Red Giants neighbours hot on their heels in standings
HARESH DEOL
SHAH ALAM: Selangor ace Hardi Jaafar (pic) has a confession — he loves watching Perak this season.
“Honestly I was shocked with their performance this year. I didn’t expect them to perform this well judging by their poor showing last season,” said Hardi.
“It’s a pleasant surprise nevertheless.”
Clearly, Hardi has emotional ties with the Silver State. The Ipoh-born lad played for his home State in 2007 and 2008.
The Seladangs finished 11th in the Super League last season.
Today, they are closing in on leaders Selangor at the top of the standings. Selangor lead with 20 points from nine matches while Perak trail a point shy.
Perak have only let in three goals thus far.
“I like to see their games. They play really well as a unit and are very united. Their defenders are rock-solid.
“We can’t take our position lightly. Perak are closing in while Kelantan remain the favourites. We have to always be one step ahead of them.”
Selangor face a tricky T-Team at Shah Alam Stadium while Perak have a better chance of netting three points when they visit Sabah at Likas Stadium tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Hardi believes the senior players should make way for the winning Asean Cup squad to play the visiting English Premier League clubs in July.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool will play in KL but the national team face a tight schedule, including the World Cup qualifiers against Taiwan in the opening round followed by a possible date with Singapore in Round 2.
There are suggestions that Harimau Muda A coach Ong Kim Swee may select some of the best senior players and form a Malaysian Selection to play the English outfits.
“I’ve played Chelsea before and it would be great if I can play. I would love to don the national jersey again.
“But we have to be realistic. National coach K. Rajagobal’s lads have done well and they should be further exposed. They should play against the visiting teams,” added the Barcelona fan.
Sumber: Malay Mail 8 April 2011
0 comments:
Post a Comment