KUALA LUMPUR: Kim Pan Gon delivered the news every Malaysian football fan was longing to hear, confirming that winger Faisal Halim will return to action in "the next few weeks."
The Selangor head coach, however, could not hide his irritation over a nagging tactical flaw exposed by an injury-ravaged Kuching City side.
Speaking after the Red Giants secured a slender 2–1 win in their FA Cup semi-final first leg at the MBPJ Stadium, Pan Gon was startled when asked whether Faisal would sit out the rest of the calendar year as he continues his recovery from a calf muscle injury sustained during the last international window earlier this month.
"This year? (Faisal to return on the pitch). Oh, definitely this year, okay! I mean, next few weeks, next few weeks. We are waiting for Faisal Halim, but soon he will come. Soon he will come, don't worry," Pan Gon said while expressing how upset he is at losing him.
But any relief surrounding the forward's imminent comeback was swiftly overshadowed by the South Korean's assessment of his team's defensive discipline.
Despite dominating possession and taking a lead into the second leg, Pan Gon was incensed by the manner in which Selangor conceded the opening goal, repeatedly branding their vulnerability on the counter-attack as unacceptable.
"To me, for us, it is a bad habit, a bad habit, a bad habit," Pan Gon said.
"We give away a counter-attack. That, we have to correct. If we want to be a strong team… the last few games we give away counter-attacks.
"We worked to correct it last week, we put some effort into it, but still it happened again. We thought the game had stopped, but mentally we must be very strong. Until the whistle, we must play. That's a bad habit, and we have to correct it."
Pan Gon's frustration was compounded by the fact that it was an injury-hit Kuching that repeatedly sliced open his backline.
Far from arriving at full strength, the Borneo side were missing key striker Ronald Ngah and lost forward Safawi Rasid to a hamstring injury during the contest, leaving head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak forced to assemble a makeshift front line.
"Ronald Ngah is injured for maybe two months, so this is where Plan B came in with Jerome playing as a lone striker today, and we tried Dylan Wenzel in the second half," Aidil said.
"(Joao) Pedro was also 50-50, but he still played and wanted to contribute. Today, the only thing I see is Safawi having a hamstring (injury) as well."
Despite the growing casualty list, Kuching refused to roll over, creating several clear-cut chances that rattled the hosts until the final whistle.
"The boys gave everything tonight," he said.
"We created chances. Jerome one-versus-one, Dylan also, and Gabriel Peres tried to score. We were just unlucky not to get a goal in the last minute."
Selangor took the lead through Ramdhan Saifullah in the ninth minute, but Eduardo Sosa equalised 10 minutes later before completing his brace in the 58th minute to seal a 2-1 first-leg victory.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd