Pahang hold a two-goal advantage going into the second
leg of the Malaysia Cup semi finals against Sarawak. But they are not letting
their guard down as they are well aware of the pitfalls that await them in
Kuching should they be complacent.
Rather then thinking that his team has one foot in the
final, manager Zainal Abidin Hassan wants his players to think of the second
leg as a totally new game, putting aside the advantage they hold, and play with
passion and vigor they showed in the first half of the semi final last
Saturday.
“We cannot take anything for granted and we must
remain focused on the task at hand,” said Zainal.
“There is no such thing as a certainty until the final
whistle blows in the second leg and we will try our level best to make it to
the final.
“All I want is for the players to reproduce their form
like they played in the first 45 minutes in Kuantan.
“If they can do that then the battle is half won.
Sarawak will come at us with guns blazing and we must be wary of that.”
Pahang took the lead in the 29th minute when Gopinathan picked
up a rebound from his own shot to put it past keeper Sani Kamsani.
They doubled their advantage four minutes later as Azamuddin
Akil’s header sailed into goal and Sarawak knew they were in deep trouble.
A blunder by Sani presented Matias Conti the third goal in the
28th minute and although Sarawak pulled a goal back via Shahrol
Saperi, it was not enough to salvage anything from the match.
Sarawak were without Ronny Harun (injury) and
Joseph Kalang Tie (suspended) in the vfirst leg and coach Robert Alberts will
be happy to have the duo back.
But the
solitary away goal could well spur Sarawak in the second leg as they need a two
goal win to make it through to the final.
Hence
Zainal’s warning to put on hold any celebrations.
