JOHOR BAHRU: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) manager Luciano Figueroa believes his side are beginning to show their true colours in the Malaysia Cup.
The defending champions defeated Pahang 2-0 in the quarter-final return leg at Larkin Stadium on Saturday to progress into the semi-finals on a 3-1 aggregate.
The former AFC Cup winners, who were erratic in the group stage, will face Terengganu in the last four.
“Today we played our best game of the season. Congratulations to the players who showed character and were impressive in all aspects. This how JDT play their football,” said Figueroa on Saturday.
“Pahang could not do anything as we were good. We were fired up to win and as a result, we scored two great goals. We were unlucky not to score more goals.”
National player Safawi Rasid was JDT’s hero by netting a double in the first and 73rd minutes.
“Safawi is a great player and he shows great attitude in matches. He tries his best to score goals whenever he plays. He is an asset to the team,” said the Argentine.
Figueroa added: “We have one week to prepare for the semi-finals. We will entertain Terengganu in the first leg, so we need to make it count.”
Meanwhile, a frustrated Pahang coach Dollah Salleh was unhappy with the way his team played.
“I am disappointed as we did not play to tactics. Instead, the players were more happy to defend.
“Overall, we did not give JDT a fight. They were exceptional and we could not do anything about it,” said Dollah, adding that his strikers Patrick Cruz and Austin Amutu were not functioning well in attack.
However, Dollah is happy with his team’s overall achievement this season. The east coast side won the FA Cup and finished fourth in the Super league.
“I will submit a report to the Pahang FA (PFA) and from there we will decide on a direction. The association want us to start preparing early for next year,” he added.