Irfan wants Turtles to rattle mighty Southern Tigers
PETALING JAYA: Don’t respect them too much!
Terengganu head coach Irfan Bakti has told his players that Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) are not invincible ahead of their Malaysia Cup semi-final first-leg clash at the Sultan Ismail Stadium tonight.
Despite having lost to the Southern Tigers twice in the Super League this season, the 67-year-old believes they can cause an upset and power themselves into the final.
The Turtles lost to Johor 1-0 at home in March before going down again 2-0 at the Larkin Stadium three months later.
“We have prepared to play against them. And even though we do respect them as the best team in the country but at the same time we know that it is not impossible to defeat them,” said Irfan.
“Pahang have defeated them this year and even MISC-MIFA have also defeated them at their own home in Johor in the group stages too.
“And when I was the coach for Felda United, we defeated them, so we know how to beat them.
And Irfan said they have to be aware of the JDT’s two Argentine midfielders – Fernando Elizari and Gonzalo Cabrera – who will be looking to carve out the defence with their passes.
“They also have many talented national players with them who are good,” said Irfan.
“For us, we have to be careful of their passing and we cannot sit down and be ball watchers.
“We have to be alert throughout the 90 minutes.”
Irfan only wants his players to keep one thing in mind during the match against the defending champions.
“Don’t respect them too much, we are playing 11 players against 11 players. And we have also finished second in the Super League, so we are not too far behind them.”