Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Melaka: KRL Football Club boss Tariq Lutfi attributed his club’s stunning results against favourites Dordoi to strong mentality among his players during their first AFC President’s Cup 2013 finals match on Monday.
Dordoi, appearing for the eighth time in the competition and who are two-time champions, failed to break the Pakistani club’s defence despite close-quarter chances at goal.
KRL, who are appearing for the third time in the championship, did not have as many attempts but a quick kick by forward Kaleemullah despite heavy defending in the box managed to clinch the one goal to stun the Kyrgyzstan club.
“Of all the six teams, Dordoi are the most experienced and tactical team and winning against them is significantly valuable to us,” said Lutfi during a post-match conference.
“I’ve told my boys that they are lacking tactics compared to the Central Asian opponents but they had good behaviours and mentality and never gave up on the field.
“We have played Dordoi before and learned their strategy. They like to make long balls and rely on wings, but strategy alone will not give you your match, but the winning mentality is very important. I think based on this, the KRL team now is a much better team than before.”
Dordoi head coach Sergey Dvoryankov lamented on his team not executing their plan against KRL whom they drew 1-1 in the group stage back in May.
“We really wanted to display our play but we couldn’t achieve it,” he said. “Our players played well but they couldn’t show their abilities. We had good moments but our strikers couldn’t finish the chances. Our plan was not executed well and this is why we lost.
“KRL did a really good job and the loss is totally our fault. Our next match will be our last chance to win the tournament. In the next game, our plan is to improve our strikers’ finishing.”
Photo: WSG