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| Tie not over, warns Safa’s Saad |
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| Safa coach Samir Saad said the pressure in now on Dempo following their 1-0 win in the first leg of their AFC Cup semi-final clash. |
IPOH – Safa coach Samir Saad claims that his team’s AFC Cup quarter-final tie against Perak is far from over despite seeing them build a two-goal advantage in the first leg in Malaysia on Tuesday.
The Lebanese club took a huge step towards the last four with a 2-0 away win at the Perak Stadium thanks to goals by Rony Azar in the 38th minute and Hamid Termina 10 minutes into the second half.
But while the result put Safa into a strong position ahead of next week’s return match in Beirut, Samir is determined to keep his side focussed on completing the task against the Malaysian side.
"Sure we have a two-goal lead but I believe that the tie is far from over even though we will be playing the return match at home. Certainly, our place in the next round is not yet guaranteed," said the Safa boss.
"The standard between the two teams are almost the same but the only difference tonight was that we scored twice off the few chances that we created while Perak did not.
"We have to be careful for the return match as I think that at this point in time, the Perak players are fitter when compared to our team."
Perak coach Steve Darby admitted that his team were outmatched in the physical department with the loss of imports Carlos Caceres and Jorge Munoz badly affecting their chances of advancement in the AFC Cup.
"Safa were physically better and it was hard for some of the players having to match teams from the Middle East. But we were never outclassed and we created some decent chances," said the Englishman.
"They scored twice through two set pieces while their goalkeeper made all the difference on the night to deny us.
"But I think that we did not have a bad night considering that we played with no strikers at all when Khalid (Jamlus) got injured.
“And I think that Wirat Nom, who is a midfielder, did a commendable job going upfront to take over the striking duties."
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