Zambia vs Ghana showdown in Malysia

KUCHING: The spotlight will be on the Africans in tonight’s FA Cup semi-final second-leg with Perlis one step away from a historic first-ever final while Sarawak bid to overcome a massive 1-4 deficit at the Sarawak Stadium.

The Africans are the Northern Lions’ Zambian hitmen Phillimon Chepita and Kelvin Musungu and Sarawak’s Ghanaian duo - striker Robert Eshun and defender Emmanuel Sarpong. Perlis rode on a jittery performance by Sarawak’s reserve goalkeeper Mohd Firdaus Ishak to secure a three-goal cushion for the return-leg – a figure that could be good enough to take the tiny state to their first FA Cup final under new coach Norizan Abu Bakar.

However, Sarawak have vowed to make good at home, despite the fact that first-choice goalkeeper Azley Abdullah has been told to lay off from competitive football for awhile after coming down with a nerve problem which has caused numbness in his legs.

Eshun believes the Crocs can bounce back and will be looking for an early goal to give his team a kick-start.

“My aim is to get an early goal for Sarawak to boost our confidence. I will be very happy if I can score all four goals that we need to knock Perlis out,” said Eshun, who scored Sarawak’s solitary goal in the first-leg.

However, Eshun is aware that Perlis have their strengths. He said the Northern Lions were “good in ball possession” and are quick to capitalise on their opponents’ mistakes.

“We are prepared to go to sudden death. We made far too many mistakes in Kangar. I promise you that it will be a different story in Kuching,” said the Ghanaian, whose personal goal tally stands at 14 – nine in the league and five in the FA Cup.