Aiman Nazirmuddin
Football Tribe Malaysia
FELDA United’s 3-2 victory was not enough to eliminate Kedah and progress to the FA Cup Final, as the Red Eagles progressed on the away goals role with a 1-0 home win in the first leg after the game ended level on aggregate.
Manager Mohd Nidzam Jamil remains proud of his side’s fighting spirit, and will now turn his focus on to his next task of ensuring that FELDA United will remain in the Super League next season.
“The team has a good future and we have proven with the ranks of young players we have, we are able to reach this stage (FA Cup semi-finals),” Nidzam said. “Indeed they (Kedah) played well during the first half and we managed to soak up and rise in the second half.”
Kedah scored a penalty through their import striker Fernando Rodriguez Ortega in the 24th minute and Mohd Farhan Roslan in the 36th minute.
FELDA United waited until the second half to spring their comeback. The hosts scored their first through Thiago Junio Aquino in 64th minute, followed by S Chanthuru 71st and team captain, Hadin Azman in stoppage time. However, the surge ultimately wasn’t enough, and the side fell just a goal short of progression to the showpiece event.
“I’m proud and I can’t expect more of them,” coach Nidzam added. “We managed to put Kedah in a state of dismay in the second half.
“This is our first FA Cup semi-final experience. With the majority of young players, I believe Felda United can go further in the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kedah manager Aidil Shahrin Sahak was not satisfied with the performance of his men despite their success in progressing to the final. According to Aidil, Lang Merah’s players need to improve their game pattern to avoid a repeat of the scenario which saw them ship three goals at a crucial moment last night.
Former Home United coach believes that his squad only dominates the first half and during the second half, his players were too cautious. “Whatever the result this evening, I’m grateful that we have been able to curb the FELDA United team’s rise as they gave us a tough game,” said Aidil. “We were able to take full control of the first half but we lost pace in the second half, [which allowed them to] succeed in finding a goal.”
Commenting on the match, Aidil said his line-up failed to control the movement of Thiago Junio Aquino who often gave trouble to Kedah. “Actually the two players who really threaten our defense are Thiago and Muhammad Hadin. We need to learn from this mistake and be more careful when we go ahead.”
Kedah will now face Perak in the final on the 27th of July at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.