Domestic glory on Azraai’s agenda

ALOR SETAR – Dreams of a hat-trick of domestic trebles may have ended with defeat to MyTeam in the FA Cup but coach Azraai Khor Abdullah remains determined as ever to add to Kedah’s well-stocked trophy cabinet.

After a brief hiatus the Malaysian Super League resumes on Tuesday when fourth-place Kedah hosts third-place Negeri Sembilan, with the defending champions desperate to begin clawing back the eight point deficit between them and leaders Selangor.

And a win against Negeri coupled with three points against fellow continental qualifiers Johor FC four days later will not only reignite confidence on the domestic front it will also massively boost morale ahead of their June 23 AFC Cup round of 16 clash in Vietnam with Binh Duong.

"With a lot of hard work, determination and commitment, there is still a possibility for us to be double champions (MSL and Malaysia Cup) and I never lose faith in my team," Azraai told www.the-afc.com.

"And participating in the AFC Cup without foreign players and still qualifying for the last 16 is a massive achievement. After the elimination of Johor FC, we are the only Malaysia club left in the competition. We want to go as far as possible.”

Kedah were badly affected by the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) controversial decision banning teams from fielding foreigners for the 2009 MSL season.

This ripped out the backbone of their back-to-back treble-winning side as top scorer Marlon James and his St. Vincent and Grenadines international team-mate, defensive rock Cornelius Huggins, as well as Chilean playmaker Nelson San Martin all forced to seek pastures new.

But Kedah are managing to come to terms with the loss of such an influential trio.

In addition to reaching the last 16 of the AFC Cup they have also bounced back from their early season domestic slump with Kedah’s younger players raising their game alongside the more experienced campaigners to help compensate for the absence of foreign players.

"I don't see this setback (no foreigners) as our Achilles heel,” Azraai continued.

“I have managed to blood out some exciting U-20 youngsters like Faizal Abu Bakar, Hisham Sofi and Wan Nizam Wan Azizan this year. With the established players like Khyril Muhymeen Zambri, Helmi Eliza Elias, Sabri Abu and Badrol Bakhtiar, I strongly feel that we are ready for the challenge."

"However, if we still had Marlon James, Nelson San Martin and Cornelius Huggins with us, things could be very much easier."

- Tan Boon Piaw

Sumber: http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168723092.html