ALOR SETAR, Nov 15 — After keeping football powerhouse Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) at bay in their Malaysia Cup quarter-finals first leg match here last night, Kedah Darul Aman (KDA) FC next have to contend with the Southern Tigers at their “den” on Thursday.
Kedah’s home leg at the Darul Aman Stadium ended in a goalless draw.
Thus, Kedah coach Aidil Sharin Sahak wants his men to focus on preparations for the away leg at JDT’s own turf.
Admitting it will not be an easy task, the Singapore-born coach is confident with that with a good strategy and adequate preparations, it is not impossible for his team to prevail.
“With tonight’s (last night’s) result, I am confident the players have a high level of motivation and they are expected to shoulder the fight against JDT,” he told reporters after the match.
Commenting on last night’s match, Aidil Sharin said that he was proud of the performance shown by all his players because they showed determination to keep JDT in check.
“They (players) also played according to instructions and showed a high level of discipline as well as good cooperation,” he said, adding that they needed to up their game in order to win on Thursday.
“Credit also to the management who provided a ‘tonic’ to the players (completing payment of two months salary arrears) thus giving more motivation to them. Although we did not field the best eleven due to the absence of two imported players (Rabih Ataya and Tchetceh Kipre), they played well,” he said.
Meanwhile, JDT head coach, Benjamin Mora said Kedah showed an excellent quality of play, especially the younger players, which made it difficult for his players to score goals.
Due to that, he said the he needed to do some re-strategising for the game on Thursday.
“It was a close match and Kedah played very well in all positions and I hope our team will be better prepared for the next match and want something better in Johor Baru,” he said. — Bernama