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| Radenovic revels in Al Nahda show |
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| Togo striker Datoma Yedibahoma scored twice to give Al Nahda a 4-2 aggregate victory over Singapore Armed Forces. (AFP) |
SINGAPORE - Al Nahda coach Miloslav Radenovic was delighted with the performance of his young charges on Tuesday despite a 2-1 loss to Singapore Armed Forces in the first leg of their AFC Cup quarter-final tie.
Aleksandar Duric scored twice at the Jalan Besar Stadium to put the S-League champions on top but a late penalty by Datoma Yedibahoma means that the Omani side have a crucial away goal for the return match in Nizwa next week.
"For many of my players, this is the first time playing outside the Gulf region so this result is very good," said Radenovic.
"At 2-0 we would have had little chance but 2-1 is a better score line to take home.”
Radenovic added that he was satisfied with the performance of his young players especially the likes of Mansoor Ghamil and Mohammed Musabah.
SAF coach Richard Bok felt that his team deserved the win but admitted that they could face a difficult time in the return match with only a single-goal advantage.
"It is going to be tough in Oman especially with the heat and we have the other half of the battle yet to be fought but anything can happen," he said.
SAF will be missing goalkeeper Shahril Jantan and defender Hafiz Osman for the second leg after the pair were sent off late in the game.
Bok was particularly disappointed with the straight red card shown to Hafiz by Japanese referee Hiroyoshi Takayama deep into stoppage time for what he felt was at worst a yellow card offence.
"It was a high ball and Hafiz was looking for the ball, he had eyes on the ball,” the SAF coach explained.
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