PETALING JAYA: Terengganu goalkeeper Suhaimi Husin’s heroics in the AFC Cup match received the praise from Bali United coach Stefano Cugurra where both teams played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
Suhaimi has been the star performer for the Turtles in the domestic football this season where Terengganu reached the semi-finals in the FA Cup and have also made the same stage in the Malaysia Cup.
The steady hands of Suhaimi has bailed out Terengganu on many occasions and had also attracted the attention of Harimau Malaya coach Kim Pan-gon who had included him in the training squad for the Merdeka Tournament this month.
In the recent match, Bali had taken the lead through a goal from Privat Mbarga in the 54th minute and had pushed to extend their lead but Suhaimi coolly kept them at bay as Terengganu scored a late equaliser through Syahmi Zamri in the 84th minute to return home with a point.
“We did not get a strong result on our own ground as Terengganu broke our rhythm. We started attacking more after Terengganu’s equaliser but their goalkeeper did well to save several shots at goal from our players,” said Cugurra.
Suhaimi’s performance should give him more confidence when he makes his debut for Harimau Malaya at the Merdeka Tournament which will be staged from Oct 13-17 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Terengganu are currently second in Group G of the AFC Cup (second tier continental event) with four points from two matches while Bali, also with four points, lead the group on goal difference.
However, Terengganu coach Tomislav Steinbruckner was frustrated as he felt they deserved to return with three points if not for missing numerous scoring chances.
“I believe we deserved to bring back more than one point because we were dominating the game. I was concerned as our players did not show urgency when Bali took the lead and we had so many chances at goal,” said Steinbruckner.
“We only started doing more after Bali scored but the opposition team also started attacking and this forced us to focus on our defence.
“Sometimes, bringing in younger players like Syahmi works and he showed his quality. I have to give credit to the younger players who have been showing a lot improvement this season.”
Terengganu will be hoping to strengthen their position in the group when they play the Philippines club Stallions Laguna, who were hammered 9-1 in away game to Australian club Central Coast Mariners at the Sultan Mizan Stadium in Gong Badak on Nov 27.
