put up a strong challenge against a great team like JDT, so it’s not impossible for them to do the same thing to us... our players must be ready for that,” he said.
Michael Feichtenbeiner, who just recently took over as Selangor head coach from B. Sathianathan in September, said that the 33-time champions would consider various options for the competition, including fielding young players from the Selangor II squad.
He said that since this would be a knockout competition, Selangor would take it one match at a time, beginning with Melaka.
Zainal Abidin Hassan, meanwhile, wants to create history with Melaka by helping them win the Malaysia Cup for the first time, though he admitted that facing Selangor in the opening round would not be the easiest of tasks.
The first round is scheduled to take place from Nov 6 to Nov 8, followed by the quarter-finals (Nov 12-13), semi-finals (Nov 17) and final (Nov 22). — Bernama
