Selangor out for revenge against Singapore

The Red Giants are bent on taming the Lions in the annual Sultan of Selangor’s Cup football match at the Shah Alam Stadium today.

Defender P. Gunalan said they have had enough of losing to Singapore in the annual series, especially after last year’s 6-0 drubbing.

“We will be no pushovers this time around. With two former English Premier League (EPL) players and national striker Mohd Safee Sali in the team, we’ll be able to give them a run for their money,” said Gunalan yesterday.

The two former EPL players are Jason McAteer (Liverpool) and Jesper Blomqvist (Manchester United).

Singapore, meanwhile, will be parading most of their national players, including their five naturalised players – Aleksandar Duric, Qiu Li (forward), Shi Jiayi, Mustafic Fahrudin (midfield) and Daniel Bennett (defence).

Selangor coach P. Maniam will surely have his hands full trying to contain this Singapore side, who beat the national team (6-4 on aggregate) in the Asian Zone second round qualifying match for the 2012 Brazil World Cup in July.

Gunalan expects the inclusion of McAteer and Blomqvist to give more stability in defence and thrust up front.

“McAteer will beef up the back line while Blomqvist should provide the crosses from the flanks.
It is a game we badly want to win to make up for our shameful outing last year,” said Gunalan.

Blomqvist was in the Manchester United squad during the treble winning season of 1998-99.
That was the year United won the Champions League, EPL and FA Cup.

Selangor are also fired up after making the cut for the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup competition on Tuesday.

“We are all in high spirits and we hope to get a good result against Singapore,” said Gunalan.
This year’s Sultan of Selangor’s Cup is the 10th in the series.

Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had initiated the event in 2001 to foster better ties between Selangor and Singapore.

There will be two matches today.

The first will be between the Selangor veterans and their Singapore counterparts (8pm) and the second will see the Red Giants taking on the Lions (9pm).

The champions of the Sultan of Selangor’s Cup will receive RM50,000 and the runners-up RM10,000.

Tickets, priced at a flat rate of RM10 for the two matches, are available at the Quality Hotel (Shah Alam & Kuala Lumpur), Concorde Shah Alam and Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur.