PETALING JAYA: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) are the heavy favourites to win the FA Cup tonight based on their staggering statistics.
The Southern Tigers have only conceded three goals out of 20 matches in all domestic competitions through set-pieces and their captain and centreback Jordi Amat wants the team to be alert when they clash with Kuala Lumpur in today’s final at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri.
As set-pieces are Kuala Lumpur’s forte, Amat wants his team to be vigilant.
With the City Boys’ captain Paulo Josue being the orchestrator behind every free kick and corner moves devised by Croatian coach Bojan Hodak – he knows that they can be dangerous with their set-pieces.
Amat, who is an Indonesian international, said he did not want his first Malaysian FA Cup final to be marred by a lack of focus.
“We’ve been zooming in on Kuala Lumpur’s strengths and discussing it with the defenders and staff,” said the 31-year-old, who played for top-flight Spanish clubs like Rayo Vallecano, Real Betis and Espanyol in the past.
“All three goals this season were conceded via set-pieces. Well, it’s a strong point for Kuala Lumpur,” said Amat.
“We respect them a lot. They did well to reach the final, just like us.
“We have to be careful and not concede a lot of corners or stupid free kicks.
“We will have the crowd behind us. We have been playing well. Need to keep trying and pushing. Let’s just focus on us.”
Josue said set-pieces would be their weapon and hoped his teammates would execute the plans made by the coaching team.
“Hodak loves set-pieces and we have practised a lot. We hope to make our plans work. Hope the players in the D (penalty box) will attack the ball well,” said the 34-year-old.
“They (JDT) have top players in all positions.
“Maybe we can handle Leandro (Velasquez), but they have Arif (Aiman Hanapi), then there are others.
“We need to defend as a team. If we can survive the first half, we can surprise them. We have to play as a team.”
Josue said the last 1-6 defeat against JDT had been thoroughly analysed and it would not be repeated.
“We watched the game a lot and identified the mistakes. Losing in that manner was hard to accept. We have to do better for the final.”
