BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
Felda United managed to hold Selangor to a 2-2 draw in their first Group D Malaysia Cup match, and the Fighters head coach Nidzam Jamil was rightfully elated with the result.
In the encounter that was held at the Shah Alam Stadium, the hosts raced to a 2-0 lead through goals by Syazwan Zainon (33') and Ifedayo Omosuyi (40'). But the Fighters kept it close through Christie Jayaseelan's 42nd minute goal, before tying the game late in the game through Khairul Amri Kamal's 85th-minute penalty.
Nidzam was a jovial figure in the post-match press conference, describing how fortunate he felt to have a spirited group of players at his disposal.
"The players share an intense drive among themselves, they constantly push each other to come back stronger. And tonight they've come back from two goals down against Selangor at the Shah Alam Stadium.
"I'm a lucky man for having a group of players who always believe that they can and want to change things around. They always want to get a [positive] result for Felda.
"I made a few changes in the second half; by bringing on Hadin (captain and winger Hadin Azman), by making them take more risks, and good things happened. The draw is a good result for us," noted Nidzam.
Asked by Goal about his target in the tournament, the former Selangor player revealed that he hopes to take his charges as far as the knockout stages.
"It's on a game-by-game basis for now, not that I want to play it safe, but if we can continue performing as well as we are now, I dream of reaching the quarter-finals, or maybe even the semis, like what we did in the FA Cup.
"But we need to work hard, because the other teams in the group are the big boys, especially Melaka United and Selangor. It's not easy to be facing off against them. If we can steal a point or win against them at home, we may just repeat what we got in the FA Cup," explained the former Malaysia international.
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