Coach Kim Pan-gon promised his Selangor FC side will not sit back and defend their one-goal lead in the second leg of their ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ semi-final against Nam Định FC on Wednesday when the sides face off with a prized place in the final at stake.
The Malaysia Super League side travel to Thiên Trường Stadium in Ninh Bình holding a 2-1 lead from last week’s first leg after Chrigor Moraes, who was named the Shopee Star of the Match, scored a brace at MBPJ Stadium to give Kim’s side the upper hand ahead of the return meeting.
“We go with a one goal advantage,” said the former Malaysia and Hong Kong head coach. “I can’t be comfortable. Nam Định are very strong at home. We saw in all their home games that they are strong. We will be prepared for this. We will strongly resist them. We will not lose this opportunity.
“We expect they will attack us. They have to know we have a lot of good strikers and wingers and we can attack them as well. Hopefully it will be a good game for our Selangor fans.”
Last week’s result was Nam Định’s first defeat in the 2025/26 season of the Shopee Cup™ after the V.League 1 champions won four and drew one of their five matches in the Group Stage to finish on top of Group B.
Nguyễn Văn Vĩ was on target for Vũ Hồng Việt’s side in Selangor while Vietnam international forward Nguyễn Xuân Son remains the tournament’s leading scorer with seven goals since returning from long-term injury, although the Brazil-born striker was largely kept quiet by the Selangor defence last week.
Meanwhile, defending champions Buriram United FC will take a 3-1 lead into their homefield clash with Johor Darul Ta’zim FC after Guilherme Bissoli netted twice for the Thai League 1 winners in Malaysia last week to be named the first leg’s Shopee Star of the Match.
The loss was a rare one for a JDT side that notched up a world record-equalling 108th league match without defeat in domestic competition on Sunday when Xisco Muñoz’s side secured victory over Kelantan’s The Real Warriors in the Malaysia Super League.
“We need to trust in ourselves, and we need to work and to give our best,” Muñoz said of the return meeting with Buriram United. “We are working for our club and for our spirit and for our mission and we need to try. We need to go there and do better. This is what I have in my mind. I believe in that.”
JDT forward Bérgson da Silva missed the first leg loss but is expected to be back in contention for a place in the starting line-up after scoring six times against Kelantan on Sunday.
Buriram United head coach Mark Jackson believes playing the second leg in front of the club’s own supporters will help ensure his team progress.
“We always have confidence in ourselves, especially at home,” said Jackson, whose team is undefeated in eight Shopee Cup™ matches at home. “We have our fans behind us so JDT will have to contend with that. Our fans get behind us in every game.
“We believe we can win every game. It’s not that we are going in and being arrogant. We have belief as a group that we are a strong team, we have strong individuals and we work hard together.
“If you combine that all together then you have a good chance of winning football matches.”
The winners of the semi-finals will advance to the two-legged Shopee Cup™ final, which will be played on May 20 and 27.
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