# Kedah and Selangor have the foreigners to win the Malaysia Cup
# Watch out for Selangor’s Andik Vermansyah
# Kedah’s Chidi Edeh could be Kedah’s match winner
# Playmaker Baddrol Bakhtiar is Kedah’s trumpcard
# Kedah also count on dead ball specialist Sandro
The spotlight will fall on the foreigners in Saturday’s Malaysia Cup final between Selangor and Kedah at the Shah Alam Stadium.
The cup final fever is not only felt in the two states but it has also swept throughout the country as football is still the best supported game in Malaysia as far as the football crazy fans are concerned.
Selangor have been tipped my many to win the most sought after silverware in Malaysia football – what more when the Red Giants have won the Malaysia Cup a record 32 times.
However, Selangor football has fallen behind in recent times with many of the other teams being able to match the former kingpins. One team that has taken over the unofficial title as the most feared team in the country is Johor Darul Takzim (JDT).
JDT, the newly crowned AFC Cup champions – the first team in the country to have won the second-tier Asian title – are the new kingpins of Malaysian football and won the Malaysian Super League title last year and this year.
However, despite earning the favourites tag to win the elusive Malaysia Cup, JDT were knocked out in the semi-final by Felda United.
Selangor coach Mehmet Durakovic is over the moon to have guided his team to the Malaysia Cup final and strongly believes that his “bunch of fighters” will be there to rewrite Malaysia Cup history to complete their long awaited “Mission 33” which has rather become rusty.
Andik Vermansyah – the Indonesian international in the Selangor side has the knack of getting the vital goals in the final. The nippy Indonesian can turn the match into Selangor’s favour.
Pint-sized Andik has the speed to take on his markers but it is his finishing that is a nightmare for goalkeepers.
Then there is Australian Guilherme Da Silva who can combine with anyone upfront to give Selangor attack more bite. His finishing is a bane to opposite goalkeepers and that was how Pahang custodian Azhan Khalid found out the hard way.
Without doubt Selangor have the quality plus the “family bond” of a close knit family while in the last line of defense goalkeeper Norazalan Razali has suddenly discovered his form which once made him the national No 1. The Selangor defence is built around Robert Cornthwaite.
Premier League champions Kedah probably have the best foreign legion in the M-League and standing out is Nigerian Chidi Edeh who has scored seven goals in the Malaysia Cup and 11 in the league.
However, it is dead ball specialist Sandro da Silva who is a thorn for any team and Selangor will have to take extra note of his long range freekicks.
Newly married Baddrol Bakthiar is the playmaker who can conjure goals for Kedah with dribbling skills and ball control.
Kosovo midfielder Liridon Kraniqi is a pillar of strength in Kedah’s engine room while South Korean Bang Seung Hwan adds strength in defence.
