FOR the first time in the 22-year-old history of the FA Cup, two teams from the East Coast will battle for the prestigious title in the June 11 final. Kelantan, who have never won the competition, and former champions Terengganu reached the final after recording comfortable victories in their semi-final return legs yesterday.
A losing finalist two years ago Kelantan drew 1-1 with Selangor in Kota Baru to advance 6-2 on aggregate.
Terengganu ended their seven-year wait for an appearance in the final with a 2-0 win over Pahang and a 5-2 aggregate victory.
As expected Selangor coach K. Devan reshuffled his team's defence by dropping first choice goalkeeper Saiful Amar together with Yosri Derma Raju and national player Asraruddin Putra Omar from the first-11.
National player Safiq Rahim and striker Fadhli Saari were also left on the bench as Devan decided on a new combination.
Kelantan also opted to leave out a few regulars, including current Super League top-scorer Norshahrul Idlan Talaha and Nurul Azwan Roya on the bench.
The homesters started strongly knowing they needed to score quickly to kill-off Selangor's hopes of bouncing back from their first leg set-back.
It took them only 10 minutes to score through Shakir Shaari's long range effort which sailed past Selangor custodian Iqbal Suhaimi.
Selangor players hardly created any clear chances throughout the first half.
The Klang Valley players trooped into the changing room after half time dejected with Amirulhadi Zainal showing his dissatisfaction by throwing tantrums at one of his teammates, which was witnessed by the 25,000-odd fans.
Devan rushed to Amirulhadi to cool him down but the national player raged on about the poor performance of the team.
Frustration in the Selangor was obvious team when another player showed his ugly side when he was substituted in the second half.
Hardi Jaafar, who was replaced by Fazilidin Khalid after 70 minutes, took out his jersey and threw it on the ground after stepping out of the pitch before punching the tunnel walls as he went into the changing room.
Rudie Ramli scored the consolation goal in the 79th minute to level proceedings.
At the Sultan Nasiruddin Shah Stadium, Terengganu started strongly, buoyed by loud cheers from their fans.
With horns tooting loudly and flags waving wildly around the stadium, Joseph Kallang Tie had two half chances inside four minutes but his shots were weak and easily saved by Pahang goalkeeper Rosfaizul Azuar Ali.
In the 35th minute referee Shokri Nor awarded a penalty to Terengganu when Abdul Hadi was brought down by the Pahang keeper.
The striker didn't miss from the spot and extended their lead 4-2 on aggregate.
Terengganu finished off with a second goal four minutes before the final whistle through substitute Alim Fahmi Kamaruddin.
KEDAH TUKAR JURULATIH
MUNGKINKAH akan berlaku perubahan dalam barisan kejurulatihan Kedah berikutan kemerosotan prestasi skuad Hijau Kuning itu pada musim ini?
Begitupun, Persatuan Bola Sepak Kedah (KFA) melihat beberapa pilihan termasuk memberi peluang kepada barisan jurulatih sedia ada untuk membimbing skuad Hijau Kuning hingga akhir musim.
Setiausaha Kehormat, Datuk Dr. Hamdan Mohamed Khalib memberitahu, KFA turut menimbang untuk merehatkan ketua jurulatih, Ahmad Yusoff dan tugas itu akan di pangku penolongnya, Radhi Mat Din.
Katanya, sekiranya keputusan itu dipersetujui, Ahmad bakal bertindak sebagai penaung kepada pasukan kerana Radhi tidak mempunyai lesen kejurulatihan kelas A.
"KFA juga ada pilihan untuk meminta Ahmad menumpukan kepada pembangunan bola sepak remaja Kedah dan ketua jurulatih baru bakal mengambilalih tempatnya dalam pasukan itu," katanya ketika dihubungi di Alor Setar semalam.
Beliau mengulas desakan penyokong skuad Kenari yang mahu pengurus pasukan, Datuk Khazali Din dan tiga jurulatih Hijau Kuning meletak jawatan berikutan prestasi buruk pasukan itu pada musim ini termasuk tersingkir dari saingan Piala FA baru-baru ini.
Penyokong Kedah yang dikejutkan dengan kekalahan tipis 0-1 kepada Felda United pada saingan Piala FA mengadakan demonstrasi selama 30 minit sejurus tamat perlawanan itu di Stadium Darul Aman, Jumaat lalu.
Mereka menggesa Khazali, Ahmad, Radhi dan jurulatih penjaga gol, Ahmad Sobri Ismail meletak jawatan.
Menurut Dr. Hamdan, pertimbangan KFA dalam hal ini ialah mengambil kira pandangan pelbagai pihak melibatkan pemain, barisan kejurulatihan, pengurusan, penyokong serta pakar-pakar sukan bola sepak di negeri ini.
"Keputusan itu mesti adil bagi mewujudkan situasi menang-menang antara mereka yang terlibat," katanya.
Hamdan yang juga Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Belia dan Sukan, Kesenian, Warisan dan Kebudayaan negeri memberitahu, pemain Kedah turut berasa bersalah dengan situasi ini dengan menyifatkan nasib belum menyebelahi mereka.
Katanya, pemain mengakui berasa tertekan dengan situasi pada saingan awal musim ini apabila kebanyakan perlawanan berlangsung di gelanggang sendiri ketika mereka bertungkus lumus memantapkan permainan pasukan.
(kosmo 7 mac 11)
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