Source
SINGAPORE - He has already opened his account, scoring a wonderful goal against Negeri Sembilan in the Charity Shield at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Malaysian Super League (MSL) champions Kelantan eventually lost 2-1 in the curtain-raiser to the 2012 season, but at least their hotshot Norshahrul Idlan Talaha is off the mark.
The 25-year-old is one of the most exciting footballers to have emerged out of Malaysia in recent years.
Voted Best Striker in 2010 and Most Valuable Player (MVP) last year, Norshahrul was a key figure in Kelantan's title-winning run in 2011.
In a warning to the LionsXII, he is hungry to play a similar role this season.
Singapore's LionsXII take on Kelantan in their MSL opener at the Jalan Bear Stadium tonight, and Norshahrul said yesterday: "Our mission is to get all three points and my personal mission is to score.
"I am excited about the new season because I want to gauge my performance against a host of new foreign imports in the league. My target this season is to match them and to top the scoring chart.
"I certainly don't want to end up being second best to them."
The Malaysian international will likely partner Kelantan's new Lebanese signing Mohamad Ghaddar upfront tonight.
Norshahrul has scored 41 goals in 53 matches for Kelantan so far.
His performance for Malaysia in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup announced his arrival on the international stage.
His incisive runs along the right flank provided the openings for Malaysia's leading striker Safee Sali to hammer home five goals, which ultimately helped the Tigers win the ASEAN title for the first time.
With fellow Malaysian internationals Indra Putra Mahiyuddin, Norfarhan Mohamad and talented goalkeeper Khairul Fahmie Che Mat in the team, there is a strong nucleus in the Kelantan side.
"We've been together for a long time and have developed a great understanding. I hope to build a similar rapport with our new imports Ghaddar and Dennis Antwi from Ghana," said Norshahrul.
"We've only played one competitive match so far and will need time to see what the two foreign imports bring to the team."
The Kelantan team trained through a light drizzle at a relaxed pace yesterday at Jalan Besar.
It was their first run out since the loss to Malaysia Cup champions Negeri Sembilan and was more of a recovery session.
"Much has been said about the artificial turf at Jalan Besar, but it wasn't difficult getting used to the faster speed that the ball travels on the surface," said Norshahrul. "I've played on this pitch before and know how it behaves."
While clearly confident, Kelantan's creative spark insisted his team will not underestimate their opponents tonight.
"I've played against Singapore before and they're not a bad team and have their own target. Looking at their warm-up matches so far, I don't see why they cannot finish in the top five," he said.
"We'll be looking out for the two men upfront, Agu Casmir and Shahril Ishak, and Khairul Amri will be also one to watch when he's fully fit."
We have move to here!
WE HAVE MOVE TO HERE! CLICK ON THE LINK. :D
No comments:
Post a Comment