It’s anybody’s game in chase for TNB Cup final berths

KUALA LUMPUR: The battle for berths in the final of the TNB Cup is still wide open.

Wednesday’s first leg saw close battles with defending champions Terengganu being held to a 4-4 draw by Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) while recently-crowned Premier Division champions KLHC edged Tenaga Nasional 1-0.

And there are chances that the two second-leg matches – at the Tun Razak Stadium – will go to penalty shootouts.

To avoid the shootout lottery, Terengganu coach Sarjit Singh has called on his side to go on the offensive.

“We have a good attacking formation and, hopefully, get the goals. And we need to buck up, especially in defence. We let ourselves down by conceding a number of soft goals in the first leg,” said Sarjit.

Again, Terengganu can always rely on South Korean penalty corner specialist Jang Jung-hyun. He scored twice, including a last-gasp equaliser, on Wednesday. He’s the leading scorer with 25 goals.

For UniKL, they will again count on goalkeeper Thomas Matias Santiago. The Argentine was the unsung hero in the first leg draw, making many crucial saves to keep UniKL’s final hopes alive.

UniKL coach A. Arulselvaraj said they would go all out for a win.

“We’ve nothing to lose. The first leg has shown that we’ve the ability to match them. But we need to minimise our mistakes, play a disci-

plined game and close down the space quickly.

“It’s still anybody’s game. If we can get an early goal then the pres- sure will be on them.

“I don’t want to sound over-confident but Terengganu are vulnerable at the back,” said Arulselvaraj.

KLHC can count themselves lucky to have a one-goal lead. Mohd Syamim Mohd Yusof was the hero, scoring the winner in the dying seconds in the first leg.

Tenaga coach Mohamed Amin Rahim believes they still have a chance to reach the final.

“We were unlucky to concede a last-gasp goal on Wednesday. Our aim is to score an early goal on Friday. We’ll attack right from the start,” said Amin.

Tenaga assistant team manager Adam Izamry Idrus added: “Our failure thus far is due to our poor finishing. If we can correct that, we are good for the final.”