Group H: What the coaches said...

AFC CUP 2009

SINGAPORE - Home United coach PN Sivaji hailed the match winning performance of substitute Firdaus Idros as his second-half brace secured a 3-1 win over Thailand’s Provincial Electrical Authority on Tuesday which sent the Singaporeans into the last 16 of the AFC Cup.

With Vietnam’s Binh Duong already certain of a place in the knockout stages from Group H, United had to win to edge out PEA who just needed a point to advance.

Peres de Oliveira’s opener on the stroke of half-time had sent the home side on their way, but Narongchai Vachiraban’s free-kick four minutes before the hour mark put PEA in the driving seat.

But just three minutes after replacing Itimi Dickson soon after, Firdaus restored the lead with a close range volley before sealing his side’s passage to a meeting with Hong Kong champions South China with four minutes remaining.

“Firdaus possesses abundance in energy and is unpredictable. No one thought he was creeping in from behind to score from the cross,” said Sivaji.

“I am delighted with the win as PEA are a good side. The boys showed how much they wanted to go into the next round.”

PEA coach Thongsuk Sampahangsit was left to rue a depleted squad which ruined his sides chances of advancing.

“Home played well as they showed their abilities and displayed good form,” he said.

“We had many players unavailable through injury and suspensions and were not able to adjust well on the field to suit our play.

“When we scored we had chances to increase the lead, but we were not able to protect the defence.”

Binh Duong topped the group and earned a meeting with Malaysia’s Kedah after beating Valencia 5-0 in Male after scoring four times in the first 37 minutes, a result which surprised new coach Mai Duc Chung.

“I said before that it is difficult to talk about the score, we saw that. We didn’t expect this,” he said.
“First half we played well and very organised, but in the second we tried to avoid yellow and red cards and that’s the reason we couldn’t score more.”

Valencia coach Abdullah Waheed was left to rue his side’s poor start to the contest.

“The first half didn’t go well, we have so many young players and they couldn’t mark the opponent,” he said. “They scored very early in the game and that’s one reason for the margin.”