No room for friendship as Sundram plots win for LionsXII

ALOR SETAR — V Sundramoorthy may be returning to Kedah as one of the state’s Malaysia Cup heroes. But the locals may not think of him so fondly if the LionsXII beat Kedah in their final Malaysia Cup group game tonight.

Thanks to Kedah’s shock 1-0 win over Perak and the LionsXII’s 1-0 victory over Sarawak this week, the race for the two qualifying slots for the knockout rounds is now wide open.

The LionsXII are now second in their group but have the same number of points (seven) as leaders Sarawak and third-placed Perak. So they must win tonight to guarantee their progress. A draw may leave them on shaky ground if the Sarawak-Perak game, also played tonight, ends up a stalemate. Likewise, Kedah — who are bottom with six points — need a win to advance.

“I have many friends and fond memories because of my two-year stint here,” said Sundram, who scored in Kedah’s 3-1 win over Singapore in the 1990 Malaysia Cup final. “But I have to put all personal feelings aside and get the job done. We can still be friends after the match.”

Sundram and his men will not be underestimating their opponents from the second-tier Malaysian Premier League, especially not after last month’s 2-2 draw at Jalan Besar.

“I have always maintained there are no easy matches in the Malaysia Cup,” said Sundram.

“Teams play above themselves. That’s the magic of the competition. All the big names in the other groups have suffered. Selangor are out, Kelantan are fighting for their lives and the Armed Forces (ATM) are also not sure of qualifying yet. This is what the Malaysia Cup is all about.”

But the LionsXII may be without defender Safuwan Baharudin, who is trying to shake off an ankle injury. Skipper and striker Shahril Ishak is also unlikely to start even though Sundram knows goals will be hard to come by tonight. “He is still not match-fit after a two-week lay-off. Maybe we will use him in the final 30 minutes,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kedah coach Antonio Sisic has promised fans a pumped-up Kedah side tonight. “We were almost dead at one time but the situation has changed. We are a different team now,” he said. “We believe we can make the last eight.” DAN GUEN CHIN

WATCH IT LIVE

LionsXII v Kedah (StarHub Ch201, 8.30pm)