Kedah aiming to stamp their mark in AFC Cup

Kedah team before the game against Selangor in MSL 2006/2007. photo: jeebsion.fotopages.com

Male', MALDIVES - Debutants Kedah are ready to stake a strong challenge in the AFC Cup tournament, which kicks off this week.

Besides their ambition to repeat the treble in domestic competitions – retaining the Super League, Malaysia Cup and FA Cup titles – the Canaries also want to make a name for themselves in the second-tier Asian club competition.

Attacking midfielder Mohd Khyril Muhymeen Zambri said that it was time for Kedah to pave the way for Malaysian football to be a force to be reckoned with.

“We may be newcomers at this level (AFC Cup) but Kedah have an established set of players, who have the ability to make a strong impact,” said the 21-year-old Khyril of the depth in strength of his Hijau Kuning outfit.

Kedah under chief coach Mohd Azraai Khor enjoyed their best season last year when they won the treble and with it came a ticket for a shot in the AFC Cup competition this year together with Perak.

Kedah are in Group D with Home United of Singapore, South China FC of Hong Kong and Victory FC of Maldives. They open their campaign against Victory FC at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Star on Tuesday. Perak are in Group E with Armed Forces of Singapore, Kitchee FC of Hong Kong and New Radiant FC of Maldives.

The winners of the six-group preliminaries will qualify for the quarter-finals and the remaining two berths will be filled by one best runners-up from Group A, B, C (West and Central Asia) and one best runners-up from Group D, E and F (East and South-East Asia).

Khyril added that the AFC Cup would be good exposure for Kedah on the international stage.

“This is an opportunity for us to experience football at a higher level. Personally, the AFC Cup will be my priority because I have won all the titles in the domestic competitions last year,” said Khyril, who was also a member of the national team who won the Merdeka Tournament last year.

Besides Khyril, Kedah will be powered by their scoring sensation, Marlon James, the Super League's leading marksman with 18 goals. The St Vincent and Grenadines hitman also bagged a hat-trick in the FA Cup first-round tie against PKNS, which Kedah won 5-4 on aggregate.

Kedah, who leads the Super League standings on 38 points, have a strong set of attacking players and they include Nelson Sam Martin from Chile, Badrul Bakhtiar and Hasmawi Hassan. They also have a strong backline, marshalled by Cornelius Hugging, skipper Victor Andrag and V. Thirumurugan.

Since the inaugural AFC Cup in 2003, no Malaysian club have manged to get past the quarter-finals. Perak, Negri Sembilan, Perlis, Pahang and Selangor competed in previous tournaments.

Courtesy of; the star online