PETALING JAYA: Kuching City and Selangor head into their Malaysia Cup semi-final second-leg match at the Sarawak Stadium today in contrasting situations.
While the Cats will be riding on strong home support, the Red Giants will be without coach Kim Pan-gon and forward Chrigor Moraes as both had collected two yellow cards in the competition.
Chrigor had been Selangor’s saviour in the first leg, scoring the equaliser to cancel out Ronald Ngah’s first strike in a tie which ended 1-1 on April 5.
To make matters worse for the visitors, only 300 tickets have been allocated for away fans at the Kuching Stadium, despite the venue being able to hold 30,000 spectators.
The initial allocation had only been 100 tickets, but Selangor had since appealed and got the number increased.
While Selangor face a lack of support from both the stands and the sideline, Kuching will be out to capitalise on their home-ground advantage.
Head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak is prepared for a high-intensity match with Selangor, and knows it will take extra effort to get past the 33-time winners.
“We have the second leg in front of our fans and families, so we have to work extra hard for a good result,” said Aidil.
“Playing at home is one of the positives we have. We know this game will be different with many interesting moments.
“We aim to get the win within 90 minutes and for that to happen, the team need to stick together and be focused.”
A win for Kuching would mean a first Malaysia Cup final appearance, and Aidil emphasised what it would mean for everyone.
“The boys understand how badly the fans want us to be in the final. It’s been some time since this stadium felt this atmosphere. We have to use it to our strengths,” said Aidil.
The winners will face Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in the final next month.
