Pahang Confident Of Securing FA Cup Final Ticket

10 Mei, 2015



PETALING JAYA: Defending champions Pahang are confident of snatching the FA Cup final ticket in Kota Baru.

Coach Zainal Abidin Hassan is optimistic his men have done enough to secure their place in the final despite scoring a slim 1-0 win over Kelantan in the first leg of the semi-finals at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan on Saturday.

“We should have won by a more comfortable margin, but that does not matter because I feel we’ve done enough to prevent Kelantan from taking home an away goal,” said Zainal.

Argentine Matias Conti scored the solitary goal in the second minute. The Super League leaders will play the second-leg match at the Sultan Mohd Ismail Stadium in Kota Baru on Saturday. A draw is enough for Pahang to enter their second consecutive final.

Pahang could have been home and dry if national winger R. Gopinathan had not missed two clear sitters in the 15th and 43rd minutes and newcomer Mohd Nor Azam managed to get the better of Kelantan goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat in a one-on-one challenge in the 17th minute.

“We had the opportunity to wrap up the game, but that’s football. Our game plan was to do the damage in the first half and then take the foot off the pedal in the second half. We had to play a calculative game because of our upcoming schedule,” said Zainal.

The Elephants are the only team playing on three fronts – the Super League, FA Cup and AFC Cup.

They will travel to Manila to play in their final AFC Cup Group G match against Global FC of the Philippines on Wednesday for a place in the last 16. Table-toppers South China of Hong Kong have won the ticket to the last 16 with 15 points. Pahang are second with seven points while Global are on four points.

Sumber - Eric Samuel, Star Online www.thestar.com.my