Losing balance: Selangor’s Alvin Fortes is fouled by Johor Darul Ta’zim’s Mohd Feroz Baharudin. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: The gulf in standard between Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and the rest in domestic football was well exposed after Selangor’s heavy 1-6 defeat in the FA Cup final and coach Nidzam Jamil is well aware of the workload needed to catch up.
What hurt Nidzam even more is the fact that JDT were without their influential regulars – captain Jordi Amat and Harimau Malaya defender Le’Vere Corbin Ong.
Despite the absence of their two defenders, JDT only conceded a solitary goal from a superb grounder from Selangor’ Cape Verde striker Alvin Fortes.
JDT were so compact that even Selangor’s minor mistakes were punished as the Red Giants lacked the muscle and the ability to keep up with the intensity of their superior rivals.
Nidzam said redoubling their efforts and also trying to play regularly in finals would increase their chances of winning a silverware.
“The 6-1 defeat makes us reflect on how hard we need to work after this to compete in the league. For a final, this scoreline is extremely disappointing,” said Nidzam.
“There were minor mistakes which would not have been costly against other teams but not against a side like JDT, who are so used to playing in finals every year and winning them in the last decade.
“To be as good as JDT or get out of our (comfort) zone now, we have to regularly make it to the final.”
Selangor were also shaken up after Ghanaian midfielder Alexander Agyarkwa, combining well with Fortes and having a go at JDT, became a victim of some harsh tackles and was substituted just before half-time.
His absence in the second-half and quick goals from JDT, where they took a 4-1 lead, saw Selangor losing their momentum and Nidzam also substituted a shaky Samuel Somerville with reserve goalkeeper Azim Al Amin Kamaruddin in the 68th minute.
“It was the first pressure from our opponents and he (Agyarkwa) was unable to complete the match after that,” added Nidzam.
“It disrupted our momentum a bit and with our focus wavering, we decided to bring on Azim in goal for the last 25 minutes.
“We had a shot at the game when we were 1-2 down but the third and fourth goals from JDT killed our tempo.”
Nidzam said he will have take responsibility and needs to rectify his side’s shortcomings to bounce back stronger in the league.
Being first time in charge in a major domestic cup final, it would have been a big learning curve for Nidzam but he wouldn’t mind being in a similar position by getting into more finals as hard knocks are the best way to learn and achieve success later.
