SEREMBAN: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) manager Hector Bidoglio wants his squad to continue to be competitive and maintain their winning streak, including when they face South Korean club Ulsan Hyundai FC in the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) on Tuesday.
Ulsan are currently headed by former national coach and Korean Kim Pan-gon
Bidoglio said, although the squad’s opponents will be seen as more dynamic and challenging, he hopes his squad will always keep focus and give a tough fight in the match.
“The ACLE is different, it’s more dynamic, more intense, we need to put focus in all the games, we wanted to be competitive and now JDT is competitive. So, we need to continue our win, we need to focus on the next game.
“All the players are in a very good condition and available to play local league and international competition. Now we need to rest the players, let them recover and put focus in the next game ...we must be a protagonist team and I am happy with my squad,” he said.
He said this after the match against Negri Sembilan at Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium, Paroi on Friday noght which saw the Southern Tigers snatched an easy 4-0 win.
Heberty Fernandes (pic) opened the scoring via a freekick in the 15th minute before netting his second just six minutes later.
JDT continued to pile the pressure on Negri with Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi scoring the third goal in the 48th minute.
JDT was then awarded a penalty kick in the dying moments of the match after Negri defender Mohd Harith Samsuri handled the ball in the box, which substitute Jorge Leonardo duly converted.
Bidoglio described the match as intense even though it was against the league’s bottom team while the players showed good performance and took advantage of every opportunity.
JDT now lead the Super League standings comfortably with 37 points after 13 matches while Negri are at bottom of the league with six points.
Negri’s head coach, K. Nanthakumar said he was still satisfied with the achievements shown by his men in the match even though they lost at home.
“We know JDT are a strong team in the Malaysia League ... we had several opportunities to score goals and if we managed to convert them maybe the match result would change.
“However, I am still satisfied with the performances displayed by each player. — Bernama
