S-League Cup final today

DPMM FC are looking to relive the glory from three years ago at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.

They will be going back to the very same venue to take on Geylang United in the final of the Singapore League Cup today.

Brunei's only professional football team became the first foreign side to lift the trophy of the competition back in 2009.

Wardun Yussof made back-to-back saves resulting in a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win over Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) FC following a 1-1 stalemate after extra time in the final.

This year DPMM FC defeated familiar foes SAF FC 2-0 in their semi-final encounter on Tuesday while Geylang United booked their berth in the final after a 2-0 victory over the Tampines Rovers the day after.

Despite Geylang United being at the basement of the 13-team table of the Singapore League (S-League), DPMM FC head coach Vjeran Simunic believes that the game can go either way.

"It will be a 50-50 matchup but it is a good opportunity for us to win," said Simunic in a phone interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

"They (Geylang) are at the bottom of the table in the S-League but this is a different competition. They showed that they could beat the good teams.They have won four in a row and scored eight goals," he added.

Ghanaian striker Osman Basiru is expected to lace up for the final despite being stretchered off in the semi-finals.

"Osman is alright to play. He may not be 100 per cent but he has a big desire to be on the field. We will let him play and hopefully he will be able to do well," said Simunic.

"We need him in a big game. But we will be missing Pg Sallehuddin (Pg Hj Damit) after he picked up an injury in the quarter-finals," he added.

The Croatian also highlighted how both teams deserve to be in the final during a pre-match press conference yesterday in Singapore.

"I think that both teams deserve this moment to play in the final especially Geylang after four victories in a row. Even ourselves deserve be in the final after we overplayed teams like Home (United) and SAF," said Simunic.

"I think the final will be a very tough game and I hope that fans and people will enjoy the game. Geylang are a top-five team in the S-League. At the moment, they have changed lots of players and are now a nice team," he added.

"We must respect a team who won four games in 14 days and only conceded one goal. It is not easy to beat Balestier, Gombak, Albirex (Niigata)and Tampines, all in a row," continued the Croatian.

Simunic also pointed out that it was his desire to play against Tampines instead of the in-form Geylang side, who have proven to be the best team in the competition thus far.

The momentum is with the Eagles who haven't had the need to play into extra time nor go into penalties.

The competition is also the only piece of local silverware that the club has yet to win in its history.

Eagles head coach Kanan Vedhamuthu felt that the hard work is paying off since he took over at the club in March.

"When I took over, we started everything again. We worked very hard for the five months and all the hard work put in has paid off in League cup," said Kanan.

"This will be special for us because we are not doing well in league. This is the only cup (we can get that will) give some pride for the club," he added.

"Geylang is one of the top club in the league. Being at bottom of table is not good. We want to do well in the Cup and we want to win tomorrow," concluded Kanan.

The last time the two sides met saw DPMM FC emerge with a 3-1 win at the Bedok Stadium in Singapore last month.

The final kicks off at 8.30pm.

Meanwhile, a 90th minute goal by Kim Minho propelled Balestier Khalsa to a 1-0 win over the Young Lions (Singapore Under-23 national team) in the final of the League Cup Plate last night at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The Brunei Times