TERENGGANU FC head coach Badrul Afzan Razali has praised his players for their solid 3-0 victory over Immigration FC in the FA Cup second-round return leg at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium.
The win overturned their first-leg 2-1 loss and secured their quarter-final place with a 4-2 aggregate victory.
The 49-year-old coach said his team displayed exceptional discipline and a never-say-die attitude from the opening whistle throughout the match.
He congratulated his players for giving their complete effort and performing well from the first minute until the final whistle.
Badrul expressed satisfaction with his team’s ability to bounce back from their first-leg defeat to secure victory and advance to the last eight.
Muhammad Akhyar Rashid scored two goals while Cameroonian striker Junior Sam Ngong added another to secure the comfortable home win for the Turtles.
Immigration FC coach Yusri Che Lah admitted his team’s complacency gave Terengganu players too much space to exploit and ultimately led to their elimination from the tournament.
He attributed their defeat partly to several key players being unavailable due to injuries which disrupted their game plan.
Yusri also cited language barriers and compatibility issues as contributing factors since three Brazilian imports and one Thai player did not understand English.
He clarified that while this communication problem presented challenges for delivering instructions, he was not blaming the foreign players for the defeat. – Bernama