RHB Singapore Cup: Fandi aiming to gun down DPMM
Fabius Chen
info@sleague.com
All eyes will be on Singapore’s favourite footballing son Fandi Ahmad and his Pelita Jaya side as they look to hand Brunei DPMM their first loss of 2009 when the teams meet in the RHB Singapore Cup Preliminary Round on Wednesday.
It is the Indonesian club’s first foray into the competition but the “Young Guns” have some form of history on their side: the team from the sultanate has never progressed beyond this stage in five previous tries.
Having said that, the start that DPMM has made in its maiden Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League campaign suggests that Vjeran Simunic’s men are more than capable of embarking on a decent cup run.
With almost a third of the season gone, the club is sitting pretty atop the table and yet to taste defeat, with impressive wins over SAFFC and Gombak United, who occupy the second and third spots respectively.
Their excellent form has not gone unnoticed by opposition coach Fandi, who was under no illusions about the challenge that awaits his side.
“We’ve seen them play a few times and they seem to get stronger in every game,” he stated.
“We played them during the pre-season in 2008 and beat them twice but now they have a better coach in Simunic, are faster, have some experience in the team and have a few foreigners.”
One of those foreigners will be a familiar face to Fandi and most of his Pelita Jaya squad.
“Ivan Jerkovic used to play for us, just a season ago; he’s very dangerous from free-kicks and controls the midfield well,” he recalled.
However, he made sure to point out that he has at his disposal a few foreign imports with the ability to cause the opposition problems as well.
“We have two Brazilians: (Carlos) Eduardo, who has played in China and with the Flamengo youth team and (Cristiano) Lopes, who is our captain and top scorer,” he said.
“Lopes is carrying a bit of an injury but hopefully he’ll be able to give his best on Wednesday.”
Local clubs have struggled to handle DPMM’s physical style but Fandi dismissed any talk of it affecting his players.
He explained: “I know they are quite aggressive but Indonesian football is very hard and rough, so it’s something we are used to. We had the same treatment when we played against them in Brunei, so it’ll be nothing new to us.”
The winner of Wednesday’s game will face the winner of the TTM Samut Sakhon - Super Reds tie, meaning that Fandi will have to wait till at least the semi-final stage to face a local club.
The luck of the draw so very nearly pitted Pelita Jaya against the Young Lions, whom Fandi used to coach. Indeed, there was an air of disappointment when the Indonesians’ name came out of the pot just one spot too early.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh no, don’t play the Young Lions too early,’ since they are my old team,” Fandi said with a laugh.
“But generally, we are prepared to face any one. We are delighted to have been invited, even though it’s in the middle of our season, and it’s an opportunity for some of our younger players to gain some experience.”
“We came here to play football, entertain and win matches. We’re definitely going all out for a win.”
There will be no lack of motivation, either; the last three sides to send the Bruneians packing from this competition have gone on to reach the final, with Tampines Rovers lifting the trophy in 2006.
And with Fandi at the helm, the Young Guns might just be the sentimental favourites to do just that.
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