Sports

Saturday June 21, 2008

Giant task for Kedah

By ERIC SAMUEL

PETALING JAYA: In the absence of their two foreign stalwarts, Kedah will be hard-pressed to retain the FA Cup title when they take on four-time winners Selangor in the final at the Shah Alam Stadium tonight.

The Red Giants will be at full strength and they will also enjoy home ground advantage while the Canaries will have to make do without the St Vincent and Grenadines duo of striker Marlon James and central defender Bernard Huggins, who played pivotal roles in Kedah's success in winning the Super League, FA and Malaysia Cup titles last season.

Kedah skipper Victor Andrag conceded that Selangor hold the advantage over his team.

“The final can go either way but on paper Selangor have the edge in having more experienced players on their side,” said the 32-year-old former international.

But he added that Kedah could count on their relatively young side to beat the odds as proven in the semi-final elimination of Pahang. The Canaries advanced to the final 6-1 on aggregate and won the first-leg match 4-1 with an all-local line-up.

“One of the reasons for the continued rise of Kedah football is the high commitment of the young local players. If they can start stepping into the shoes of the foreigners and start commanding first team roles, I think there will be a great future for our local players and the national team,” said Victor.

However, there is no denying that much of the Kedah success over the last few season was driven by the strength of their foreign players.

This season, James won the Golden Boot with 23 goals to help Kedah retain the Super League crown. In the FA Cup, he was on target 10 times. James is now on national duty together with Huggins in the Concacaf qualifying rounds of the 2010 World Cup.

Kedah will have Shafiq Jamal as the replacement for James in an attacking partnership with Mohd Khyril Muhymeen. And Fazliata Taib will stand in for Huggins in central defence together with Victor. The Kedah midfield has a strong dynamo in Chilean Nelson Martin.

Selangor have all their foreigners – striker Frank Seator, winger Ellie Aiboi and central defender Evan Chislo – available for selection.

But coach Dollah Salleh may opt to retain the same line-up who featured in the second-leg semi-final against Terengganu.

Reserve striker R. Surendran, who scored the goal in the 1-1 draw in Kuala Terengganu, should get the nod over Seator while Razman Roslan should start ahead of Chislo, who missed the match against Terengganu because of suspension.

“We will be ready for Kedah,” said Surendran, whose side were beaten twice by Kedah in the Super League this season – 2-6 in Alor Star and 0-1 in Shah Alam.

Selangor's strength is the firepower in attack and among the players who will provide it are national striker Mohd Safee Sali, Mohd Amri Yahyah, Amirulhadi Zainal, Akmal Rizal Rakhli and Indra Putra Mahayuddin.

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