AIMING TO TOPPLE JDT
Perak coach Durakovic hopes for big upset
EVEN with a severely depleted side, Perak coach Mehmet Durakovic is hopeful of claiming a rare win at Larkin against Johor Darul Ta’zim tomorrow and reach the Malaysia Cup final.
It has been two years since Darul Ta’zim had lost at home, in a match against Felda United in November 2015, and the fourtime Super League champions have since gone on a 44-match unbeaten run in Johor Baru. After Sunday’s semi-final first leg ended 1-1 in Ipoh, Perak need an outright win or a high-scoring draw in the return match to advance to the final for the first time since 2007. In Ipoh, Durakovic was missing five key players through injury or a “gentleman’s agreement” which meant former Darul Ta’zim players Jasazrin Jamaluddin and Nazrin Nawi are ruled out of both legs.
The legality of such an agreement is questionable - UEFA have already ruled it violates fairplay principles -but Perak FA do not seem to want to upset Darul Ta’zim by fielding Jasazrin and Nazrin.
With Yashir Pinto, Leandro Dos Santos and Hafiz Kamal all down with injury, Durakovic is restricted to the same group of players that turned out in the first leg.
“We don’t have a big squad and with five players out, basically we can only hope to do our best with the players that we have,” said Durakovic, who guided Selangor to the Malaysia Cup title in 2015.
“It won’t be easy at Larkin, especially playing with just two foreign players but we’ve got to make the best of what we’ve got.”
Durakovic is glad that defender Thiago Junio De Aquino will be available after the Brazilian was left with a bloodied nose and needed several minutes of treatment off the pitch during which Mohammed Ghaddar scored Darul Ta’zim’s equaliser.
“Thiago just did not stop running, he ran and ran,” said Durakovic of his defender who had nearly his whole head wrapped in bandages to stem the bleeding.
“But he had to come off a few times to get the bandages right and we were down to 10 men for about 15 minutes. It’s not easy playing against Darul Ta’zim with 10 men and they took advantage to score.”
Ghaddar’s goal came when Aquino’s defensive partner Shahrom Kalam made a hash of clearing the ball which allowed the Lebanese striker a clear run at goal.
“I’m happy with how my team played in the first leg and the players showed real fighting spirit,” added Durakovic. “It was not easy playing with half the team gone.”