Rabo targeting ‘magical’ AFC Cup success

Published on: 22 June 2019

Cibinong: Becamex Binh Duong defender Ali Rabo has admitted that it would be magical for the Vietnamese side to win the 2019 AFC Cup ahead of the second leg of the ASEAN Zonal semi-final against Indonesia’s PSM Makassar on Wednesday.

Binh Duong travel to Indonesia with a slim advantage after Nguyen Tien Linh’s header with 10 minutes to play in the first leg secured a 1-0 victory for the 10-man Vietnamese side.

The win made it five victories in a row for Binh Duong and, unbeaten on the road so far in the competition, should they avoid defeat at Pakansari Stadium they will secure a place in the ASEAN Zonal final.


“After winning five games in a row we are now full of confidence and the aim is to maintain our momentum in the competition,” said the Burkina Faso native.

“We have the advantage of a goal to defend and we learned a lot about our opponents in the first match, so our coach will decide the best tactics in order to get the result we need.

“We have remained unbeaten away from home because – wherever we play – there is a solidarity amongst the players that helps us a lot through difficult periods in a match.”

Semi-finalists in 2009, Binh Duong are appearing in the AFC Cup for the first time since 2010 and they began their campaign in Indonesia with a scoreless draw against Persija Jakarta.

Nguyen Thanh Son’s team then bounced back from defeat to Ceres Negros by posting four successive wins to qualify for the knockout rounds. However, with the first leg against Makassar still goalless early in the second half, Nguyen Trung Tin was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

Binh Duong dug deep, though, to not only claim a fine victory but also keep a potentially significant clean sheet, with Makassar – unbeaten prior to the game in Vietnam – unable to register a shot on target across the 90 minutes.

“Of course, we were very happy with the result after being reduced to 10 men and then scoring a valuable goal towards the end of the game,” added Rabo.

“Our defensive performance was remarkable and each person on the team gave 100 percent to get that result.

“If we could go on and win the AFC Cup, it would be magical for everyone, but at the moment we just need to focus on the next match and see what happens after that.


Source: the-afc.com

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