Bojan berterima kasih kepada Terengganu yang telah memberi motivasi kepada pasukan bimbingan beliau dengan secara tidak langsung apabila mereka mengeluarkan kenyataan-kenyataan agah sebelum pertemuan pada 23 Mei yang lalu. "Big talk by big talkers"
THANKS to Terengganu's "big talk" , Kelantan are through to the AFC Cup quarter-finals for the first time.
Kelantan coach Bojan Hodak said he owed over-confident Terengganu big time for the 3-2 victory in the AFC Cup second round tie on a rainy night in Kota Baru on Wednesday.
"It was not easy to motivate my players for the Terengganu match after we had just created history by winning the FA Cup for the first time on Saturday.
"But then, all we heard on the news was how Terengganu would come to Kota Baru to end our run in the AFC Cup campaign and that was all the motivation my boys needed to get fired up," he said.
Hodak said he did not notice any improvement in the way Terengganu played under new coach Peter Butler although he admitted the pitch was not in the best of conditions after heavy rain forced the game to be delayed for more than 30 minutes.
"Their defence was all over the place and we took advantage by scoring three goals in the first half and honestly speaking, we could have gone six goals up before the break.
"My boys thought they had done their job in the first half and they allowed Terengganu to score twice but we were never in real danger."
The 41-year-old Croatian coach, who took over from Butler in February, said his plan to include former Terengganu player Norfarhan Mohamad in the starting 11 had paid dividends.
Norfarhan, who hails from Wakaf Tapai in Marang, scored in the second and 18th minutes while Kelantan's other goal came from Rizal Fahmi Rasid's freekick in first half stoppage time.
"It was good to know that we could score goals even when regular strikers Norshahrul (Idlan Talaha) and (Mohamad) Ghaddar were not playing and key players such as Indra (Putra Mahayuddin), Subramaniam and Chanturu came in as late substitutes."
Norfarhan, who was delighted with his brace against his former team, said the goals made up for the disappointment of not playing in the FA Cup final.
The 27-year-old midfielder said his next mission, should he be included in the squad again, is to score in the Super League away match against Johor FC tomorrow (tonight).
By Zainuddin Muhammad, NST
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