Selayang: Selangor coach Zainal Abidin Hassan says it’s a case of “do or die” for his side in their penultimate AFC Cup game against leaders Ceres La Salle of the Philippines on Tuesday, with just a point separating the top three sides in the Group E standings.
A win for the Malaysian hosts at Selayang Municipal Council Stadium would edge them closer toward a third appearance in the last 16.
After a draw and defeat in their opening ties to Ceres and Singapore’s Tampines Rovers had left Selangor playing catch up to the early pace-setters, back-to-back wins over Bangladesh’s Lt. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club have thrust the side back into Round of 16 reckoning.
"Tomorrow's match is like a final to us as we cannot simply wait for the Tampines game in May to decide our outcome,” said Hassan, who will be without suspended midfielder Hafiz Kamal for the visit of Ceres.
“It is do or die for us, and we have to concentrate 100 percent from the start until the final whistle. We must make our chances count and not be as wasteful as we were against Sheikh Jamal.
"The extra pressure we are feeling is just the tip of the iceberg. While Ceres are a strong side, we have a slight advantage ahead of Tampines in terms of dealing with our opponents."
Ceres coach Franklin Muescan, meanwhile, will hope his players can shake off any lingering disappointment following their United Football League Cup final defeat to Global FC earlier this month, although he will be without the services of suspended striker Bienvenido Maranon.
"We have to forget our loss to Global, and get ready to battle hard as the AFC Cup match is a different game,” said Muescan.
"We still have two games to play and anything can happen. The teams in this group are really close and we are only ahead by a point. It will be a really tough race to see who will reach the next round.
"Selangor are an organised team, so we need to get something here after we threw away two points in our home match.”
In Tuesday’s earlier Group E tie, Sheikh Jamal will host Tampines at Bangabandhu National Stadium with the Bangladesh debutants still seeking their first point of their maiden AFC Cup campaign.
“The reality is we had a lot of dreams, but we could not fulfill those dreams due to lots of reasons like shortage of players and injuries,” said Sheikh Jamal coach Shafiqul Islam Manik.
“Despite the fact that we lost the first match against Tampines 4-0, we had some chances. If I get my players ready tomorrow, I am still hoping for something good.
“The AFC Cup is a big tournament. But for such a big tournament, we have not had the kind of preparation or condition that was required. However, if the players perform on the day, anything is possible.”
While Sheikh Jamal will be without a pair of players through suspension in defender Yeasin Khan and midfielder Jamal Bhuyan, Tampines, too, will have two enforced absences with Kwon Jun and Shakir Hamzah sitting out one-match bans.
“We are looking forward to the match tomorrow,” said Tampines coach V. Sundramoorthy. “I’ve been watching the games of Sheikh Jamal; they’ve been doing well in the AFC Cup and giving every team a hard time.
“I watched their last two games against Selangor. It was tough for Selangor to get the points. And I think it will be tough for ustomorrow to get the points, too.”
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