Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic is not worried about the presence of thousands of passionate Malaysian supporters in the Asian Zone World Cup second round, second leg qualifying match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow.
Singapore beat Malaysia 5-3 in the first-leg at the Jalan Besar Stadium in front of their 5,000 supporters.
And they are aware that it will be a different ball game all together in the return leg.
With a capacity crowd of 85,000 is expected for the match, Avra-movic feels that the result could go either way.
“It’s good to see a big crowd in the stadium ... we respect the Malaysian team and their passionate supporters,” said Avramovic, a former Yugoslavian goalkeeper.
“In a way, it will be difficult for us to play in front of a boisterous crowd but I believe it will be equally hard for the home team as well.
“The Malaysian players will be under pressure to play well in front of their own supporters as well.
“At the end of the day, there will be only 11 Malaysian players on the pitch and the rest of the 80,000 will be in the stands ... so I’m not too bothered about the supporters.”
Singapore striker Aleksandar Duric, however, was a bit concerned about the impact the crowd might have on the younger players in the team.
“I have learned to block out the supporters when I’m playing ... but I think it may affect the younger players in the team,” said the Yugoslav-born player.
“I know how passionate the fans are in Malaysia and they will even jeer their own team if they don’t play well ... so it can be a disadvantage to the home team as well.
“We just need to focus on our game and repeat what we did in the first leg.”
Singapore beat Malaysia 5-3 in the first-leg at the Jalan Besar Stadium in front of their 5,000 supporters.
And they are aware that it will be a different ball game all together in the return leg.
With a capacity crowd of 85,000 is expected for the match, Avra-movic feels that the result could go either way.
“It’s good to see a big crowd in the stadium ... we respect the Malaysian team and their passionate supporters,” said Avramovic, a former Yugoslavian goalkeeper.
“In a way, it will be difficult for us to play in front of a boisterous crowd but I believe it will be equally hard for the home team as well.
“The Malaysian players will be under pressure to play well in front of their own supporters as well.
“At the end of the day, there will be only 11 Malaysian players on the pitch and the rest of the 80,000 will be in the stands ... so I’m not too bothered about the supporters.”
Singapore striker Aleksandar Duric, however, was a bit concerned about the impact the crowd might have on the younger players in the team.
“I have learned to block out the supporters when I’m playing ... but I think it may affect the younger players in the team,” said the Yugoslav-born player.
“I know how passionate the fans are in Malaysia and they will even jeer their own team if they don’t play well ... so it can be a disadvantage to the home team as well.
“We just need to focus on our game and repeat what we did in the first leg.”
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