A duty to stop a rampaging War Elephant

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian defence have declared that they are ready to stop the War Elephants in the AFF Cup semi-finals at Bukit Jalil tomorrow.

And the man that they want to shackle is Thai dangerman Adisak Kraisorn.

Adisak has emerged as the most feared striker in this year’s AFF Cup, having plundered eight goals to lead the scoring chart in the competition.

Centreback Shahrul Saad, who has been a pillar of the Malaysian backline, feels he has forged a solid partnership with Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak.

He believes the Malaysian defenders have what it takes to limit Adisak’s destructive play.

But Shahrul, who skippered Perak to the Malaysia Cup title recently, has warned his teammates not to just focus on Adisak as the other Thai strikers are deadly too.

“So far, our coach (Tan Cheng Hoe) has not said which of us is to specifically mark Adisak,” he said.

“Of course, all of us will keep an eye on him.

“If I am asked to mark Adisak, insya-Allah, I will do my duties to the best of my abilities,” said Shahrul after a training session at the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) field yesterday.

“I also need to keep a close eye on the other Thai players who have good attacking techniques.”

Shahrul has proved that he could form a solid shield with Aidil when they shut out Myanmar 3-0 in a crucial Group A match last Saturday.

The 25-year-old feels that if the duo continue to be consistently unyielding in the Malaysian central defence, the Thais will find it hard to break through.

“Thailand are stronger than Myanmar, and we definitely need to play better.

“We still need to iron out some weaknesses in our team. And most important of all, we need to carry out our coach’s plans well.”

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