DPMM FC's Hj Muhd Subhi
Abdilah Hj Bakir (L)
shields the ball from
Global FC's Ben Starosta
during their 1-0 loss in
the Singapore Cup first
leg quarter-finals on
Wednesday. DPMM FC's
four-goal second half
in Sunday's second leg
was not enough for them
to lose the tie 5-4 on
aggregate. Picture:
Courtesy of Singapore
League
Carlos de Murga admitted DPMM FC's four-goal comeback on Saturday left him sweating at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.
The Filipino hat-trick hero thought Global FC had a Singapore Cup semi-final berth in the bag after taking a 4-0 lead early in the second half.
However, a brace from Lithuanian Arturas Rimkevicius and goals from Portuguese Joao Moreira and Brazilian Tales Ricarte dos Santos gave them a late run for their money in the entertaining last-eight tie.
Global would eventually hold out for the draw, the result putting them through to the last-four after beating DPMM FC 1-0 with a 96th minute strike in the first leg.
"I was not too confident when they scored the fourth goal (and) we were waiting for the final whistle of the game!" the winger told Goal Singapore (goal.com).
"Of course (we are) happy (to go through) in the end but not with a very good feeling because of the (poor) second half.
"At 4-0, we have to control the game (and) this cannot happen any more.
"I'm happy for the first half because we played (at a) really high level. We controlled all the aspects in the game
"In the second half we scored earlier and then I think the team relaxed a little bit, without intention of course. But I am happy for the hat-trick, happy for the team, happy for the result,"added de Murga.
He gave the United Football League runners-up the lead after heading home a cross by Jeffrey Christiaens in the 20th minute and netted his second of the game after a 37th minute counter-attack. He then completed his hat-trick just before the break.
Looking forward, the Spanish born Filipino international felt the team had to buckle down in the training ground to prevent other potentially embarrassing comebacks.
"I think we'll work hard with the coach, with the team manager and with all the players and I am very confident this will not happen again," noted the 24-year-old.
DPMM FC were reduced to 10-men after Pg Sallehuddin Pg Hj Damit was sent to the showers in the 87th minute after picking up his second yellow, with head coach Vjeran Simunic telling The Brunei Times that he felt the Bruneians could have scored another had the defender not been sent off.
"If we didn't lose Salleh then we could have got it to 5-4... We needed a bit more luck," Simunic said after the game.
"We left things very open as we pushed forward in search of a goal in the first half, but instead we failed to score and our opponents went on the counter-attack and punished us.
"We changed our tactics after we got Santos on in the second half and that managed to help our comeback," continued the Croatian in a previous report.
Joining Global in the semi-finals are Balestier Khalsa FC, Tanjong Pagar United FC and Home United FC - who advanced after beating Geylang Intermational 3-0 in last night second-leg quarter-finals at the Bishan Stadium in Singapore.
Home beat Geylang 2-0 in the first-leg.
