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RHB Singapore Cup: “No grudges” for triumphant Yazid
Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com
Geylang United goalkeeper Yazid Yasin admitted he was aware of pundits’ predictions that had almost unanimously written off his team for the RHB Singapore Cup final – but added that he bore “no grudges” against the doubters.
The 30-year-old made his remarks after giving a Man-of-the-Match performance against Thai side Bangkok Glass, thus helping his team to a 1-0 victory on the evening.
The result was a big upset after Bangkok Glass had been tipped as overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy, having built some impressive momentum going into the final.
But Yazid was in outstanding form for the Eagles as they held the Thais at bay throughout the match, with a penalty save three minutes from time providing an excellent finish to a top-drawer night out.
Speaking afterwards at the post-match press conference, Yazid said he was satisfied to have defied the critics, but showed good spirit as he took the negative views in his stride.
“Everyone out there never gave us a chance, so we had nothing to lose,” he said casually.
“No one outside believed we can beat them, but it’s okay, I have no grudges. It’s all about what happens inside the field at the end of the day.
“We just wanted to go out there and play. We knew they were going to attack us from the start, but if everybody did their job, and we came up with the right gameplan, we knew we can win.”
Yazid’s sound work at the back gave Geylang the platform to chase for a goal late on, and they managed that eight minutes from time thanks to Hafiz Rahim.
The long-serving forward, brought on as a substitute just ten minutes earlier, netted the all-deciding goal amidst a melee in the Bangkok Glass penalty area – probably the most important strike he has ever made for the club so far.
“I guess this goal is important, but it was hard to score it,” acknowledged Hafiz, who turns 26 in mid-November.
“I hit the first shot, Noor Ali took the second that again hit the post. Then when Masnashzreen (Masturi) had his cleared off the line, I thought ‘Why can’t the ball go in?’
“So when the ball came back to me, I told myself I am not going to let this go. I’ve been waiting for this chance, we all have been waiting, and in the end the hard work’s paid off.
“I can’t describe the feeling. It was an important moment, not just for me, but for the whole team.”
Geylang had to survive one last scare with the penalty though, which was awarded after referee Kenny Ng changed his assessment of a tackle on Gbenga Samuel Ajayi after seeing the linesman’s flag.
It was a decision that left Yazid bemused, although he held his nerve to save the shot from Bangkok Glass fullback Supachai Komsilp, thus preserving the Eagles’ slender lead.
“I was surprised at the penalty; the referee waved play on, but the linesman flagged for a penalty,” he noted.
“It was a soft penalty to give away after we played so well for 80 minutes, but all I could care about was to save the ball. With penalties, 90% of the time the player will score, but I knew that if I saved it, it would be a big thing for us.”
Geylang coach Mike Wong noted that the team’s victory was made possible by their familiarity with the style of passing football adopted by Bangkok Glass, which bore similarities to S.League sides Albirex Niigata (Singapore) and Super Reds.
The East Asian sides had faced Geylang eight times in total this year, and those encounters, according to Wong, were particularly useful experiences for his charges.
“Bangkok Glass are a very good team in terms of passing, just like Albirex and the Super Reds,” he remarked.
“Because we have played Albirex so many times this year, and the Super Reds three times, it was easier for us when we came into this game. We were used to the things they were doing, so you could say what we had in the league helped us win the Cup.
“We’ve had a long season, but the club gave us good support and believed in the players. For one thing, club’s never failed to give us our bonuses, which is important.
“Now we’ve got to look towards the new season. We must try to keep the core of this team and build from there to take us further.”
Bangkok Glass coach Surachai Jaturapattarapong meanwhile did not appear that surprised to have lost the final, even though he said he was satisfied with the preparations his team had made for this match.
Having claimed earlier that luck could only account for a small part when weighing up the two teams’ chances, he agreed that, with everything else too finely balanced, that small part proved to be the swing factor.
“Today was about 1% of luck, but Geylang took that 1%,” said the 39-year-old.
“We had more control, but we learnt that control alone was not enough. Every team in the Singapore Cup that played Geylang had more ball possession than them in every match, but still they lost to Geylang – and now we have joined them.
“If we could score first, we would have opened up this Geylang team. But Geylang showed that they are disciplined, hardworking, committed and most importantly, systematic.
“They had a system they wanted to do in the Cup that was different from what they did in the league. They made sure we could not put the ball in the net, and they scored one time to win the game.”
Surachai also paid tribute to Yazid for the way the goalkeeper had repeatedly foiled the Glass Rabbits in the final, noting that his Man-of-the-Match accolade was richly deserved.
“Yazid was very good today, the best I have ever seen from him since ten years ago,” he said.
“Ten years ago, he helped win the league title for Home United. Now, he has come back to that kind of standard.
“People may think he is weak because he is short, but his reading of the game is super. He gave a very high-quality performance, and he deserves to be Man-of-the-Match!” |
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