BANGKOK, Oct 2 – Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (MAS) travelled to BG Pathum, Thailand, yesterday and will face Thailand’s BG Pathum tomorrow at the home of BG Pathum FC (THA) in Thailand. Johor Darul Ta’zim FC suffered a loss to Kawasaki Frontale FC (JPN) in the home ground of JDT 0-1, sitting in third in Group I. The head coach of JDT, Esteban Solari and striker Heberty Fernandes attended the pre-match conference today.
“Well, first of all, playing against BG Pathum is our second game in this tournament. We know that BG is a good team. We know what it means for us. It is an opportunity for us to not only show the quality of our team and to collect points in this tournament. Although we worked very hard in our first game, but unfortunately we can’t secure the points. We have to make a step forward not just showing our quality but the character as well. On the other hand, we need to try our best to shows we are a competitive team.”, said Esteban when got asked on how does he prepared the team to play against BG Pathum tomorrow.
Heberty played in Thailand for several years under True Bangkok United (or Bangkok United in the ACL) in the Thailand League. Asking about how he can help the team team, he said, “Yeah, I’ve been playing in Thailand for several years, I will try my best to help the coaches, the players and my team with the experiences I had in Thailand League.”
“We are a team, not individuals. We are happy to have Heberty in our group. He’s not just a quality but a good person. He helps the young players and the community. Hebert also adapted to the team very quickly. He also set an excellent example for the team. We all know that he’s a striker and a top scorer, but he can also help us develop the game, playing in front pairing with Bergson, and we can play him in many positions. And this is very important. He also knows how competitive BG Pathum is, and he would be key to us for tomorrow’s game.”, said Esteban when he was asked about whether he would play a player experienced in Thailand or play a player who would t give a surprise factor in tomorrow game.
Heberty was asked about the pressure of playing against BG Pathum tomorrow, and he replied, “No, I love this kind of game. Our team has a lot of experience; I think this game will be interesting tomorrow.”
Esteban expressed that JDT has the confident to play against BG Pathum, after they showed how competitive JDT is in the first game against fierce rival Kawasaki Frontale. “We have the confidence; we have the level to compete. We have to start believing, mainly to show the characters playing abroad.”, said Esteban.
The weather in Thailand could be better recently as it keeps raining in the area. “Yeah, we have similar weather in Malaysia, but I hope it won’t rain tomorrow as it will affect the field. Both teams have quality players that love to play on the field, short passing and doing tactics to show the spectators.” Esteban commented about the weather in Thailand.
