'How to beat the Southern Tigers'

SHAH ALAM - Johor Darul Ta'zim's (JDT) emphatic 6-1 victory over Selangor FC in the FA Cup final has once again highlighted the Southern Tigers' unparalleled dominance in Malaysian football.

Experienced coach Sulaiman Hussin believes that the significant margin of victory highlights the substantial gap between JDT and the rest of the league.

In fact, he sees only two ways for other teams to bring down JDT: being fully prepared both mentally and physically, along with having the right tactics and possessing high-quality local and import players.

"The experience and quality within the JDT team were the main factors behind their success that night, and the large margin of goals has set a high bar for anyone wanting to compete with or defeat JDT in the future.

"A final match requires not only tactical preparation but also strong mental and physical readiness.

"JDT demonstrated that they were more prepared to lift the cup.

"Players like Juan Muniz, Bergson da Silva, Matthew Davies, Ariff Aiman, Afiq Fazail and Nathaniel Shio Hong Wan managed to dominate their respective positions.

"Even though Selangor has good players like Alvin Fortes, it was not enough to match the performance of JDT's players," he said.

JDT's victory ensured they made history by winning three consecutive FA Cup championships after also claiming the trophy in 2022 and 2023.

He added that Selangor needs to conduct a post-mortem of the match to ensure the players' morale is not affected and that they can bounce back for the upcoming Super League fixtures.

"I am sure Selangor's coach, Nidzam Jamil, knows what he needs to do to restore the team's spirit," he said.