Rock star: Terengganu’s Akhyar Rashid celebrating after scoring during the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals second-leg match . — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Meeting Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in the Malaysia Cup semi-finals is a tall order, but Terengganu head coach Badrul Afzan Razali is looking forward to the fixture next month.
The Turtles booked their spot in the final four after coming from behind to win 4-2 against Negri Sembilan at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium on Saturday, which saw them advance with a 6-2 aggregate win.
“We are thankful to be in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Cup, and we are looking forward to meeting JDT.
“Everyone knows JDT’s strengths, and we will surely study their game before we play them. We respect the club but we can’t respect them too much.
“We will take them on with the best we have,” he said.
Negri’s Mohd Hadin Azman converted a penalty in the 24th minute to give the visitors the lead, then doubled the margin 10 minutes later when A. Selvan found the back of the net.
But Terengganu made sure not to let their chance slip away, and in the 41st minute, Ismaheel Akinade pushed in Akhyar Rashid’s cross from the right to close the gap with Negri, followed by Safawi Rasid equaliser in added time.
The second half action came down to the final minutes as Azam Azmi gave the Turtles the lead in the 81st minute.
In injury time, Terengganu were awarded a penalty after a handball decision, which Shahrul Nizam Ros Hasni took calmly to win the match 4-2.
Terengganu will play the Southern Tigers in their first leg fixture on Jan 17, with the second leg taking place on Feb 1.
Four-time Malaysia Cup winners JDT entered the semi-finals after thrashing Kuala Lumpur 4-0 on Saturday, winning with a 6-1 aggregate against the City Boys.
But Badrul will be looking to use the downtime until their next match against Shan United in the AFF Club Championship on Jan 8 to refresh his squad, who earned his praise after their comeback against Negri.
Terengganu fought back from 0-2 to eventually win 4-2, but Badrul admitted the nerves were intense.
“I admit I was very anxious when we were 0-2 down. We were controlling the whole game but we lapsed a little on the defensive line.
“It seemed as if we were not composed when Negri attacked in search of goals.
“But the players rose in the second half,” he said.
Meanwhile, Negri head coach K. Nanthakumar said defensive errors gave Terengganu the opportunity to equalise, and the team couldn’t catch up after that.
“Once Terengganu equalised, our game slowed down. Our opposition controlled the game from the second half onwards.
“We have nine matches to get ourselves out of the bottom of the table,” he said.
