PETALING JAYA: History may be on Pahang’s side ahead of their Malaysia Cup showdown with Johor Darul Ta’zim on Saturday but that won’t do much to ease coach Fandi Ahmad’s anxiety.
The Singaporean legend said his side are struggling with injuries, two suspensions and limited rest time compared to their opponents.
The Elephants last played in a Malaysia Cup final in 2014, where they beat JDT 5-3 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 deadlock.
That glorious memory, however, can’t disguise the fact that Pahang face a jumbo task this time in the final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Fandi said that his players had only five days to prepare for the final after their last Super League game against Penang on Sunday which they won 3-2.
‘’After that game, we needed some time for recovery and then we’re left with just five days to prepare for the final,’’ he said.
‘’We’re also sweating over the fitness of Alex (Aleksandar Cvetkovic) and David (Rowley).
“As for JDT, they completed their league fixtures earlier, so they have a longer preparation time.
“But we have to make the best of the time we have and give them a good fight in the final.”
Meanwhile, Pahang’s 2014 Malaysia Cup winner Faizol Hussain is keeping his teammates motivated by sharing his memories of that glorious night.
Faizol, who started in that final, said the toughest moment came when they trailed 1-2 at half-time and had to play with 10 men in the second half after Saifulnizam Miswan was shown a red card.
The Elephants’ fighting spirit, however, remained intact as they battled their way to an equaliser by Dickson Nwakaeme and went on to triumph in the shootout.
“Back then, if you looked at the Pahang players, we were just average compared to JDT, who had a lot of quality players,” recalled Faizol.
“I remember during half-time when we were down, coach Zainal (Abidin Hassan) lifted our spirits by pushing us to give our all in the second half.
‘’Inspired by that, we just fought on and never gave up, and we went on to win in a shootout.’’
