Protectors Eye Upset Over Persija Jakarta
Home United are eyeing Persija Jakarta scalp ahead of the first leg of their AFC Cup zonal semi-finals at the Jalan Besar Stadium tonight.
Their coach Aidil Sharin is confident that his charges can upset the Indonesian outfit, who are the favourites.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference at the Copthorne King’s Hotel yesterday, he said: ” I told the boys that they can expect a tough game and they have to be mentally strong and treat this like a final.
“I know Persija are the favourites, but there are always surprises in football and my boys are up to it.”
Both Home and Persija qualified for the semi-finals after emerging top of their groups.
Home had pipped Ceres Negros to the top spot in Group F, after an unlikely 2-0 victory over the Philippine side in the last game of the group stages.
The win avenged Home’s aggregate 3-2 loss to Ceres in last year’s zonal final.
But Aidil warned that his side should not dwell on Ceres and instead focus on their upcoming opponents who will pose a different threat.
He said: “We can’t think that (because) we beat Ceres we’ll be a good team. We still have to improve, we still need to learn from every game because Persija are a different team.
“What we want is to focus on this first leg first, get the result, and then we’ll see where we go from there.”
Persija were also the unexpected winners in their group, fending off tough competition from Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), Vietnam’s Song Lam Nghe An and Singapore’s Tampines Rovers in Group H.
Their debut AFC Cup appearance started limply with a 0-3 loss to JDT, but the Indonesian Liga 1 side were quick to turn it round and finish the group stage with four wins and a draw.
While Home have more experience in the AFC Cup, Persija coach Stefano Cugurra Teco doesn’t believe that his side are disadvantaged, saying: “They are more experienced in the AFC, but my team are very motivated because it was a surprise that we qualified in the group stage.
“Now that we’re in the semi-finals, the opponents will respect us more.”
Croatian forward Marko Simic has been a central figure to Persija’s form, netting eight goals for them in the AFC Cup.
Aidil knows that his side will have to defend well against Persija, especially Simic.
It won’t be easy for Home, whose defence has been the weak link in their recent Singapore Premier League games.
In their last game against Warriors FC, Home had led 3-2 – only to be undone by a late goal.
Home midfielder Izzdin Shafiq urged his team to seize their home-ground advantage before next Tuesday’s second leg in Indonesia, saying: “Everyone knows that playing away is tough.
“Whenever we play our home game, we’ll have to take our chances, because if we don’t, it will be very difficult for us going away.”
Courtesy : The New Paper
Photo :The New Paper
[social_warfare buttons=”Facebook,Pinterest,LinkedIn,Twitter,Total”]
