THE BALL IS MINE: Sarawak’s Guy Bwele pokes the ball with his stretched feet as he tries to pry the ball away from a T-Team player at Stadium Negeri on Tuesday. — Photo by Muhd Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: Sarawak face a Herculean task to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup when they take on Selangor away this Saturday at Shah Alam despite thrashing T-Team 6-1 at Stadium Negeri on Tuesday.
The Crocs’ huge win was simply not good enough to guarantee a place as Selangor had miraculously beaten Pahang 4-1 on the same night.
Pahang on the other hand had nothing to play for as they have already qualified for the knockout stage.
Sarawak on the other hand needs to win by a huge goal margin in their next match to qualify.
As a matter of fact, the Crocs need to beat the Red Giants by a massive six goal margin.
“It won’t be impossible for us. This is football and anything can happen,” said Sarawak head coach Robert Alberts when met after the match against T-Team.
Commenting on the match against the club-side, Alberts was happy that Sarawak have the privilege to give their loyal supporters a huge win as a gift.
They turned up and supported Sarawak against T-Team just like they did when Sarawak take on Pahang previously.
During the match, Sarawak scored a goal in the first half and the demolition of T-Team went on in the second half until the final whistle.
Whatever the outcome after the match, fans of the Crocs were surely entertained by the huge scoreline.
“Our plan was to score first. We did just that and our game plan worked well as we know T-Team is just here to complete the fixture,” commented Alberts.
Beaten and bruised, T-Team on the other hand has nothing to play for as they have been mathematically eliminated from the competition, failing to win a single game in group D.
They next face leaders Pahang and with the current superb form of the Elephants, another defeat looks inevitable.
Alberts said that with the big victory against T-Team on Tuesday, it will hopefully be a sign of a better future for Sarawak football. He too hoped that everybody in Sarawak and fans of the Crocs look at it that way.
Asked on his next plan, Alberts commented as for now he is only interested in the preparations of the next match against Selangor.
He is not elaborating further and will only discuss other plans after the current season is over.
As for now, it seems that Tuesday’s match might be the last home game of the season for the Crocs.
A 6-1 victory is surely a good reward for the passionate fans that made the effort to eternally support their beloved team, the Crocs.
