Simunic credits teamwork for cup win
DPMM FC coach Vjeran Simunic believes everyone of his players played their part as they beat SAFFC 2-0 on Tuesday to book their place in the Singapore League Cup final.
By Gabriel Tan
Brazilian centre-back Tales dos Santos opened the scoring in their semi-final clash at the Jalan Besar Stadium in the tenth minute when he rose highest in the box to power home an Azwan Saleh corner, before substitute Adi Said wrapped up to win when he raced through to score seven minutes from time.
And while the duo earned the attention for their goalscoring heroics, Simunic had no doubt they only progressed thanks to a well-rounded team effort.
"We were very disciplined today [Wednesday] and we played a fantastic tactical game," the Croatian said after the match.
"I told the boys beforehand that if we don't make any mistakes, we'll win the game.
"All the players had an excellent game. Shahrazen [Said], Rosmin [Kamis], Patrick [da Silva] fought hard up front all day long - everyone played well.
"We have nice teamwork and when we play as a team, it's not easy to beat us."
One minor blemish on what was otherwise a perfect evening for the Bruneian outfit was the fitness of striker Basiru Osman, who appeared to be unconscious following an aerial collision with Marin Vidosevic shortly after the break.
And while Simunic later revealed Osman, a practising Muslim, had collapsed from lack of energy due to it being the fasting month of Ramadan, he expects him to be fit for Saturday's final, even though he claims they can do without the Ghanaian.
"Basiru collapsed as he hadn't eaten or drunk all day," he added. "He should be alright [for Saturday].
"But we are a team and it doesn't matter if we are without him."
SAFFC coach Richard Bok conceded his side's slow start to the match didn't do them any favours, although he was left frustrated at their failure to defend well enough from a set-piece for DPMM's opener, something he had been aware they had to be wary of.
"DPMM were very aggressive - they didn't let us play our game," he said. "They pressed us well from the start.
"I don't think anything went wrong for us; I just think DPMM got it right.
"We knew they were dangerous from set-pieces and I don't think we were aggressive enough in defending the first corner, which they scored from."
The Warriors did have their fair share of chances to find the back of the net, with Fazrul Nawaz sending a header back off the post towards the end of the first half.
And the SAFFC boss concedes his side just lacked a bit of a ruthless touch in front of the goal on the night.
"Sometimes we were holding on to the ball for far too long and we kept playing the ball around our own defensive third," Bok added.
"We didn't pull the trigger when we could have. But the one good thing was the effort we showed in the second half. We never gave up."
Given they are currently seventh in the Great Eastern-YEO's S.League, 12 points behind leaders Albirex Niigata, SAFFC's best chance for silverware this season appears to be in the RHB Singapore Cup, where they will meet Gombak United in the semi-finals.