Top marksmen Safee, Norsharul unleashed in season opener

PETALING JAYA: Tonight’s Charity Shield match at the Shah Alam Stadium is between Super League champions Selangor and Malaysia Cup winners Kelantan.

But it is the face-off between hotshots Mohd Safee Sali (Selangor) and Norsharul Idlan Talaha (Kelantan) that takes centre stage.

The duo were instrumental in the national team’s success in the Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championships last month.

They combined well to form a lethal two-pronged attack, threatening the opponents with their trickery and poaching abilities.

But today, Safee and Norsharul will be on opposite sides.

Norsharul, who was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and best striker in the national football awards last year, is Kelantan’s best bet for goals while Safee, who is being courted by clubs in Indonesia, will be the man to watch after bagging the top scorer award in the Suzuki Cup.

“It will be an exciting game for the fans. Selangor have a strong team and it is going to be tough for us,” said Norsharul, who is hoping to start the Charity Shield match after picking up a knock on his knee a few of days ago.

The Red Warriors can ill-afford to lose Norsharul for tonight’s match, which also counts as a Super League fixture, following the departure of their strikers – Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Mohd Norfarhan Mohd, Akmal Rizal Rakhli and Hairuddin Omar.

The task of helping out Norsharul will now go to S. Chanturu and Mohd Nizad Ayud.

The last encounter between Selangor and Kelantan in Shah Alam in October turned out to be a disaster.

Clashes between rival fans resulted in injuries to some supporters and damages to vehicles outside the stadium. One fan from Kota Baru even died of heart failure.

Both the FA of Selangor (FAS) and Kelantan FA (Kafa) had to pay a heavy price – more than RM120,000 between them in fines – for their fans’ unruly behaviour.

There is now a great rivalry between Selangor and Kelantan.

Last season, Selangor pipped Kelantan to the Super League title while the Red Warriors knocked out Selangor in the quarter-finals en route to lifting the Malaysia Cup for the first time since the inception of the Malaya Cup in 1921.

Defending champions Selangor are leaving no stones unturned in their bid to win the treble – Super League, FA Cup and Malaysia Cup – and will be counting on their seasoned set of players, led by star player Safee.

Kelantan goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, who was outstanding in the Asian Games in Guangzhou and the Suzuki Cup, and Safee were good friends in the national team.

“But today, we are foes,” said Khairul.

“It is my duty to stop Safee and his team-mates. We may be buddies in the national team but we are professionals and we both have a duty towards our teams,”

While the Red Giants have a solid defence and attack, Kelantan have lost depth in the team following the departure of their strikers and the six-month suspension of coach B. Sathianathan.

This has forced Kelantan to hire M. Karathu as their replacement coach.

But Khairul insists that they will be no pushovers.

“We have a spirited bunch of players and we want to make tomorrow’s (today) game special because we have never played in the Charity Shield match. It will be good for the team to start with a bang,” said Khairul.

Besides Selangor and Kelantan, the other notable contenders for the league title are big-spending Negri Sembilan, Kedah and, possibly, Harimau Muda ‘A’ – the national Under-21 side under Ong Kim Swee.