Perak must stop Saari brothers
PERAK will gun for a perfect 10 when they meet Terengganu in today’s Razak Cup men’s final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
If the nine-time champions can neutralise Terengganu’s 16-goal hero Faizal Saari and his brother Fitri, half the battle is won.
Perak, whose last back-to-back wins were in 2017 and 2018, were just floating around during the early stages.
They were held 3-3 by Johor, won 2-0 against Sabah and drew 2-2 against S elangor to top Group B.
But they started playing as a team in the knockout stages, ousting Perlis 2-0 in the quarterfinals and Kuala Lumpur 4-3 in the semis.
Terengganu, on the other hand, went on a rampage in Group C scoring 24 goals and only letting in one in their matches against Police (5-0), Armed Forces (5-1) and Kelantan (14-0).
In the last eight, they edged Sabah 2-1 before subduing Pahang 4-3 in the semi-finals.
The stats show that while Perak are slowly gaining momentun, Terengganu started furiously but slowed down at the knockout stage.
Terengganu coach Tai Beng Hai said: “Perak have six national seniors and three national juniors on their side which is practically half the team.
“They will be very dangerous in the final.
“They are good in every department and will score even if we give them half a chance.
“However, I believe my players are ready to claim their third Razak Cup title on Sunday.”
Perak coach, Roalan Jamaluddin who is a former national goalkeeper, said after his team scraped into the final, they will not wait and live dangerously until the final moments today.
“We barely made it (4-3) in the quarters against Kuala Lumpur.
“We were in control of three quarters but they made a last quarter attempt and we almost caved in.
“We can’t afford this script against Terengganu as they have very skilful and fast forwards," said Roslan.
TODAY: Men’s final - Terengganu v Perak (8.30pm, Pitch I); Third-fourth: Pahang v Kuala Lumpur (6pm, Pitch II).
Women’s final: Selangor v Pahang (6pm, Pitch I); Third-fourth: Penang v Kuala Lumpur (4pm, Pitch II).